How to Load a Dishwasher
Have you ever wondered how to load a dishwasher properly? Believe it or not, most people do not know how to place the dishes inside of the machine in order to wash them completely.
It may seem quite simple to add dishes to your machine, though you can probably wash your dishes even better if you follow a few simple steps. Even if you have been told that you don’t have to wash your dishes prior to loading them, go through this step anyway. Take away any food, bones, seeds, or other bits of large food. Also, it might be a good idea to try and scrape any small pieces of food (such as rice or pasta) from plates.
Once you have gone through the rinsing and scraping step, add the dish detergent of your choice. The detergent that you use will impact the cleanliness of the dishes, so select one that seems to work best. Then, place plates inside of the plate racks on the bottom of the machine. Add cups, bowls, and glasses to the top of the machine. Also, be sure to place any plastic items on the top part of the machine, since the heating element is located near the bottom plastic may melt if placed there. If you have any pots or pans to clean, place these on the bottom half of the machine.
Utensils should always be placed handle side up inside of the utensil basket. If you have any good kitchen knives, do not place these inside of your machine at all – good knives can become dull when placed inside of a machine. Then, close the door…but don’t start the cycle quite yet. First, run your garbage disposal (if you have one) prior to running the dishwasher. Since the garbage disposal and the dishwasher use the same pipes, it is important that the pipe is clear before running the dish machine. Also, run your tap until the water becomes hot…dishwashers will wash better if the water is hot from the start. Now that you know how to load a dishwasher, you can easily be sure that your dishes are clean all the time.
If you find that your dishes are not that clean, you may be dealing with lukewarm water. Sometimes, water that is not hot enough will not wash dishes properly. In this case, it is wise to run the tap water prior to running the machine, so that the water will be hot at the beginning of the cycle.
As you can see, learning how to load a dishwasher is not that hard. Choose the right soap, set the right cycle, and be sure to check that water temperature.