So I've been loading bowls facing up like a normal person since I moved into my place in Austin back in March. Kept noticing a weird smell no matter how many times I ran the machine with those little cleaner pods. Last weekend I decided to try facing them down because my sister swore by it and holy crap. There was a whole film of grossness trapped under the lip of every bowl, the top rack was basically a science experiment. It took me 5 months and about 20 extra rinse cycles to figure out what everyone else apparently knew already. How long did it take you guys to realize the bowl direction thing was a real issue? I feel like an idiot but also kind of mad nobody told me sooner.
So last weekend my cousin from Portland stayed over and watched me load the dishwasher. I always put knives pointing up because I thought it dried better. He just stood there and said 'you know those are gonna stab someone, right?' I laughed it off until I pulled out a cereal bowl and nicked my thumb on a butter knife tip. Ten years, man. I never got cut before but I guess it was bound to happen. Does anyone else still load utensils point up, or am I the only one living on borrowed time?
That was my Saturday. Paid 60 bucks for that grip-lock angled thing, figured my deep cereal bowls would finally stay put. Nope. Second cycle, boom, one of them flipped and filled halfway with water. But here's the weird part... I was reading the manual out of boredom, and on page 14 it says the angle actually depends on the WASH ARM spray pattern. My machine's lower arm has a different pitch than the test model they used. So I guess the claim is true, just not for my crusty old GE from 2008. Have any of you actually measured the spray angle under your rack, or am I just going down a YouTube rabbit hole?
I used to just toss glasses in the top rack any which way. Cups came out with water spots and that weird film on the bottom. My wife kept complaining so I finally timed a full cycle and realized the spray arm couldn't reach the tall ones in the back corner. Switched to angling every glass face down at a 45 degree tilt, rim resting on the prongs. Also stopped stacking bowls next to them so the water path stays clear. Two weeks of this and every single glass comes out dry and clear. Has anyone else figured out the exact angle that works for their rack, or do you guys just cram and pray?
Six months ago I started keeping a tally on my fridge after I got sick of pulling crusty bowls out of the bottom rack. The rule was simple: every load had to come out clean or I had to fix my loading method, not just rerun it. This morning I hit number 100 in a row and honestly it took way more effort than I expected around load 40. Turns out the game changer was switching all my plates to face inward on the right side and never letting a spoon touch a bowl. My wife thought I was nuts for tracking this, but she stopped complaining when she stopped having to scrape food off. Anybody else keep a streak like this or am I the only one who treats loading like a sport?
I switched all my cereal bowls to a 45 degree angle against the tines last October after a guy on here swore by it, and the water spots vanished but my soup spoons started flipping over every cycle. Anyone else had their silverware rearrange themselves when you change the bowl setup?
Used to line bowls up all facing the same way. Thought it looked neat. Then my sister visited last month and flipped every other one. Said water pools between them if they're same direction. I called her crazy. Ran a cycle that night. Bottom rack was dry for once. Not a single puddle. Now I do alternating angles. But my wife says it wastes space. She loads bowls in a stack on the top rack. We're at war over this. Who's right here? Anyone else make this switch or are you all still row stackers?
We were doing Thanksgiving cleanup at her place in Portland and I loaded the flatware basket the way I always do, all jumbled with handles mixed. She pulled out a spoon that was nested inside another spoon and said "you're just making extra work for whoever unloads this." She showed me her method, all forks in one section and pointing the same direction. I thought it was fussy until I unloaded her dishwasher this morning and it took me like 30 seconds without touching a single dirty spot. Has anyone else gotten schooled by a relative and actually changed their whole system?
Last week I was unloading and realized I'd been doing the whole 'facing all forks down' thing my grandma swore by, but never actually understood why until I pulled out a bowl with a crusted-on lip. She always said the angle matters more than the direction, and now I see it. Anyone else have a family trick that took you decades to actually get?
She watched me load a full load last Tuesday and said I treat the racks like a game of Jenga. Now I second guess every angle, has anyone else had a partner call out their whole system?
I used to be a forks-up guy until I opened my dishwasher last Tuesday and found a spoon handle had stabbed through a plastic lid on the top rack. Now I put everything handle-up, and after 3 weeks I've had zero injuries and cleaner silverware because water drains off the concave part instead of pooling. Has anyone else tried the switch and noticed their drying improved?
She insisted it lets water hit the prongs better, but after three months I pulled out a fork with dried egg still stuck between the tines from pointing up. Has anyone else tried both ways and seen a clear winner on which gets things cleaner?
I noticed my spoons kept coming out with water spots and realized they were all stacked together, so I tried separating each piece by type and angle in the basket, and now everything dries perfectly. Does anyone else separate forks from spoons or just toss them in however they land?
My sister Sarah told me for YEARS that you have to put spoons alternating up and down in the basket. I thought she was nuts. Like how much difference can spoon direction possibly make? Last Sunday I loaded a big load after a BBQ with 12 spoons all facing down. When I opened it, every single spoon had a water spot or a little chunk of food stuck in the bowl. I re-ran the whole load with them alternating and they came out PERFECT. Has anyone else found a loading "rule" that sounded dumb but actually works?
I kept track on a dry erase board stuck to my fridge. I used to be a fork-up person, thought it was cleaner. Then my roommate pointed out that every time she unloaded, she'd poke her finger on the tines trying to grab them. That made me switch to fork-down about 6 months ago. I never thought I'd hit 200 loads straight doing it the other way. It's kind of silly but seeing that number on the board makes me feel like I finally picked the right side. Has anyone else tracked a dumb dishwasher habit like this and surprised yourself?
We were doing dishes last night and he just casually drops that forks should go tines down in the basket. I always put them tines up because that's how my mom did it. But he said it's safer for grabbing them out without stabbing yourself. Honestly, I tried it this morning and it does make grabbing them easier but now I'm worried they won't get as clean. Any of you switch sides on this?
My wife and I argued about this for about 4 years. She always stacked dinner plates on the top rack and bowls on the bottom. Last month I swapped them during a midnight load and woke up to every single plate bone dry, no puddles. Has anyone else found that the top rack's angle just doesn't work for big flat surfaces?
I used to stack cereal bowls on the bottom rack until last Tuesday when the spray arm caught one and launched it into a wine glass. Now I put them all on the top rack angled down and haven't had a single casualty since - has anyone else had a dish missile incident?
She claims it saves space but everything comes out with water pooled in the bottom, does anyone have a convincing argument for why a slight angle is the only way?
Picked up a cheap replacement rack on Amazon. Felt like a deal. First wash and the coating started peeling off. Little bits of plastic all over my plates. Ended up having to rewash everything by hand. Anyone else get burned by those budget racks?
My roommate swears forks up cleans better. Tried it for 2 weeks. Hand wash was needed half the time because stuff got stuck. Went back to forks down. Haven't had a single dirty fork since. Anyone else run this test?
My family rented a cabin for a week and the dishwasher had a nasty film on everything after the first wash. Turned out someone threw a glass casserole dish with baked-on cheese straight in without rinsing, and it jammed the spray arm. Has anyone else dealt with a rental dishwasher that ruined a full load because of one lazy guest?
She pulled out perfectly loaded plates and restacked them all vertical like some kind of maniac at her house last November. Now I find myself second guessing if my horizontal method actually gets stuff cleaner or if I just hate change. Has anyone actually tested which angle gets plates cleaner in a real kitchen or are we all just guessing?
I loaded my dishwasher last night and the silverware basket tipped sideways dumping all my forks into the bottom. It took me 20 minutes to fish them all out again. Does anyone have a trick to keep that basket from flopping around?