The dishwasher is an appliance that, although it is not essential, makes our lives much easier. We save a lot of time and water by letting this person be in charge of leaving our household items spotless instead of having to scrub everything by hand, making it very comfortable and practical.
At first glance, it may seem like a very simple appliance to use. As easy as putting the plates, cutlery and glasses inside, selecting the program and turning it on. TRUE? But the truth is that we unconsciously make a series of mistakes that hinder the function of the dishwasher, resulting in it not cleaning the items correctly or even damaging them, thus losing money, time and wasting water and electricity. To get the most out of it, don't make these recurring mistakes.
It is something extremely common: rinsing the dishes in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher, believing that this is necessary so that they are cleaned better. Nothing could be further from the truth, since all you are doing is wasting time and water.
What you should do is scrape the dishes to remove any remains of solid food before putting them in the dishwasher, but the function of this appliance is to remove dirt without problems – even the most stubborn ones – so pre-rinsing is not necessary. necessary.
Properly loading the dishwasher is extremely important. You have to make sure that you do not put anything in that will prevent the rest of the contents of the dishwasher from being washed properly. For example, a large tray on the top rack, or a bowl covering other dishes. Filling it too much in an effort to take advantage of space, stacking the dishes, will also prevent them from being washed properly. On the other hand, plastic containers must be well secured, otherwise they could turn over during washing and not be cleaned properly as they become full of stagnant water.
As for cutlery, forks should be with the handle facing down to be thoroughly cleaned, knives with the handle facing up for safety reasons, and spoons with one facing up and one facing down, so that they do not stick to each other. If you are going to mix silver cutlery with stainless steel, use it in separate containers, because if they rub against each other they could be damaged.
Carefully study your dishwasher's instruction manual to use the appropriate program in each situation. As a general rule, the most recommended for your bill and for the environment will be the eco program. Do not abuse the short and intensive one believing that it will consume less water, as normally the opposite happens, by concentrating more power and heat in less time.
