Thursday, June 18, 2009

Crazy things I never knew about my diswasher...

There are some appliances in my life that I regularly pay homage to, like my washing machine. Thank goodness I don't have to go down to the river and beat my clothes against a rock. My dishwasher, however, I could live without. It just doesn't do a very good job. I'll admit part of the problem is that it's old and another part is that I didn't pick it out. It's cheap and it came with the house, but since it's not actually broken I'm not paying to replace it.




But the other day I came across some info that might help my dishwasher perform better. Some of it totally goes against my normal thinking. Here goes:



1) Use Powdered Detergent: What?! How can powder work better than liquid? It just does, that's how. And don't bother with tablets, they're totally useless. And you know what powder is cheaper. Yeah!



2) Load Dishes Properly: Put glasses along the side of the top rack, and saucers and cups in the middle. The durable stuff belongs on the bottom rack. Note to my family: SEE. I told you so!



3) Use The Normal Cycle: Consumer Reports tests dishwashers using the normal cycle. Dishwasher makers know this and make it the most efficient cycle. Another note to my family: SEE. I told you so!



4) Air Dry Your Dishes: Quickly dry your dishes by opening the dishwasher immediately after it shuts off. The hot dishes will quickly give up water moisture and should dry within ten minutes.
Since we stopped using the "heated dry" our dishes have been spotty. I tried opening the dishwasher right after the wash cycle. IT WORKS. No more spots. FYI: My grandmother taught me this a long time ago. She hand washed her dishes then put the rack into a dry sink an poured hot water all over the clean dishes for a quick and spotless dry.



5) Avoid Clogs: Wash the spray arm once in a while. Clean out the drain occasionally. Stuff gets trapped in these places and prevents the machine from cleaning properly.



You'll be comforted to know that my relationship with my dishwasher has healed greatly thanks to my new knowledge.


photo by hedgeman

1 comment:

  1. Great to see this mentioned, I never would have though of cleaning out potential clogs on my dishwasher before a problem occurs. Anything that avoids an unnecessary service call or replacement of an appliance is great in this current financial climate

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