No other household appliance is as controversial as the humble dishwasher. How many fights have you gotten into over the best way to load the dishwasher? Or whose turn it is to empty it? Or who put the dirty fork in with all the clean ones?

To help save families and roommate relationships everywhere, we’ve rounded up this mega list. It’s got our very best tips, tricks, and pieces of advice when it comes to dishwashers.

Use less dishwasher detergent. No, even less than that.
Most of us use too much dishwasher detergent. Way too much. And not only does it cost us money, but too much detergent can also scratch our dishes or make glasses come out cloudy. Whether you’re using liquid, powder, or even pods, you need way less than the package recommends.

Load plates so that they face the center.
The sprayer arm works from the middle out, so you want to load plates — and cutting boards, sheet pans, etc! — facing the middle of the dishwasher. This way, they’re sure to get the proper spray treatment they need.

Add a bowl full of vinegar every once in a while.
If you have hard water in your area, you may notice spots on dishes or that your glasses are getting cloudy. The most simple solution? Put a bowl full of vinegar on the top rack before you run a cycle. It’ll act as a rinse aid and combat that hard water staining.

Or consider an actual rinse aid.
In addition to those hard water spots, a rinse aid can help your dishes dry better, which is helpful if you’re skipping the heat cycle to save energy, or if you notice that your dishes are still wet when your heat cycle finishes.

Use a mesh laundry bag.
Technically designed to protect delicate unmentionables in the washing machine, mesh laundry bags can also be put to good use in the kitchen. Load one up with small items and place it on the top rack, and it’ll keep said pieces from getting lost in the fray.

And a wire dish rack.
For items that are too big for a mesh laundry bag but not big enough that they won’t flip around during a cycle, consider a wire dish rack. Turn it upside down and use it to anchor items down.

Clean it.
You’d think dishwashers would be inherently clean, but over time they can collect food debris, soap residue, and gunk that needs to be wiped away. It’s not all that complicated — it just needs to be done.

Unload the bottom first.
When it’s time to put the all-clean dishes away, start with the bottom rack. This way, if anything on the top rack has pooled water, you won’t spill it all over the dry dishes below. This is key, remember, because it’s bad to put still-wet dishes in your cabinets.

Mix up your silverware basket.
While a lot of lists like this will tell you to sort your silverware as you put it in the dishwasher so that it’s easier to unload once it’s clean, we say don’t do that. If you sort your spoons all together, it’s likely that they’ll nest into each other and won’t get clean. Instead, mix them up by kind and place some up and some down.

SOURCE: thekitchn.com

No other household appliance is as controversial as the humble dishwasher. How many fights have you gotten into over the best way to load the dishwasher? Or whose turn it is to empty it? Or who put the dirty fork in with all the clean ones?

To help save families and roommate relationships everywhere, we’ve rounded up this mega list. It’s got our very best tips, tricks, and pieces of advice when it comes to dishwashers.

Use less dishwasher detergent. No, even less than that.
Most of us use too much dishwasher detergent. Way too much. And not only does it cost us money, but too much detergent can also scratch our dishes or make glasses come out cloudy. Whether you’re using liquid, powder, or even pods, you need way less than the package recommends.

Load plates so that they face the center.
The sprayer arm works from the middle out, so you want to load plates — and cutting boards, sheet pans, etc! — facing the middle of the dishwasher. This way, they’re sure to get the proper spray treatment they need.

Add a bowl full of vinegar every once in a while.
If you have hard water in your area, you may notice spots on dishes or that your glasses are getting cloudy. The most simple solution? Put a bowl full of vinegar on the top rack before you run a cycle. It’ll act as a rinse aid and combat that hard water staining.

Or consider an actual rinse aid.
In addition to those hard water spots, a rinse aid can help your dishes dry better, which is helpful if you’re skipping the heat cycle to save energy, or if you notice that your dishes are still wet when your heat cycle finishes.

Use a mesh laundry bag.
Technically designed to protect delicate unmentionables in the washing machine, mesh laundry bags can also be put to good use in the kitchen. Load one up with small items and place it on the top rack, and it’ll keep said pieces from getting lost in the fray.

And a wire dish rack.
For items that are too big for a mesh laundry bag but not big enough that they won’t flip around during a cycle, consider a wire dish rack. Turn it upside down and use it to anchor items down.

Clean it.
You’d think dishwashers would be inherently clean, but over time they can collect food debris, soap residue, and gunk that needs to be wiped away. It’s not all that complicated — it just needs to be done.

Unload the bottom first.
When it’s time to put the all-clean dishes away, start with the bottom rack. This way, if anything on the top rack has pooled water, you won’t spill it all over the dry dishes below. This is key, remember, because it’s bad to put still-wet dishes in your cabinets.

Mix up your silverware basket.
While a lot of lists like this will tell you to sort your silverware as you put it in the dishwasher so that it’s easier to unload once it’s clean, we say don’t do that. If you sort your spoons all together, it’s likely that they’ll nest into each other and won’t get clean. Instead, mix them up by kind and place some up and some down.

SOURCE: thekitchn.com