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.