How to use a dishwasher?

[Free To Canoe]

And of course the follow up question--what's the best loading method?

Warning Will Rogers! Danger, marital difficulties ahead!

 

[Bestwifeever]

Crazy, I know, but generally we just follow the directions in the user manual that comes with the appliances. Our dishwasher has no built in disposal thingie so we would be cleaning its filters of green beans, lettuce leaves, grains of rice and anything else that is not water soluble if we did not scrape plates well. It also does not dry plastic.

 

[Walt34]

Crazy, I know, but generally we just follow the directions in the user manual that comes with the appliances.

Wow. RTFM. "Read the Friendly Manual?" written by the folks who designed and produced the product? Who'd have thought of that?

Yeah, I'm one of those who actually RTFM.

 

[Telly]

We clean them off pretty well. There are only two of us and the dishes will sit for a few days sometimes. I always though the dried stuff would be harder tfor the machine to remove.

That's what we do too.

Here's a follow-on question: How to best get the dishes dry in the dishwasher (after the drying cycle is done, if that is used)? Some people say to leave the door shut so that that the dishes stay warm longer and thereby dry faster. I favor opening the door while everything is still hot, reasoning that the relative humidity in the closed dishwasher is 100% and that the dry air in the house, especially when it is warmed by the warm dishes, will do a better job of carrying away water.

Same here. Otherwise, it's just a small vent opening and not much circulation either.

We follow the manufacturer's recommended loading method. Which means I encourage guests not to put stuff in the dishwasher... otherwise I just have to pull it all out again and load it right.

 

[grasshopper]

 

[NoiseBoy]

Any large food residue goes either down the drain or into the garbage and then plates and glassware get rinsed off before going into the dishwasher. Pots and pans typically get filled with water and Dawn and are allowed to soak for a few hours before being put in. I do this because Monday's breakfast dishes (milk, peanut butter, OJ) could sit in the machine for 5 or 6 days before I run a load.


Regarding technique, on an episode of This Old House an appliance guy said that people should fill the "pre-wash" cup as well as the main compartment with detergent so I tried that and liked the results. I open the door to allow the dishes to air dry. I do not use the heating element because I think it might be hard on the flatware. The biggest PITA are the little puddles of water on the bottoms of the coffee cups. I finally learned to empty the bottom rack first before pulling the top rack with the cups out. That way the water from the cups has nothing to drip onto and I have fewer things to towel dry.


My friend has a much newer unit that includes a little support gadget on the top rack that she uses for her wine glasses. I covet that feature.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I hope you are not using the heat drying cycle when you put your cat in the dishwasher!

 

[MBAustin]

Saw this video referenced on another site a few weeks back. Turns out I've been loading my dishwasher pretty much like this for several years.

How To Load A Dishwasher Like A Brilliant Genius (VIDEO)

 

[pb4uski]

Much of the above I do. Some things they recommend that I didn't know - put glasses between tines on upper rack rather than over tines, alternate large & small dishes on the lower level, alternate silverware (I put mine all handle down except for sharp knives)

 

[Al in Ohio]

Not all dishwashers have a built in 'chopper'. Mine doesn't, a newish Bosch. I scrape and rinse like you.

Ditto that. I rinse off all food particles first and even thoroughly scrub egg yellow or anything that would leave a residue. Otherwise much of the cleaning cycly ends up re - pumping snd re- cycling yucky yet detergent laced water round and round on the contents before it drains and goes to rinse cycle. Eew gross!