Properly using a dishwasher involves correct loading techniques and selecting appropriate items to ensure effective cleaning and protect your dishes and appliance.
Essential Dishwasher Loading Techniques
Loading your dishwasher correctly is crucial for allowing water and detergent to reach all surfaces, resulting in sparkling clean dishes. Follow these key guidelines:
- Face dishes toward the center: Position plates and bowls so their dirty surfaces are directed towards the center of the dishwasher where the water spray is most powerful.
- Angle dishes downward: Cups, bowls, and glasses should be angled downward. This allows water to drain properly during the wash and rinse cycles, preventing pooling and ensuring thorough cleaning.
- Place items between the tines, not over them: Secure dishes, especially plates and bowls, between the rack tines. This keeps them stable throughout the cycle and ensures water can flow freely around each item.
- Don't block the sprayer arms: Ensure that larger items, like pots, pans, or tall plates, do not obstruct the rotation of the sprayer arms located at the bottom and sometimes the top of the dishwasher. Blocked arms mean uneven water distribution and poor cleaning.
Preparing Items for Washing
Before loading, a little preparation goes a long way, but perhaps not as much as you think!
- Don't pre-rinse dishes: Modern dishwashers and detergents are designed to work best with some food particles remaining on the dishes. Simply scrape off large food scraps and bones into the trash before loading. Pre-rinsing can actually reduce the effectiveness of the detergent, which often contains enzymes that latch onto food particles to clean.
- Only load dishwasher-safe items: Check that all items are labeled "dishwasher-safe." Items like some plastics, non-stick cookware with damaged coatings, wood, cast iron, delicate crystal, and items with gold leaf or hand-painted decorations should typically be washed by hand as they can be damaged by the high heat and strong detergents in a dishwasher.
Maximizing Cleaning Performance
Beyond individual item placement, remember the importance of overall load management.
- Avoid overcrowding: Cramming too many dishes into the dishwasher is a common mistake. Overcrowding blocks water flow, prevents detergent from reaching all surfaces, and can cause items to clang together and potentially break. Leave enough space between items for water and air to circulate freely.
By following these simple steps, you can significantly improve your dishwasher's performance, save water and energy by avoiding re-washes, and extend the life of your appliance and dishware.
