Group Discussion: How To Correctly Load a Dishwasher

With the relentless progress of humans into the bright, shiny future of technological nirvana comes new spins on age-old debates about the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. And the answer of 42 does not cover how to correctly load a dishwasher.

From the Washington Post:

We asked five of our Washington Post colleagues to load the dishwasher in our test kitchen while narrating their thought process, on video. Each had the same assortment of plates, bowls, glasses, mugs, silverware and pots and pans to choose from, with the caveat that they didn’t have to fit everything into the machine. We even threw in a few traps, in the form of cast iron, crystal, knives and a wooden spoon.

Our volunteers were a sharp bunch: No one fell for the cast iron or crystal, and most of them caught the knife and wooden spoon. Otherwise, their methods were all over the map, with varying styles of loading the silverware or trying to put together the puzzle with large bowls or cookware.

There probably isn’t one right way to load a dishwasher, no matter what your roommate, parent or partner tells you. There are some best practices, though.

“You want it to be able to clean what you’re trying to clean, and you want it to not damage, scratch or ruin what you’ve put in there,” Ek says. “If you can achieve both of those things, done is better than ideal.”

Plates: Load these in the bottom rack, between the tines so they aren’t touching one another. Face them toward the center, where the sprayer is, for best results.

Bowls: These can go in the top or the bottom rack, just make sure they’re angled down with enough space between to let the water reach the dirt.

Pots and pans: Yes, you can put these in the dishwasher if there’s room. Place them in the bottom rack, where the water is hotter and has the most pressure, to get anything baked on during cooking. As with bowls, they should be angled down and have some space around them.

Glasses and mugs: Always load glassware and mugs in the top rack. Place glasses facing down between the tines, not over them; putting them over the tines can put more stress on the glass, making it more vulnerable to damage. It can also cause water spotting.

Plastic: These items should go on the top shelf because the water pressure and temperature are lower, meaning there’s less potential to damage or deform the plastic.

Silverware: There is no one “right” way to load utensils. Handles down will get them cleaner, exposing dirty parts to more water.

But if children are helping you, pointing sharp objects down is safer. For spoons, go handles down, but make sure they aren’t nesting against one another.