I don't load the dishwasher properly

[Leaffan]

[QUOTE=Ponder Stibbons]
Leaffan, you never said who keeps telling you you’re loading the dishwasher all wrong, although I assume it’s your SO.

Me, I learned how to load it via an ancient and obscure method known as RTFM. Way back when I bought my house I also put in a new dishwasher and proceeded to read the manual while the guys were installing it.

I found out all sorts of neat things, like the fact that, as Zsofia says, you don’t need to rinse before loading it. Sure, there are some items, like pans with baked-on cheese, that you’ll need to clean first, but except for stuff like that, “pre-washing” or pre-rinsing or whatever you want to call it is just a waste of time and water. Also, and this surprised me at the time, the manual stated that all silverware should be placed with their business end UP, and the handle down. I guess the water sprays catch them better or something.

Anyway, that’s my two cents worth of contribution.
[/QUOTE]

Yes. SO, who IMHO is a bit of a control freak anyway, hence the mini-rant. After being “locked-down” with her for a week I needed to vent.

Originally when it was just the two of us, her reason for rinsing was that the dishwasher didn’t go on often enough. OK, fair, I’ll rinse. Then when the kids came along and the dishwasher went on with more regularity, the plates, cups, utensils etc. still required rinsing because, you see, it was an older dishwasher and wouldn’t clean properly without rinsing.

Now we have a brand new Whirlpool dishwasher, and it goes on every 2 or 3 days, and we still need to rinse apparently! :smack: If I load the dishwasher, she will pull things out, rinse them, reload them and wash bigger things like bowls and pans by hand. When she’s not here I load everything in and run the dishwasher. Guess what: it works just the same, with half the water and effort.

I dunno. I clean the bathrooms. I go through the fridge, round up and put out the garbage. I do all the outside work. I cook as often as her. I clean up afterwards as often as her. I sometimes vacuum. I don’t touch laundry – even though I lived for 10 years on my own – I apparently don’t know what to do with clothes.

… I just deleted a bunch of other stuff. See the control freak comment above. Welcome to my world. I just do my best to comply or ignore at this point.

[Muffin]

[QUOTE=Leaffan]
Now we have a brand new Whirlpool dishwasher, and it goes on every 2 or 3 days, and we still need to rinse apparently! :smack: If I load the dishwasher, she will pull things out, rinse them, reload them and wash bigger things like bowls and pans by hand. When she’s not here I load everything in and run the dishwasher. Guess what: it works just the same, with half the water and effort.
[/QUOTE]
It’s in the genes. Same reason that some folks clean house before the cleaning person arrives.

[THespos]

This laundry method got me by for 15 years until I was told that it’s not right and that I’m not allowed to do wash anymore unless the clothes involved are all mine:

Whites go in the washing machine with soap, hot water and occasionally some bleach if there are nasty coffee stains or whatever.

Darks go in the washing machine with soap and either warm or cold water, depending on how lucky I feel that day.

Afterward, everything goes in the dryer and gets dried on high heat.

Any article of clothing that won’t tolerate being processed in this way goes to the dry cleaners so that the dry cleaning pixies can deal with it. This includes sweaters and most of the clothes I wear to work.

My wife has introduced the notion of using this flimsy little wooden rack to dry things she thinks ought not to be dried in the dryer. Of course, this puts her at odds with the directions on the label, but she knows better. She also uses fabric softener, which I have determined is an unnecessary step and a waste of money.

Again, I am no longer allowed to do laundry in my own house unless the clothes being laundered are mine and mine only.

[wolfman]

Am I the only one who likes to mess with the Dishwasher police?

I have in inate ability passed from father to son for many generations, For ultimate packing efficiency and a siple glance.(Professional movers bow at my feet ). And Dishwashers are no exception. I love the stiffled gasps as I scoff off the ancient conventions that everything must be Parallel. People protest that there is no way it will fit with Diagonal entries. But at the end, my intricate Herringbone weave of plates and bowls and cups, achieves optimal efficiency.

[Jean_Gray]

Boy, there are some angry people in this thread.

[QUOTE=THespos]
Afterward, everything goes in the dryer and gets dried on high heat.

Any article of clothing that won’t tolerate being processed in this way goes to the dry cleaners so that the dry cleaning pixies can deal with it. This includes sweaters and most of the clothes I wear to work.

