Dishwasher etiquette

[..]

Disclaimer. I hand wash dishes. I've been hand washing dishes for as long as I can remember.

When I was married I hand washed the dishes.

I've been self isolating with my new ladyfriend in Maggie Valley since about March 14.

She has a dishwasher.

The procedure is to use warm/hot water and clean the dishes before putting them in the dish washer to get cleaned/washed.

I group the silver ware for easier removal post wash. Forks in one place in the lower basket. Knives in another etc. I put them handle down.

Why are the dishes etc washed clean prior to being put in the dishwasher???

Why is it wrong to put the silverware handle down?

Why is it wrong to group the silverware?

I know there are other questions but I can't be bothered to use any more brain power writing this when i can use it to watch Tiger King 

[Jersey mike]

We pre-rinse heavy stuff. From what I understand dishwashers have a built in garbage disposal built in for “larger stuff” that gets past the screen on the bottom of the dishwasher. I hate putting an empty glass of milk or ice cream bowl, or cereal bowl early in the morning into,the washer to,just sit there all day. To me it’s a eww moment, like just leaving dirty dishes to pile up in the sink and wash at end of day. Sounds like a waste of water but rinsing off food particles during the day is a bit more hygienic.

Sometimes stuff that’s really naked on needs a good soaking before hand, tv commercials lie, some stuff just doesn’t come off. I have heard though, as weird as this sounds, the dishwasher soap/detergent needs some food particles, oils and dirt to work properly. Not exactly sure how that works though.

No need to separate utensils but handles up prevents a good accidental stabbing from a knife or fork. I’ve had several fork tines and knives catch the underside of a fingernail when just reaching into a dirty dishwasher or removing from basket when clean.

[scooperhsd]

I soak my cereal bowl every morning (and we handwash our dishes), because dried on milk is harder to get clean than if it was rinsed off in the morning.

[msb]

 Times like this when all life's little details that we usually don't even think about come to the forefront. I don't think it's dishwasher etiquette that's the issue, I think it may be "new lady friend's etiquette"...her house, her rules

When the border opens again, if you ever find your way up here to BC, stop by and I'll let you load my dishwasher....you won't have to pre-wash,  you can plunk the silverware in any which way you wish...and by all means place them in nice little groups for easier removal

[Hook#3287]

 I do the prewash/rinse so that I don't die from the fumes when opening the door to put something else in.

Living alone, sometimes the used stuff will sit in there a day or more or longer.

I don't put forks with forks or spoons with spoons just so the don't "spoon" and not get cleaned correctly.

I don't mind filling the thing, but for some reason I shy away from emptying it.

[Oss]

Mandy licks all the bowls and plates before they go in the dishwasher

She is an overweight dog.  But happy

She is the one in the front of the pic

 

[SpidyJ]

So what does the dishwasher do???

 ???

[F6Dave]

Thanks to government efficiency standards reducing water consumption, dishwasher cycles are far longer.  The goal was to save water but the result is dirty dishes.  The fancy Bosch dishwasher I bought a few years ago doesn't clean nearly as well as the one it replaced.  The removal of phosphates from detergents hasn't helped either.  Trump made some news by promising to relax the standards.

I found a workaround.  I now run a quick cycle twice, using detergent for the first run.  The dishes get a lot cleaner in about half the time.

[Valker]

I hate handwashing dishes, so I always buy a dishwasher that has a built in disposal to grind the crap I leave on plates. I never prewash nor even rinse most dishes. Sometimes silverware is handle up, sometimes down. I wash my hands prior to unloading. I use one of those "dishwasher cleaner" things occasionally. I clean my filter regularly. I don't care if the thing runs for hours and hours-I'm not handwashing.

[0leman]

We tend to rinse off the plates, glasses, and silverware before putting them in the washer.   But then they tend to sit in there for three days.  I put the silverware in handles down, believe that enables the dirty portion to get cleaned better.  I just pay attention to where I put my hands when putting them away.

 I do wash the pots and pans by hand.  The DW and I have an agreement, she cooks and I clean up afterwards.  Been that way since I retired over 10 years ago.

The Dishwasher does empty in to the garbage disposal.  Thought that was a normal hookup for dishwashers. 

[Jess from VA]

I've never used a dishwasher for anything but pot and pan storage.  My current home came with a near new portable, and I took the nice butcher block top off, and dumped the portable in a dumpster (for more room in my galley kitchen).

(Except childhood) I've only ever lived alone or with one other, and dish washing by hand rarely takes more than 2-3 minutes.  When married (the 2d long one), I did most of the cooking and she did all the washing (the food tasted much better this way).

I'm not a gourmet cook and often choose what to eat based on dirtying the least amount of pots and pans.  I have devised every bachelor trick known to man to cut down on dish dirtying and washing.  When cooking, I wash things that are finished being used, while other things are still cooking.  And although I have a whole kitchen full of nice cook wear, dishes and utensils, I mostly use the same plate, fork, spoons, knifes, bowl, coffee cup and glass for all my meals (for years).  It's all clean in the stainless dish strainer, and never gets put away.    (But paper plates for spaghetti is out)

With a family, I guess I can see using one.   But for ones and twos, it takes more time, energy (human and electric) and water to use a dishwasher than to do them by hand.  

And a hand job beats a machine job every time.   

