How to Load a Dishwasher

It’s easy to throw all the dishes into the dishwasher and turn it on…but with a little more strategy, you can run your dishwasher for the ultimate amount of efficiency and cleanliness. Why not get the most out of your appliances?

Yesterday’s post was about maintaining your dishwasher monthly. This is not only important to help your machine last longer, but keeping your dishwasher clean will also add efficiency.

How do you pick your dish detergent? 

It’s difficult to talk about which particular dish detergent you should choose because there are so many out there. The main tip for dish detergent is to read the directions. Many people don’t realize what a difference that makes, most people add entirely too much. This can lead to detergent residue on dishes, spots on glasses, and quickens detergent build-up on your dishwasher. Reading the directions will save you money, as stated in this New York Time’s article.

A tip for spotted glass problems: 

If you notice an abundance of spotted glasses, or perhaps a series of spots running down one side of your glass, you can fill your rinse agent reservoir with Jet Dry. If you don’t have Jet Dry, you can use some vinegar. This isn’t necessary for every single load of dishes, but if you have a particularly full rack of glasses, this will help.

How to Load it up: 

First things first, appliances are the most efficient when they are full. Contrary to popular belief, less in the dishwasher doesn’t mean cleaner. In order to make it worth the amount of energy and water, you should only run the dishwasher when full. 

Please note that when we say full, we don’t mean everything is in direct contact with each other. Water needs to be able to circulate thorough the dishes to clean.

Load the bottom Rack First: 

Start with the taller items you have and place them on the sides and the back of the dishwasher, this way the bulky items won’t block the flow of hot water to other smaller items. Place the smaller items, such as bowls, towards the center of the rack.

Load the Top Rack Second: 

Glasses and mugs go on top; the racks are made to fit glassware up top. It’s best not to try to fit in as many glasses as possible to the point where they are all touching each other because water may not be able to get between them and they may even break. The heating element is normally on the bottom so you’ll want to keep your plastic containers on the top rack (away from the heat).

Look at the loaded dishwasher for a second. In an ideal world, the pots and pans (that are dishwasher safe) will be on the bottom with the baking sheets on the outside. The dinner plates and smaller bowls will be more towards the center. Keep the dirtiest dishes towards the center; this will help get them cleaner.

For utensils:

Place them with the handle side down. When placing knives in the dishwasher, they will get cleaner with the handle side down, but be careful, since the sharp side will be up. Good knives shouldn’t be put into the dishwasher, they should be hand washed. Don’t place something so large in there that you can’t close the bottom rack without shoving and make sure it doesn’t block the spray arm. If need be, you can always place the large utensil on the top rack and lay it down.

Picking the Right Cycle:

Obviously you won’t be picking “Heavy Wash” for your stemware, but it’s good to familiarize yourself with the available options on your appliance. 

A tip is when you are doing your dishes overnight (which depending on your area, can save you some money) use the air dry setting (if you’ve got it). This setting will save you energy, and since it’s running at night, you won’t be in a hurry to get the dishes out. 

By picking the right setting for the job, you can save yourself the trouble of having to hand-wash something again after it has gone through the dishwasher. You don’t want to have to wash a giant pot again, and you also don’t want to waste water and energy over-cleaning your plate with only a couple of cookie crumbs.

Normally, dishwashers are neglected until they suddenly… stop washing dishes. If you would like to prolong the life of your dishwasher, here are a few easy tips for keeping your dishwasher in great shape with just a little maintenance.

1. Start by keeping your hot water heater set to the temperature that is recommended by your dishwasher’s manufacturer. You can find this setting in the dishwasher’s manual. Don’t worry if you can’t find the manual, in this day and age.. you can find anything on the internet. Just go to a search engine like Google and type in the model number of your appliance, the manufacturers usually post their manuals online.

2. Cleanse your dishwasher monthly. Affresh® Dishwasher Cleaner is an easy product you can use to help reduce mineral build up and to ensure optimal performance. They are available at any Appliance Direct Location.

3. Check the dishwasher racks. If you see that the paint is wearing off, consider investing in a dishwasher repair kit, this will help to prevent scratches.

4. Vinegar is a must have household ingredient. Most everyone has some in their pantry. Every month, soak the spray arm with diluted vinegar to clean off scum build-up.

5. Don’t forget about checking the food trap. 

Show your dishwasher some love just once a month, and it'll give you clean dishes for longer.

Accidental Complaint
This morning, we had an incident that left us scrambling for a moment. We received a phone call from a customer, who shall remain anonymous. This customer was furious, they had purchased an appliance, a brand new appliance, and upon delivery they saw a huge dent. Our sales staff looked up the order number for this customer, who shall not be named, and came up with nothing. But luckily, they heard a delivery man in the background of the phone call. Our sales person asked to speak with the person who had delivered the product and we were baffled when they sounded unfamiliar. When our sales person asked for their name, they introduced themselves and stated they worked for an appliance company... that was not ours! There's nothing scarier than not finding any information in order to help a customer. Unfortunately we could not help this frustrated consumer because they did not buy their product from us.

Thaw Frozen Foods in the Washer!
If you don't want to use your sink for thawing your frozen foods, whether it uses too much water or if you need the sink for other prep work, or maybe it's full of dirty dishes.. whatever the reason, you can opt to defrost your frozen foods in the washer. 


Cold water thawing tip from The Cook's Thesaurus: The more water you use and the more water circulates, the faster your food will thaw. If you put frozen food in the washing machine, fill it with cold water, and use the delicate setting to agitate the water as the food thaws. 


Don't let the washer go into the spin cycle. Most washer models allow you to disable this cycle by keeping the lid open.

For more information about thawing frozen foods: Defrosting = Thawing

Refrigerator Basics

Dear Sam,

This is the first time I am not renting my fridge, what should I know?

Thank you,

First Time Home Owner

Lets face it, even if we upgrade to a bigger fridge, we're probably still going to stuff it full.. It's like a woman's purse, everything is in there and no matter how many times they buy a bigger bag to accommodate "everything".. it's always bulging, and surprisingly much heavier than it looks. Yes men understand, we may complain about the size of your purse, but we are grateful when everything we need is in your bag and not our pockets. Joking - but it is convenient. 

First lets talk about the temperature of your refrigerator. Somewhere between 32 - 40 degrees Fahrenheit is good enough to slow the growth of bacteria but it won't affect the food quality (food won't start to ice). How can you tell what temperature you're refrigerator is at? You can always buy a thermometer and leave it in the fridge to make sure that you're food is stored at a safe level, or you can stop buy you're Appliance Direct and ask a manager for a nice bright yellow thermometer. 

Note: The refrigerator does not improve food quality. It prolongs food quality.

When putting hot foods such as a large casserole into the refrigerator, it's much more sensible to separate the food into smaller containers. It's best to keep it less than 3 inches deep. 

Odor. The air in your fridge, and everybody else's fridge, is very dry. Always cover food when storing it in the refrigerator. Especially foods that are bland or delicate.. they may start to smell like other items in your fridge.. unless you want you're glass of milk you didn't finish to chill and taste like cabbage when you pull it out..the stomach wants what the stomach wants if you want that, I guess.

Overloading the refrigerator is not good. There needs to be space between the food that you store so that air can circulate. This will help the temperature stay even in your fridge. 

Nobody wants to remove everything from their fridge. BUT at least every 3 weeks, you should remove everything from your refrigerator and wipe down the inside. A baking soda solution works well and make sure that everything is dry before putting your food back in. Remember there is the 2 hour rule with the foods you take out!

Hope this helps!