By hand, in order
Scrape food into the trash before any water runs. Fill the sink or a dish tub with hot water and a squirt of soap instead of washing under an open tap, which pours out about two gallons a minute. Wash glasses first, then flatware, then plates and bowls, then serving dishes, and leave pots and pans for last. Change the water when it turns greasy or cool. Rinse with hot water and let everything dry in the rack, since a damp dish towel spreads more bacteria than it removes. A pan with burned-on food needs a soak in hot soapy water for half an hour before you scrub it.
What never goes in the machine
- Good kitchen knives lose their edge to detergent and rattling, and their handles eventually loosen.
- Cast iron and carbon steel lose their seasoning and rust within a single cycle.
- Wooden boards, spoons and bowls warp and crack.
- Nonstick pans last years longer when they are washed by hand, whatever the label claims.
- Vacuum-insulated bottles, crystal, gold-rimmed china and bare aluminum all come out damaged or discolored.
Loading the machine
Plates go in the bottom rack, between the tines and facing the center. Pots and large items sit along the sides and back, angled downward, where they cannot block the detergent door. Glasses, mugs, small bowls and all plastics go on the top rack, away from the heating element, with glasses set between the tines rather than over them so they do not come out spotted or chipped. Mix forks and spoons in the basket so they cannot nest together, and load knives with the blade down. Spin both spray arms by hand before you close the door, because a single tall pan handle can stop one cold.
Getting clean dishes out
Detergent enzymes are designed to work on food soil, so scrape and do not rinse. Run the kitchen tap until it is hot before you press start, which means the first fill is hot as well. Rinse aid is what makes plastics and glasses dry properly. Once a month, twist out the filter at the bottom of the tub, rinse it under the tap and scrub it with an old toothbrush. A clogged filter, a blocked spray arm and overloading account for most complaints that a dishwasher no longer cleans.
Tip Replace the kitchen sponge every week or two, and wring it out and stand it on edge between uses. A sponge that smells is already past saving.
