Carolyn Forté brings more than 40 years of experience as a consumer products expert to her role as executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Home Care and Cleaning Lab. Here, she's showing us how to load a dishwasher properly, and mistakes to avoid making.
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00:00 Can you tell me which one was pre-rinsed?
00:02 That's so crazy to me.
00:03 It's unbelievable.
00:04 This is 3 Mistakes When.
00:07 I'm Jess Theis, Deputy Editor at the Good Housekeeping Institute,
00:10 and today we're going to talk about the mistakes you make when loading your dishwasher.
00:14 And I am joined by the amazing Carolyn Forte,
00:17 the Executive Director of the Cleaning Lab here at Good Housekeeping.
00:20 Tell me a little bit about your experience, what you do in the Cleaning Lab.
00:23 I mean, I've spent pretty much most of my career evaluating all the cleaning products
00:27 and tools and appliances that our readers and consumers use at home.
00:31 So I've been recommending the best and sharing my best tips and advice
00:34 for how to get through their cleaning chores quicker and easier.
00:37 Okay, what are some of the common mistakes that you hear from readers
00:41 when it comes to the dishwasher?
00:42 Is there a right way or is there a wrong way to load the dishwasher?
00:45 So, there is.
00:46 There is?
00:47 There is. We're going to learn today.
00:49 The first and most common mistake that most people make is pre-rinsing their dishes.
00:53 You absolutely do not have to.
00:55 I am very guilty of that, but explain why.
00:58 Well, you don't have to today because dishwashers are so good.
01:01 We've got a couple of dishes here that we're going to do a little experiment on.
01:05 So, you really don't want to pre-rinse them.
01:07 The reason is because it uses too much water.
01:10 A good dishwasher, one that's ENERGY STAR certified, uses only about 4 gallons of water.
01:15 But hand washing a full load of dishes at the sink, 24 gallons.
01:19 The only exception to the rule is if you're not running the cycle right away.
01:23 Okay.
01:24 If you're doing a load right away, you absolutely do not have to pre-rinse.
01:26 And some people will ask me, "Well, don't the dishes need to be dirty in order for the dishwasher detergent to work?"
01:32 And the answer is yes.
01:33 There are enzymes in the detergents that really attack the food that's on the plates.
01:37 So, that's important.
01:38 But it's really more important for the dishwasher.
01:41 Dishwashers today sense how much soil is in the load.
01:44 So, if you put your dishes in and they're super clean, the dishwasher is going to think it doesn't have much to do.
01:49 And it's going to shorten the cycle.
01:51 So, a little food is good on the plates for the detergent and for the dishwasher.
01:55 My dishwasher is smarter than me.
01:56 It really is.
01:57 Humbly.
01:58 What we're going to do is we've got two dishes here.
02:00 We're going to pre-rinse one and we're not going to pre-rinse the other.
02:03 We're going to run them in the cycle and we'll see how well they do.
02:05 I love a good competition.
02:06 That's what we love.
02:07 So, when you say pre-rinse, you don't mean just running water over it.
02:12 You mean like, you know, getting all of the gunk.
02:14 You know, a lot of people wash their dishes before they put them in the dishwasher, which really uses a lot of water.
02:18 And you can see how much water it's taking me to do this.
02:21 So, that's really something that you don't want to do.
02:23 Okay.
02:23 I mean, we've given it a good...
02:25 Yeah, it feels saturated, right?
02:27 Right.
02:28 I'm not the expert here, but you tell me if it feels saturated.
02:30 Right.
02:31 I think we got most of it off.
02:32 How much water do you think you may have just used?
02:34 Ballpark.
02:34 I'd say at least a couple of gallons.
02:36 I mean, it was running it for quite a while.
02:38 And that could be the whole rinse cycle that a dishwasher would use for a whole load.
02:41 So, and that was just one plate.
02:42 Mind blown.
02:43 It's unbelievable.
