Loading Dishwashers - Cutlery Handles UP or DOWN?

[mrs.dr.ron]

Thought it was French for wife's job

In this household it is a husbands job

 

[Virgin Bart]

There are women on this forum you know...

Ones that I can hire to do my dishes?

 

[blackcat20]

Ones that I can hire to do my dishes?

I won't tell you what I actually want to say in response to that...

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Most dishwashers have little notches in the top basket covers that are for washing sharp knives blade up. The knife sits perpendicular to the shelf. They get a good clean.

 

[Duffa]

FOLDER! always

 

[clazman]

Good to see everyone has a sense of humour

 

[AVC]

I put the handles down. I hand wash sharp knives.

So the knives in the dishwasher are all blunt?

ps. Mrs VC is hopeless at loading the dishwasher so I always do it. If she does it I end up redoing it.

I have a system! It's not OCD! No, really.

 

[anat0l]

So the knives in the dishwasher are all blunt?

Well, there's kind of a sharpness hierarchy, e.g. butter knives, paring knives, table knives, peeling knives, bread knives, chef knives, carving knives, cleavers... there's a point in that you analyse the risk and decide it doesn't quite fit as a "sharp knife"; my criterion is usually that if the blade has a pointed end and a long blade, it should be considered sharp (e.g. a real risk).

Of course, all knives should be kept out of reaches of children. PSA everyone

 

[JohnK]

In this household it is a husbands job

And in this household it isn't the man's job to wash dishes.

It is a very simple concept. If you want a clean dish then you wash it yourself....

 

[knasty]

So the knives in the dishwasher are all blunt?

ps. Mrs VC is hopeless at loading the dishwasher so I always do it. If she does it I end up redoing it.

I have a system! It's not OCD! No, really.

I'm glad I am not the only one. Now I have a Miele with a tray and have used those without I can't go back, I won't...

 

[rainbowgirl]

So the knives in the dishwasher are all blunt?

ps. Mrs VC is hopeless at loading the dishwasher so I always do it. If she does it I end up redoing it.

I have a system! It's not OCD! No, really.

Maybe I should have said "knives with a sharp point at the top"

 

[RooFlyer]

<snip>

ps. Mrs VC is hopeless at loading the dishwasher so I always do it. If she does it I end up redoing it.

<snip>.

You are not alone it seems!!

Article on loading dishwashers here. "However you’re loading your dishwasher, it’s probably wrong " It gives tips on what to do with gold plated flatware.

ps I still load mine (Fisher & Paykel 2 draw job) according to the written instructions - pointy ends of utensils down!

 

[rainbowgirl]

Can't get to the article from the Australian as I'm not subscribed.

Edit- Okay I figured out a way to get in. Interesting article. Thanks.

 

[RooFlyer]

OK .. here is more of the article

Jennifer Vargas usually catches her husband in the act late at night. “After I’ve started the dishwasher, he’ll open it up and start rearranging everything,” says Ms. Vargas, a public-relations executive in New York. “It drives me crazy.” Her husband, Levy Vargas, an operations director, says his stacking method gets better results. “Jen is more blasé, and I’m more agitated by incorrect loading,” he says. “If I don’t think it will come out clean, I’ll start moving stuff around.”

It should be simple: Pile used plates, bowls, coffee cups, glasses, forks, spoons and knives into the dishwasher and turn it on. Yet loading the dishwasher is one of the most contentious household chores. Not only is it the rare task often shared by multiple family members, but it is also done in the home’s most central room — the kitchen — where it can be scrutinised, debated and redone.

The stakes of how we load the dishes are higher than ever, appliance makers say. Energy-saving dishwashers use less water, and that heightens tensions about how much pre-rinsing is needed. People also argue about whether utensils should be loaded with handles up or down, which rack should hold plastic containers and how full the load should be.

“The dump and turn-on is not my approach. I’m much more orderly,” says Martha Stewart, lifestyle guru and chief creative officer of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. She credits the longevity of many prized dishes and utensils to rules she has honed for loading the 17 dishwashers inside 21 kitchens across her properties.

“The don’ts are more important than the do’s,” Ms. Stewart says. Never put knives, pewter, wood, china, crystal, cast iron, non-stick pans or gold-plate flatware in the dishwasher, she says. She also doesn’t mix sterling or silver-plate flatware with stainless-steel because a reaction between the metals can damage both finishes.

Bosch says more than 40% of Americans fight about loading the dishwasher, with 61% of them arguing over whether to pre-rinse dishes. Some 39% of those who argue say they disagree on whether knives should point up or down, and 30% differ on whether plastic containers must go on the top rack.

“If ruining plastic containers has plagued your marriage, Bosch has the solution,” says a character called “Dalia, the dishwashing marriage counsellor,” in an online video spoof by the company. Bosch dishwashers have a concealed heating element that keeps plastic from melting if it gets too close, the company says.

To end the war over utensil handles and whether they should point up or down, dishwasher makers increasingly offer models with a third rack on top, to keep similar utensils from nesting. The shallow rack has tines that hold forks, knives, spoons and large utensils laid out horizontally, instead of standing up vertically in a basket below.

The third rack frees up space to squeeze more into the lower two racks — a benefit that has a big emotional pay-off for users, says Andrew Spanyer, General Electric Co.’s dishwasher product manager.

GE defines different loading styles and makes sure each rack design can accommodate the range of methods. “Protectors,” for example, want to load utensils with the handle up, so that the eating end isn’t touched when unloading; “organisers” just want to load and unload everything as fast as possible, Mr. Spanyer says. GE’s dishwashers with a third rack enable “protectors” to have a dedicated home for utensils, but a traditional utensil basket on the lower rack is included, too, so “organisers” have the option to get it over with fast.

“Curators” are the most particular users, Mr. Spanyer says. “They will place all their tall plates together, even though they don’t have to,” he says.

Jessica Olstad, a public relations director in St. Paul, Minnesota, strives for perfection when she loads her family’s dishes and describes the end result as “liberating.” She places her white dinner plates together toward the front of the lower rack while pots and pans go in the back with handles pointing left — a little touch she knows has no effect on cleanliness. “That’s just aesthetics,” she says.

Ms. Olstad says her husband, Jay, probably doesn’t know she rearranges the dishes after he loads them. “As much as we communicate with each other, I don’t know if I’ve ever told him this before,” she says.

Many consumers have been loading dishwashers the same way since they were children, even though the appliance can do more than ever, companies say. Nowhere is this more evident than in the practice of pre-rinsing dishes before loading — which most appliance and soap makers don’t recommend.

Cascade, made by Procter & Gamble Co., warns against pre-washing, except for removing large pieces of food. Enzymes in Cascade detergent are designed to attach themselves to food particles. Without food, the enzymes have nothing to latch on to, P & G says.