Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogelbomb, and this is another classic episode of the podcast. In this one, we dig into what science has to say about how to load a dishwasher. Not that we can tell you what to do. We would never presume. Hey brain Stuff, I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and look, I'm not here to start any fights among your family.
Many people have very strong ideas about how to best tetris a load of dishes into a dishwasher, but I am here to give you some scientific advice because if the dishes are not coming out of your dishwasher as clean as you'd like, you might be tempted to blame the appliance or you're a brand of detergent, but the problem might just be what and how you're stacking in the machine. When you're loading in, it's first important to consider what's dishwasher safe and what isn't. Some of the
items on the no fly list are fairly obvious. A cast iron will rest and lose seasoning if placed in a machine. A fine china and crystal can't handle the intense heat, but you should also leave out insulated travel mugs, the high heat of the machine can ruin the vacuum seal and reduce the mug's ability to retain heat. Aluminum pots are very prone to scratching and can develop a dull finish or turn a blackish color in the wash, and wooden spoons or cutting boards can crack from the
heat and humidity, allowing germs to set up shop. Also, although most nonstick pans on the market today are dishwasher safe, check the washing instructions first and limit dishwasher time. Even if it is allowed. Frequent high temperature washes can cause the coating to wear off. Secondly, either rinse all of your dishes before stacking them or none at all. Most modern dishwashers come with a sensor that evaluates the water to determine how long the cycle should be and how
much water is necessary to produce a thorough clean. During an initial rinse cycle, it'll measure how cloudy the water is and run more or less thorough wash cycles Accordingly, if only some of your dishes are rinsed, it won't be able to properly evaluate how to run its wash cycle. A plus on the side of not hand rinsing first at all. The dish detergent you use likely has compounds
in it that are specifically designed to break up food particles. Basically, the companies that make those detergents assume you won't pre wash. If you do, those compounds may leave a powdery residue on your dishes. Because of that, we'd recommend that users of modern dishwashers and commercial detergents scrape off chunks or anything that might clog the machine, but not be fussed about rinsing sauces or crumbs. A Third, you want to fill the machine to your best advantage, load the dishes
to face the center of the machine. The spray arms sprays out in a circular motion, so plates that aren't facing the center will get a heavy cleaning on the wrong side. Also, because the heating unit is located on the bottom of most machines, heat sensitive plastics should go on the top rack to avoid risk of melting. Forks and spoons should face up to minimize the risk of
nesting inside a packed utensil basket. This also keeps the basket from getting in the way of the wash, making sure the head of the utensils gets nice and clean. If you have a ton of silverware to wash, try to spread out similar pieces to avoid nesting, or alternate them head down head up along the same lines. Resist the urge to overload the dishwasher. In general, if one item is completely blocking another, neither will get truly clean. Finally,
you should run occasional maintenance on your machine. Your dishwasher likely has a filter that needs to be removed and cleaned out on occasion. Most soils like saucer crumbs will slip right through the filter, but any aerrant chunks of food will get caught and clog it up. To clean, simply remove and rinse with a little bit of dish soap. Be sure to rinse it completely or it will cause sudzing during the next cycle. Also, lime scale, especially in areas with hard water and grease, can build up in
these spray arms and filter over time. To prevent any problems from escalating, it's a good idea to clean your machine about once a month. There are dishwasher specific cleansers on the market, or you can google to learn how to run a cleansing cycle with vinegar. Today's episode is based on the article What's the best way to load a Dishwasher, unhostuffworks dot Com written by Leah Hoyt. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with howstuffwork dot
Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.