02:44 So, we're going to put them in now.
02:46 A little tip that we like to recommend, especially if you haven't used the dishwasher in a while, maybe overnight, is to run the hot water tap at the sink closest to the dishwasher.
02:54 Because what that does is it purges your pipes of any cold water that's sitting in there.
02:58 So, then when the cycle starts, you get hot water in the dishwasher.
03:01 That makes perfect sense, and I never would have thought of that.
03:04 It really does make a difference.
03:05 So, now we're going to start this dishwasher.
03:07 We're getting ready to go.
03:08 Perfect.
03:08 And we'll come back in a little while and see how it does.
03:10 All right, Jess.
03:15 Cycle's done.
03:15 All right.
03:16 Take a look.
03:16 I need to see.
03:17 Absolutely.
03:18 So, we've got our two plates here.
03:20 And, can you tell me which one was pre-rinsed and which one wasn't?
03:25 They look great.
03:26 That's so crazy to me.
03:27 It's unbelievable.
03:28 We didn't even take everything off at the beginning.
03:30 Okay, what is the second most common mistake that people make with their dishwashers?
03:34 The second mistake is loading the dishwasher incorrectly.
03:37 Now, keep in mind that all dishwashers are different.
03:39 So, you really do need to check with your owner's manual or the website.
03:43 They have different racks, different shelves, different cup configurations.
03:46 So, there's things you should follow that they recommend.
03:49 The first item that we're going to show in terms of loading is the glassware.
03:53 The mistake a lot of people make is they put the glasses over these tines.
03:57 All right.
03:58 And that's bad.
03:59 That looks familiar.
04:00 It looks familiar, but it's bad for two reasons.
04:01 Oops.
04:02 Okay.
04:03 One is it can stretch the glasses and cause breakage.
04:05 Okay.
04:06 And it can cause spotting.
04:07 Okay.
04:08 So, what we recommend is that you rest the glasses against the tines.
04:11 Okay.
04:12 Okay, like this.
04:13 It also keeps them angled so the water runs off.
04:15 So, you're less likely to get spotting.
04:17 So, glasses against the tines, not over them.
04:19 Okay, so now we're going to look at bowls.
04:21 The advice here is if the water can't hit it, it's not going to get clean.
04:24 Okay.
04:25 So, keep that in mind.
04:26 Now, it might be tempting to just kind of lazy dishwashing 101.
04:30 And put them in as fast and as much as you can because you want to do as few loads as possible.
04:34 Yeah.
04:35 So, something like that, you can guarantee that the bowls on top are not going to get clean.
04:39 So, instead, you can cascade them this way.
04:42 They're going to get clean.
04:43 You might get a few less in there, but the bottom line is that they'll come out clean.
04:46 Okay.
04:47 I'd rather have them all clean than have to rewash some.
04:49 I agree.
04:50 Do it right once.
04:51 Right.
04:52 And you won't have to do it again.
04:53 Okay.
04:54 All right, next is the plates.
04:55 Now, for the bottom rack, what you want to keep in mind is that you want to face the
04:58 dirty side of whatever you're putting in towards the center.
05:01 Towards the center.
05:02 Yes.
05:03 That's where the spray is the strongest.
05:04 Huh.
05:05 So, put your plates in this way.
05:06 Okay.
05:07 If you've got casseroles or pans or things that you want to lay, those should be put
05:11 face down.
05:12 That makes sense.
05:13 Right?
05:14 That makes sense.
05:15 Yes.
05:16 And put them on this side in that one.
05:17 So, now everything's facing the center, the spray's the strongest, and you're going to
05:18 get the best cleaning.
05:19 That one I never knew.
05:20 Next, flatware.
05:21 Flatware.
05:22 Okay.
05:23 I got that.
05:24 This is a big bone of contention in a lot of households I know.
05:27 Oh, yeah.
05:28 Yes.
05:29 Huge argument.
