Having a dishwasher is probably one of life’s great pleasures. Who wants to deal with a mountain of dirty dishes at the end of a long day when it could be better spent with family, a favorite book, or that evening’s television offerings? However, if you are not using your dishwasher properly, you may be creating more work by having to scrape or rinse dishes before using them, or re-washing dishes that did not clean properly. Here are some common dishwasher mistakes you might be making.
You are placing carb-covered dishes in the least ideal spots
Dishes that had potatoes, pasta, and other carbs on them shouldn’t just be placed anywhere on the rack. Ideally, they should be in a circle spreading out from the middle of the washer. That way, the sprayer arm can hit the most effectively. Carbs can be handled by the water, and don’t need as much chemical intervention, so this placement is perfect.
You are placing crusted dishes in the wrong spots
Protein-crusted dishes, however, do need some chemical reaction help. These are dishes stuck with cheese and eggs, for example. They should be placed to the edges, so they are not constantly sprayed with water, which allows them to soak.
Spooning
Allowing your spoons to spoon means that there will not be enough space for the water to get in between them. Hopefully you have a rack that gives a spot for each individual piece, but if not, alternate heads up and heads down to make sure water can get between everything.
Your bowls are facing outwards
The most important place to clean a bowl is inside the bowl itself. If a bowl is facing outward, then the water stream will be concentrated on the outside of the bowl, which will not help clean the spot that actually gets dirty while eating.
Overloading
Overloading might be the worst thing you can do. If a dishwasher is too full, the water will not be able to effectively clean every surface, which means you’ll have lots of re-cleaning to do.
Your containers are facing up
It should be common sense, but many people leave their containers in the washer facing up. All this does is make sure that they are filled with dirty water at the end of the cycle.
Avoid these common mistakes and you can make the most of the amazing time saver that is the dishwasher.