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grrr....I've been sharing a kitchen with 3 other people for about 4 months....and for some reason they simply do NOT understand what you CAN and CAN NOT do with a dishwasher. It's driving me crazy!! evil

It's not like using a dishwasher is very complicated. You put each dish/bowl in a slot, and when there are no more slots to use, you put in some dishwasher detergent, and press start. BUT!!! SOMEHOW they manage to mess things up, making me waste my time sorting out their stuff. So, for those of you who almost never touch the dishwasher at home, here's a few tips:

1. Dishwashers are NOT the same as drying racks. This means you do NOT pile the dishes on top of each other until it's a teetering pyramid of dishes. A big hint that the dishwasher is full is when the stuff you're putting in ceases to touch the racks.

2. You see those vertical, thin spines on the racks? Those are to help keep the dishes and bowls separate and more or less upright. Meaning, there needs to be at least one set of spines between one dish and the next. Deep bowls generally need a few more sets between them if you want them clean. Dishes that are stuck together in the same slot don't exactly let the water get between them to wash away the grime....

3. Unless you have some ultra-fancy dishwasher at home, the water shoots up from the BOTTOM of the dishwasher, from a central area. Meaning, the dishes get cleanest if you face them towards the center. Bowls can be vertical if you have the kind that will stay that way, but otherwise they need to be facing a generally downward direction. Oh, and cups need to be UPSIDE DOWN to get clean. You wouldn't believe how many times I've needed to flip the cups my roommates put in before I started the dishwasher...

4. Organization. You'll notice the bottom rack generally has a lot more vertical space than the top rack. Hence, it makes more sense to put the LARGER things at the bottom and the SMALLER things at the top. One of the things that drives me nuts is when I open up the dishwasher to put a pot away, and find the bottom rack crammed with small bowls, small plates, and mugs while the top rack is practically empty. It's kinda hard to put a 14-gallon pot on the top rack. stare

5. Cutlery. Believe it or not, it is much better for sharp knives to be point UP rather than point down, unless you have some fancy kind of basket that'll keep the knife tips from touching the bottom of the basket. My roommates keep saying that they're afraid of cutting themselves on the knives when they're putting away the dishes, and that it wouldn't damage the knives anyways because metal is harder than plastic. I have several things to say about the damage issue: nailclippers are harder than nails but you still need to replace them because they lose their sharpness; exacto blades are used to cut paper and thin plastics and yet sections still need to be broken off every once in a while to keep it sharp; and shaver heads need to be replaced occasionally and they just cut hair. As for cutting yourself, there's a very simple way to avoid it: put all the knives in one section of the basket, and remember to put them away first before reaching for the rest of the stuff.

6. Now, everyone's seen those commercials where a completely filthy dish is put in the dishwasher, some detergent is poured in, and the dish comes out sparkling clean. That's great and all, but it doesn't exactly work if the sauces and bits of food have been allowed to dry hard on the dishes. So, yeah...if you're not going to start the dishwasher immediately after putting in the dishes, rinse off all the sauce and food bits before putting them in. If it's already dried on before you get around to rinsing it off, just soak it in water a few minutes and it should be easy to wipe off.

You might think all of this is pure common sense, but, believe it or not, my three housemates have had issues with all of these, and we're all 21 and in college... scream