Dishwasher Usage

Dishwashers are a fantastic way to save time, water, and energy. Basically an almost-perfect appliance, these wonder machines wash and dry your dishes efficiently, all while freeing you up to do anything else. Even countertop and rolling floor models for space-constrained users are available. There are a few catches and ways to optimize performance, both of which we’ll cover here, along with a quick-start guide.

Super-Short Guide

Load your dishes into your dishwasher so they don’t block the jet from each other, and allow moving parts to spin freely. Make sure plastic, heat-sensitive, and top-rack dishes are loaded into the top rack, if applicable. Add soap intended for a dishwasher, close the washer, and select the appropriate cycle.

Dish Placement

When loading a dishwasher, there are a few considerations: there are moving and hot components in the dishwasher, and the water jets come from specific places and care should be taken to avoid blocking other dishes. The easy way to figure out how to properly load dishes is to refer to your owner’s manual and care guide of your dishes. Outside of that, most dishwashers use a spinning arm with jets to spray water around onto your dishes. When loading up the washer, make sure these arms can spin freely. A sign these arms may have been blocked is a few dishes have been cleaned in a single spot, but everything else was untouched. The jets cleaned and worked fine, but the arm wasn’t able to spin around and cover the dishes. Another consideration is to make sure no dishes obscure each other. A sign this may have happened is one or a few dishes aren’t cleaned, but the rest have been cleaned fine. Make sure there’s a path for the jets to reach the surfaces of your dishes. Another consideration is where to place dishes in regards to heat. At the bottom of dishwashers frequently is a heating element for reheating circulated water, as well as drying dishes. These elements obviously get hot, and can melt plastic dishes or damage heat-sensitive ones. For plastic, heat-sensitive, and dishes that call for it, place them on the top rack, if applicable. For countertop and space-saving washers, you can try placing the dishes away from the heating elements. Finally, watch out for the placement of dishes and pans, and where they touch each other. For pans, keep an eye out for dissimilar metals. These can form a battery, and corrode each other. Also look out for points where moving kitchenware can rub against each other, and cause scratches. Finally, be aware of cutlery and other sharp objects that can possibly cause damage to your dishwasher or to themselves.

Soap

It may be tempting to just load up any old soap you have on hand, but automatic dishwasher soap is different than your standard dish washing soap. The main difference is soap meant for machines is non-sudsing, or doesn’t form many bubbles. While it may be nice to see bubbles and foam with your standard dish soap in the sink, the pumping and spraying action will create huge volumes of them inside your machine that will spew forth like a giant bubble volcano out of all the seams and vents, making a big mess. There are several kinds of dishwasher soap: liquid, pellets, packets, and powder. Powder is the most flexible, and often the cheapest. This allows you to add more or less, depending on the quality of your water. If you encounter soap scum, you can cut back on the soap you add, but if you have hard-water deposits left behind, you can up the soap amount to bring this in check. Dishwashers also often have pre-wash dispensers, where you can add extra dish soap that’s added to the first rinse cycle to get extra cleaning power. Liquid soap is essentially the same as powder, but dissolved into liquid; it largely functions the same as powder, but may be easier to control. Pellets are often just the powder pressed into a convenient, solid, pre-dosed form, saving you measuring out the powder and getting it all over creation with a new box of powder. They can also contain two kinds of soap, designed to dissolve, and therefore clean, at different rates. Packets are another form that contain detergent in a pre-dosed form. Some contain a loose powder, and are intended to dissolve faster than pellets. Others contain a pre-dosed amount of liquid. Packets can also contain both doses of liquid and powder, similar to two-soap pellets, to allow soaps that may cancel each other out if mixed to work in concert these packets can offer a selection of different soaps for different needs. One last soap-of-sorts that dishwashers need is rinse aid, which help rinse the dishwasher soap off of the dishes, give them a sparkling finish, and to dry them faster. No matter the soap, if you see undissolved soap, be careful, as it can cause chemical burns if touched. If it does get on skin, wash the area thoroughly until it no longer feels slippery.

Space-Saving Appliances

Most homes have dishwashers already installed, but just because your home doesn’t have one installed doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from having a dishwasher. Portable dishwashers usually connect to a sink, and plug into a standard outlet for power. To connect these to a sink, they frequently have a coupling fitting that replaces a faucet’s aerator, then a quick-connect hose setup attaches to this fitting. The quick-connect also has a return drain on the bottom to give a place for the dishwasher to empty. Any food particles may be emptied via this drain line, and may end up in your sink. Keep this in mind when choosing a sink: ones armed with a garbage disposal are your best bet. Rolling portable dishwashers have almost all the amenities of their larger, stationary cousins, including a top-rack, but have a smaller volume. When not needed, these can roll away into a closet for storage and space saving. If even less room is available, countertop models are about the size of a microwave oven, and can work in even very space constrained situations. However to fit the envelope, they do away with a top rack. There are even models that don’t require a hookup to a sink. These small models require more discipline than larger units, since you can’t do as many dishes at a time. Remembering to always place kitchenware in the machine and not let them build up is key with these machines, as their limited cycle capacity means it will take a lot longer to do a pile a regular washer can do.

Troubleshooting and Maintenance

Sometimes things go wrong, and your dishwasher doesn’t work as expected. The most frequent issue you’ll encounter is caused by misloading the washer. As discussed earlier, dishes blocking each other, the jets, or motion of the arms will cause incomplete washing. Another issue that can occur is if you find dish soap still in the machine, or not dispensed. The soap dispenser is typically a spring-loaded flap released by a wax motor. If anything blocks this door from opening all the way, you’ll end up with undissolved soap. Be careful, as this soap is designed to break down organic matter, and if left on your skin will give you burns. If you end up with soap on your skin, wash the affected area until it no longer has a slippery feeling. Dishes not drying may also be caused by loading the washer incorrectly. Bowls and cups should be upside down in the dishwasher so water doesn’t collect inside them. If you find spotting or drips of water, you may need to add or increase the amount of rinse air. You may also encounter incomplete draining. Dishwashers come in two styles, ones with disposal systems built-in and ones with collection filters. If you find your washer isn’t draining, something may be clogging it. On models with disposals, hard objects may make it into the disposal, jamming the disposal or pumps in the system. Following the manual, carefully disassemble the washer and ensure the pump and disposal are free-spinning. On systems with filters, while a jam is still possible, more frequently the filter itself has just become clogged. Remove the filter, and rinse it out to correct this issue. The filter should be frequently inspected and cleaned to keep the dishwasher at peak performance. You may also find the dishwasher is not cleaning at its maximum capability. Often, food material may clog the jets on the spinning arms of the washer. These can usually be removed and cleared with a toothpick. With burnt-on food, running a rinse cycle and waiting or leaving kitchenware to soak can help break up and soften food before washing it in the dishwasher. Some brands of detergent can also help with stuck food. Finally, periodically run a wash of the washer. You can use vinegar, or ready-made dishwasher washing products. There are also products that allow you to wash your dishwasher and wash your dishes at the same time, though they may not be as thorough. Doing periodic cleaning can allow your machine to run at peak performance, clearing out grease, scale build-up, and food, and kill any bacteria that have built-up. While these are the most frequent issues, other issues may come up. Reference your owner’s manual, or search for your model along with the issue you’re facing to see what the possible solution may be. Most issues can be solved with some screwdriver work, but if you’re unsure, contact a qualified technician.