The Best Way to Load Your Dishwasher

Loading your dishwasher is often a task that is done quickly and without much thought. However, if you don’t load it properly, it can lower the lifespan of your appliances. Our team at Appliance Educator wants to make sure that your appliances last as long as they should. In our newest blog, we share all of our tips and tricks for loading your dishwasher and making sure it functions perfectly for years to come.

1.Do I need to rinse my dishes?

The short answer is yes. Rinsing off your dishes can ensure that your dishwasher cleans your dishes efficiently. Just a light rinse will do, the dishwasher will do most of the work. The most important thing for you to do is make sure there aren't any large pieces of food remaining. While you should make sure to clean your dishwasher often, check out our blog on that, you want to make sure to avoid any damage remaining food can cause to your dishwasher. Another thing to keep in mind, especially for smaller households, is that the dishwasher might not run very often. So if you are leaving a lot of food or residue on the dishes, they may begin to smell.

2. Do my dishes need to be strategically placed?

We do recommend that your dishes are placed in calculated places so that the water and soap hit them and clean them in just the right places. It is also important to ensure that all of your dishes are safe to be in the dishwasher. Dishes such as sharp knives, non-stick pots and pans, antiques, and crystals should never go through the dishwasher. The top rack of the dishwasher is designed for hollowed-out dishes such as bowls, cups, and other small items. We recommend that large serving utensils go on the bottom rack or a third rack if you have it. ZLINE recently released a 3rd rack dishwasher, that would be perfect for any kitchen. It comes with many different panel finishes such as stainless steel, white matte, copper, and more. You can check it out at The Range Hood Store here.

3. Which dishwasher setting is right for me?

We get this question often, so we wrote an entire blog breaking it down! Be sure to check it out here.

4. Which soap should I use?

Cascade brand detergents hardly ever steer you wrong. In fact, eight of them are in Consumer Report’s list for their favorite detergents. Finish Power Ball detergent is also highly recommended. Anytime you can use a pod rather than liquid soap, we recommend you use that.

5. How should I unload my dishwasher?

When unloading your dishwasher, it is best to unload the bottom rack first. Since water can remain on the top of dishes such as cups and bowls, you don’t want to dump it out on the clean dishes below. As for the rest, it is up to you!

6. How do I make sure my dishwasher lasts for its full lifespan?

There are many steps you can take so that your dishwasher lasts for years to come. The first as we mentioned previously is to clean it routinely. You don’t want any leftover grime to be stuck in the cycle and continually washing your dishes with dirty water. Running full loads is also highly recommended. The longevity of your dishwasher depends on how many cycles you run, so be sure there are plenty of dishes in the load before you run it.