[old2soon]

     Here where I live hand washing is what it are. At my Brothers place Most of his dishes and utensils go to the dishwasher bur Not All utensils do. Her at my place after eating eggs the plate is put in the bottom of a sink and left to soak in plain cold water. I have a medium soft brush to later remove most of the egg residue. Anything that has held milk gets rinsed in plain cold water maybe twice that in the long run makes them easier to wash. Sometimes But NOT all the time our little ol M/C board has some different "stuff" ya normally don't even discuss!   RIDE SAFE

[Robert]

Dishwasher requires water going in to be 130 to 150 degrees and preferably the hotter. Sani rinse will also help in cleaning.

I think the real question is not about the dishwasher as much as men vs women in doing household things like this.

I hand wash even with a dishwasher because I use very hot water and Clorox and they come out spotless and sterile. But the wife does the main cooking so even when I do this  she puts them in the dishwasher as if there is a magic genie in there that cleans ALL, the nasty stuff off the dishes. Unless this dishwasher puts its blessings on the dishes they are not clean.

 The placement is also VERY important since it seems the mfg or me dont know how to properly place dishes in the dishwasher. Even though in her placement the jets of water dont hit the face of the plates to be cleaned.

But when they are done and she puts them away she is happy with them.

That is the secret, not the actual facts or the working of dishwasher or the fact that you are more than likely correct, but the fact that she perceives the dishes as clean and she is happy.

So while in close encounters it makes no difference how the dishes are stacked or loaded in the big scheme of things, they will get clean.

But you may not get the reward at night if you dont follow or understand the intricacies of the female mind in household chores.

I laugh it off and pick my battles for other times when it really counts.

I always thought doing thing correctly proved you love someone but thats not always the case, sometimes its in the accommodation and acknowledgement that you are one in how you load the dishwasher.

[Jess from VA]

But you may not get the reward at night if you don't follow or understand the intricacies of the female mind.

Brother, that is a whole other 20 page thread of discussion, confusion, and comedy. 

[John Schmidt]

Living alone kinda controls how often I run the resident noisemaker. If I happen to cook a lot, I'll run the DW more often, otherwise if it's just me and no major messes made it only gets run about every 3rd day. Even when caring for the wife, it didn't run every day cuz we just didn't dirty that many dishes or silverware. That creates a need to rinse the majority of debris off since I know it's gonna sit for a couple days at least. I especially clean bowls if I had oatmeal. Once dried on, that stuff will hold tiles on the Space Shuttle. Another thing I found out when replacing our DW a couple years back....not all the new ones come with an emulsifier in the drain, creating the need to dispose of the larger particles ahead of time. As for the silverware, handles down. Gets better exposure to the wash and when the water drains off while washing it doesn't settle on the "business" end you put in your mouth.

[Robert]

But you may not get the reward at night if you don't follow or understand the intricacies of the female mind.

Brother, that is a whole other 20 page thread of discussion, confusion, and comedy. 

 20?  ???

[..]

But you may not get the reward at night if you don't follow or understand the intricacies of the female mind.

Brother, that is a whole other 20 page thread of discussion, confusion, and comedy. 

 20?  ???

 

[John Schmidt]

And a hand job beats a machine job every time.   

Experience I presume?  

[Jess from VA]

And a hand job beats a machine job every time.   

Experience I presume?  

You bet John, I don't trust those damn machines. 

[Gavin_Sons]

Our dish washer broke last week. I had to get out the spare and dust her off and re teach her how to wash dishes properly.  Had to order a new recirculation pump. Got it installed a few days ago and it works great again. The spare will go back in storage until next time. Handles always up so you dont jab yourself with a knife or fork. My wife does handles down and is always poking herself when removing the clean utensils. Told her if it breaks again our spare dishwasher won't  work because she will be injured.

[Rams]

We pre-rinse our dishes prior to loading but that's it.   Something that may be hard to get cleaned may get to sit in water with soap for the day but, that's only if it's really stuck on.

The reason to not group the silverware is so that they don't spoon or lay/stack up against each other.  
Back when I was a teenager, I worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant.   Actually my first job off the ranch.   Technically, the handles are supposed to point down but, I agree that putting the handles in the up position is smarter.   The reason for putting the handles in the down position is, food frequently gets stuck and by having it in the up position, the chances are better that a sprayer will make direct contact or spray it directly.

Rams

[Gavin_Sons]

https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=18915

[9Ball]

I put the blades and tines facing down because I hate getting stabbed by the silverware.  A fork tine under the fingernail tends to hurt for a few days.  Getting stabbed by an upward facing knife is also something that I’ve experienced more than once.  It’s now a rule in our household to place these down whether in the dishwasher or the strainer by the sink.

I installed a new dishwasher last year and the cleaning cycles are at least double the time from the one that it replaced.  The cascade platinum pods along with the finish liquid dispenser seems to do a pretty good job.

We pre-rinse the dishes to remove the big stuff or anything that will dry and cake on the dishes because we don’t run the dishwasher but twice a week.  I don’t want to overtax the grinder and have to replace the unit anytime too soon.

[DirtyDan]

......... control

Dan

[Challenger]

Our house had a dishwasher when we moved in, tried using it several times. I put regular dish soap in it once and spent the afternoon sweeping suds out the door onto our patio.  Wife said it was a waste of time for two people and couldn't hear the TV while it was running. It did work miracles on the wire hubcaps off the Toronado.  Finally removed it and never miss it. 

[Avanti]

Washing dishes by hand keeps my hands clean too.