05:30 Totally.
05:31 You want to put the blades down because it's just a knife.
05:34 But, like, spoons, Erin did this.
05:36 They need to go up.
05:37 So, what you want to do is if you have a flatware basket like this, we recommend that the knives
05:42 go, for safety, blade down.
05:45 Spoons, you want to alternate up and down.
05:49 Okay.
05:50 And the reason for that is you don't want them to nest.
05:51 Oh, so everything gets cleaned that way.
05:53 So, put some up, put some down.
05:54 Right.
05:55 So, up and down, alternate the spoons.
05:57 And forks, we recommend the tines up for the best cleaning.
06:00 Be careful when you unload it.
06:01 Okay.
06:02 Because you don't want to stab yourself.
06:03 Yeah, my tine's down, girl.
06:04 But tell me why up.
06:05 Why up?
06:06 Because you want to get the best cleaning between the tines, and you also want to grab them
06:08 by the handle, not the top.
06:09 So, that's the way you get the best cleaning with your flatware.
06:11 So, now you've got everything.
06:12 The water's going to reach it all, and you'll get hurt yourself.
06:15 So, what should we leave out of the dishwasher?
06:17 Well, we don't recommend putting anything that's wooden in the dishwasher.
06:19 So, wooden cutting boards, wooden spoons.
06:22 Cast iron shouldn't go in the dishwasher.
06:24 If you have, you know, valuable chef's knives or carving tools, you wouldn't want to put
06:28 those in the dishwasher, too, for a number of reasons.
06:29 You don't want to damage the blades, and you don't want to damage your dishwasher, either.
06:33 You don't want to cut the racks or the tines on those.
06:35 So, one trend I've been seeing on TikTok is people throwing these detergent packets right
06:41 into the machine instead of putting it in the detergent pouch.
06:44 Mistake number three, tossing your detergent packet into the bottom of the dishwasher instead
06:49 of using the dispenser.
06:50 Too good to be true.
06:51 That's a big no-no.
06:52 What happens when you do that is that the detergent packet starts to dissolve in the
06:57 pre-wash portion of the cycle and doesn't fully make its way to the wash portion.
07:02 So, it can be washed away before the actual wash portion of the cycle begins.
07:07 Terrible.
07:08 And what happens is then you're going to compromise cleaning.
07:10 Here's how you do it.
07:11 Put it in the dispenser, close the door, start your cycle.
07:16 The door opens at the right time, the packet comes out, and you get the best cleaning.
07:19 And you're good to go.
07:20 Okay, good to know.
07:21 Now, when it comes to efficacy, are the packets more, less, or as effective as powder or liquid?
07:28 In our Good Housekeeping tests, we found that they are all equally effective within the same
07:33 brand.
07:34 Okay.
07:35 So, we've seen bigger differences between brands of detergent than between forms of
07:39 detergent.
07:40 So, if you find a brand that you like, you should be okay with either the powder, the
07:44 liquid, the gel, or the packets.
07:46 Okay.
07:47 Packets are going to be a little more expensive because they're convenient to use.
07:49 Very true.
07:50 Powders are a little bit less expensive, so buy whatever fits your budget.
07:53 Okay.
07:54 But find a brand you like and stick with that.
07:55 What happens if you open your dishwasher and the packet hasn't fully dissolved?
07:59 We see that from time to time, and that can be a number of things.
08:01 Sometimes the packets are funny shape and they get stuck or wedged in the dishwasher
08:05 dispenser and they don't come out.
08:06 If that happens, you'll probably have to run another cycle because you ran a cycle
08:10 without any detergent, so that really wasn't good.
08:12 But it could also be a problem with the dishwasher dispenser.
08:14 Oh.
08:15 The door may not open at the right time.
08:17 There might be something wrong with the timing of the cycles.
08:19 So if you see it happening a lot, it may be worth calling in a service person and have
08:23 them take a look at it.
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