My wife has introduced the notion of using this flimsy little wooden rack to dry things she thinks ought not to be dried in the dryer. Of course, this puts her at odds with the directions on the label, but she knows better. She also uses fabric softener, which I have determined is an unnecessary step and a waste of money.
[/QUOTE]

Most women’s clothes these days include some proportion of synthetic material that reacts very badly to going into the dryer on high heat - shrinking, warping, even melting - which is why the directions on those labels call for “tumble dry low” or “lay flat to dry”. Doing those things saves a heckuva lot of money over dry cleaning, even if she “wastes money” using fabric softener. No wonder she tells you not to touch her clothes! I would tell you the same, unless you were into replacing my wardrobe on a regular basis.

[ivylass]

I thought I loaded the dishwasher fine, but my family begs to differ. The kidlets and Ivylad will sigh, say, “Mom’s been loading the dishwasher” and rearrange things.

I get everything in, and everything gets clean. But I’ve been banned from loading the dishwasher. My daughter will shoo me away.

So, in my house, I don’t get to load the dishwasher.

[Triskadecamus]

Dishwasher, silverware is always handle up. It goes into the ancient stainless steel cooking pot in the sink that way first, and the spigot in the sink is placed above it, so every left over bit of water run in the sink soaks the silver ware. Grab it, and load it when it’s time to start the dishes. Grab it when it’s done, and sort it into the drawer thingie. Never touch the business end of any of it.

I usually don’t take the actual plates out of the dishwasher until I use them the first time. They stay clean in there. This does encourage me to leave dirty dishes in the sink, though. Not sure I mind that all that much, as long as they are not sitting in a pool of stagnant water. But, after a few pieces, it becomes necessary to empty the washer, and then empty the sink. (Not the pot full of silver, though, unless you got enough to do a load.)

I don’t fold the fitted sheets either. Well, I sort of fold them, but not carefully. Silly. I do fold the flat sheet, so it can be put on the bed easily. And sheets, blanket, and that under the sheet thing that protects the mattress get changed together, and each set is stacked together, not sorted into sheets, blankets, etc as if it were some inventory thing. Every thing you need to change the bed is in one stack. the other set is on the bed. The other bed has it’s stuff in the drawers under it.

Washcloths get folded in half, because I need horizontal space under the sink for other stuff. They used to be flat, but it got too crowded. Towels stay in the laundry closet, and only one at a time goes with me to the bathroom. Not sure why, that’s just how it happens. Actually, everything but the washcloths get sorted onto the shelves right next to the washer/dryer, or hung on a hanger in the same closet. Just easier.

Other than those things, and food in the kitchen, nothing has a place where it gets “put away” It sits where it sits. Some stuff always sits in the same place, probably because it always gets used in that place. I have way to much stuff currently, and one day fairly soon I will get all relentless and throw out or give away stuff.

Oh, I forgot, the exception to not being put away is cords, and cables. They go into the “snake basket” usually coiled and put into a plastic bag. Some are even marked. Some of it is fairly old. (like the 25ft serial cable, that must be twenty five years old.) There are also lots of connectors, and splicing tools, crimpers, and whatnot in plastic bags too. Getting stuff out is not as bad as it might be, simply because the more modern things are on the top, and the old stuff is nearly useless.

Tris

[Septima]

This thread made me go hug my boyfriend, who’s a perfect angel in the kitchen, folds things so neatly you’d think he was using a ruler, and washes floors I’d be willing to eat from afterwards…and never tells me I do anything wrong.

Oh, and it’s pointy things down when we have acces to a diswasher. Just like you never hand anyone a knife or a scissor with the pointy end forward. Safety issue.

[Muffin]

[QUOTE=Triskadecamus]
Washcloths get folded in half
[/QUOTE]
Washcloths? Now there’s a concept. I get by with large bath towels. Need a bath towel – use a bath towel. Need a hand towel – use a bath towel. Need a wash cloth – use a bath towel. Need a diningroom table serviette – use the cat.

[MissGypsy]

I load the dishwasher in such a way that I can unload it blindfolded – everything in its proper place, in my method. Dinner plates on the lower rack, right side, facing inward; kids’ plates on the front of lower rack, baby bottles on the right side of upper rack, etc. It makes it more efficient when I have to unload and reload the next morning.

The heated dry cycle does help with baby bottles and sippy cups, as it makes them a little more sterile. (Not perfect, I admit, but better than nothing, and easier than boiling them.)

I’m very systematic in my housekeeping, so laundry is sorted and folded in certain ways, dishes and pans are put away in a certain way, and there’s a method to everything. That means I don’t have to think about it while I do it, and I can be planning dinner or kids’ activities instead. Safety and efficiency are paramount.