Although using a dishwasher may seem easy enough at first, the first time you pull out your dishes covered in food bits and grease, you will realize there needs to be a certain method to loading the dishwasher. The cleanliness of your dishes depends on a couple of things: what type of cleaning agent you use, but more importantly how you load your dishwasher.
It would be nice to use a dishwasher for all your dishes and never have to wash any of them manually, unfortunately, there are some materials that simply should never be placed in a dishwasher. Wooden and plastic utensils and dishes are heat sensitive, so unless they have a dishwasher symbol on them, they should be washed manually. The same rule goes for dishes made out of iron and bronze as they can corrode at high temperatures.
The basic idea is that you need to allow all of your dishes to have a clear path to the jets. So you should never overcrowd your dishwasher, as too many dishes are counterproductive to cleanliness.
Thanks to Deborah Lewis from ChowTips, she has solved the mystery once and for all when it comes to loading your dishwasher (see video below).
You should place your plates on the lower rack, preferably staggering the big and the small plates while having all of them face the center towards the jets. Extra large plates, cutting boards, and skillets should be loaded around the sides of the lower rack of your dishwasher.
As far as utensils go, all you have to worry about is not to crowd them together on the lower rack in their designated basket. Thus, alternating between spoons and forks facing upward and downward is a great way to ensure cleanliness.
Cups all go on the upper rack, in between the tines, with ample space between the cups to avoid chipping. Bowls and large utensils also go on the top rack, just make sure you face them downwards so they don't fill up with water.
If you follow these simple rules, you'll have cleaner dishes in no time.
Photo by: Raúl A.- | Flickr
