Dishwasher Chaos

Which way do you load your dishwasher? Fork prongs up or down?  A recent survey shows that the majority of American homeowners load their dishwashers with the fork prongs up while only one in four place their forks prongs down. This is true of Gen Xers, Boomers and Matures. But Millennial homeowners challenge that practice with almost equal groups placing prongs up as down. And more than one in five Millennials prefer dishwasher chaos, placing forks whichever way. While it may seem silly to consider which way to have your fork prongs facing, there are some optimal conditions to have your dishwasher work at peak performance.

Dishwasher Loading Tips

1.       Remove Excess Food-Scrape off as much stuck-on food from your dishes as you can into the garbage.

2.       Load The Bottom Rack-Put plates, pots and pans on the bottom rack facing the water source. Typically, the water source is in the center of the machine.

3.       Load The Top Rack-Place glasses, mugs and bowls face down on the top rack. Temperatures typically remain cooler on the top rack, which makes it a perfect spot for plasticware.

4.       Load The Silverware Basket-Mix up the silverware by distributing different types of utensils evenly to prevent nesting. You don’t want knives sticking together or spoons nesting.

5.       Save Your Fingers-Sharp knives and utensils should be loaded sharp side down so you don’t cut yourself. Also, keeping the blades sharp side down will keep them sharper longer. It’s always best to hand wash your good knives. Placing the handles up avoids transferring of germs from your hands to the eating surfaces of the silverware when you are unloading the dishwasher.

Do you have any favorite tips and tricks for gaining optimal performance out of your dishwasher? I’d love to hear! Email me at jessica@webbercoleman.com