How to Use Your Dishwasher Properly – Some Awesome Dishwasher Tips

Modern dishwashers need less energy to run. Save money using a dishwasher as it also consumes about seven times less water than washing your dishes by hand. It makes your life at least a little bit happier too as there won’t be any more daily evening fight over who is washing and who's drying!

Do you pre-rinse your dishes?

Stubborn stains such as starch stains from breakfast, rice and pasta as well as proteins such as meat and eggs are not easy to remove with your normal dishwasher cycle. What you can do is scraping or wiping all food particles from dirty dishes before loading in the dishwasher. In fact, Food Hygiene Regulations also require scraping of plates before they’re washed by dishwashing machines.

You need not to rinse the dishes before loading them in the dishwasher unless they are very heavily soiled with baked or dried on food. In such case of heavily soiled cookware with baked-on grime, you can use Pre-Rinse Spray units of recognised companies which consume very less water and are very effective using only cold water. If you don’t have Pre-Rinse Spray units, avoid pre-rinsing your dishes, just scrape off any large food scraps before putting the plates in the dishwasher.    

Draining the dishwasher

Drain the dishwasher at least once daily and any time it’s left idle for more than a few hours. Drain the machine soon after a wash cycle so it’ll be still hot to drain all dirty wash water and oils etc. in the water. If at any time you see that the dishwasher overflows onto the floor, check the drain system for any blockage. Select Home Cleaning can recommend expert plumbers who’ll rectify the blocked drain of your dishwasher without overcharging.

Clean your dishwasher at least once in a month

The grease, soap scum and food debris that build up in dishwashers encourage the growth of germs and affect the efficiency of the machine. So, it’s necessary to clean a dishwasher from time to time or at least once in a month. If you have any doubts about cleaning the dishwasher, consult a reputed home cleaning company in New Zealand.

What’s the proper way to load your dishwasher?

Avoid making common dishwasher loading mistakes and get maximum sterilisation. Remember, there is a right and wrong way to load a dishwasher. Stick to the basic rules. Load the bottom rack with large soiled dishes so they get good water flow and effective cleaning. The bottom rack is also specifically designed to hold the dishes in a way that allows more number of plates to fit in and also ensure hot water easily passes through them.

Place the cups, glasses, and bowls at an angle so water can run off the bottoms and dry properly.  This way they also don’t take up too much room.Load Tupperware and all other plastic items on the top rack if your dishwasher has an exposed heating element.

How hot should be the water to get optimal cleaning?

For the dishwashers to perform their best and get you really clean dishes, you need to keep the hot water at 120 degrees F, the ideal temperature to dissolve food stains.

Dishwasher detergent

It’s advisable to use tablets, or small pre-measured gel packs called pods, which are known to clean the dishes best, without leaving behind water spots, film, or discoloration as it happens with powder detergents. New Zealand Hygiene Regulations require the use of liquid detergents and automatic injectors in dishwashers.

Note that all dishwashing machine detergents are hazardous and so they are to be stored safely out of the reach of young children.