Things You'll Need:
- dishwasher
- a willingness to read instructions
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Step 1
First, with the newer type dishwashers it is not required to pre-rinse your dishes and can actually cause some of your dishes to look dirtier. The detergent you use has ingredients to attack the tough stuck on food and if there are no stuck on food areas it will not use up those ingredients and will then turn to your glassware and make it look cloudy. Pre-rinsing is also a waste of water so you can save water at the same time.
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Step 2
We always tell people (usually wives tell their husbands) to read the instructions but we seldom read the instructions when it comes to the dishwasher. We think all dishwashers are made the same but that is not true. In the instruction you will find an illustration on how to correctly load your particular model. If you can't find your instruction book check the company's website or check out Manuel N Guide or UsersManualGuide.com which has instruction books online for you to download for free. You can find a link to them in the resource section below.
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Step 3
We all have been programmed to think more is better. This was mainly an advertising scam to get us to buy bigger or more things. When it comes to dish detergent more is not always better. You should base how much detergent you use on how dirty the dishes are not how many dishes are in the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is full of dishes but there is only a small amount of food on them you only need to use a small amount.
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Step 4
You should wash your dishes on the "normal" setting 99% of the time. This setting was proven to be the most efficient in consumer testing groups. This setting is also the best water and energy saving setting.
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Step 5
When you load your dishwasher you need to make sure it is loaded correctly. Make sure all dishes are facing downward. Any dishes that don't weigh much such be surrounded by heavier dishes to secure them to be sure it doesn't flip over during the wash. When dishes are placed incorrectly they can gather water that is dirty water, and will then be used in the rinse cycle to "rinse" the dishes. The dishes being rinsed with this dirty water will make it appear that your dishwasher is not working correctly.
When you load the bottom rack of the dishwasher you want to make sure the washer arm is free to move around. Sometimes pans or long utensils will stop the arm from moving and will not wash the dishes correctly. You should wash pans that are too large to correctly sit on the bottom rack. Large utensils can be washed on the top rack by laying them down flat under the cups.
Comments
godfather25 said
on 11/27/2009 Great article on using your dishwasher effectively.
jeni10 said
on 9/25/2009 Great tips on using your dishwasher effectively. Some of these are so basic, but I didn't realize I was doing them wrong. Thanks for a well written article. 5*