Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Vogelbomb, and this is another classic episode of
Speaker 1: the podcast. In this one, we dig into what science
Speaker 1: has to say about how to load a dishwasher. Not
Speaker 1: that we can tell you what to do. We would
Speaker 1: never presume. Hey brain Stuff, I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and look,
Speaker 1: I'm not here to start any fights among your family.
Speaker 1: Many people have very strong ideas about how to best
Speaker 1: tetris a load of dishes into a dishwasher, but I
Speaker 1: am here to give you some scientific advice because if
Speaker 1: the dishes are not coming out of your dishwasher as
Speaker 1: clean as you'd like, you might be tempted to blame
Speaker 1: the appliance or you're a brand of detergent, but the
Speaker 1: problem might just be what and how you're stacking in
Speaker 1: the machine. When you're loading in, it's first important to
Speaker 1: consider what's dishwasher safe and what isn't. Some of the
Speaker 1: items on the no fly list are fairly obvious. A
Speaker 1: cast iron will rest and lose seasoning if placed in
Speaker 1: a machine. A fine china and crystal can't handle the
Speaker 1: intense heat, but you should also leave out insulated travel mugs,
Speaker 1: the high heat of the machine can ruin the vacuum
Speaker 1: seal and reduce the mug's ability to retain heat. Aluminum
Speaker 1: pots are very prone to scratching and can develop a
Speaker 1: dull finish or turn a blackish color in the wash,
Speaker 1: and wooden spoons or cutting boards can crack from the
Speaker 1: heat and humidity, allowing germs to set up shop. Also,
Speaker 1: although most nonstick pans on the market today are dishwasher safe,
Speaker 1: check the washing instructions first and limit dishwasher time. Even
Speaker 1: if it is allowed. Frequent high temperature washes can cause
Speaker 1: the coating to wear off. Secondly, either rinse all of
Speaker 1: your dishes before stacking them or none at all. Most
Speaker 1: modern dishwashers come with a sensor that evaluates the water
Speaker 1: to determine how long the cycle should be and how
Speaker 1: much water is necessary to produce a thorough clean. During
Speaker 1: an initial rinse cycle, it'll measure how cloudy the water
Speaker 1: is and run more or less thorough wash cycles Accordingly,
Speaker 1: if only some of your dishes are rinsed, it won't
Speaker 1: be able to properly evaluate how to run its wash cycle.
Speaker 1: A plus on the side of not hand rinsing first
Speaker 1: at all. The dish detergent you use likely has compounds
Speaker 1: in it that are specifically designed to break up food particles. Basically,
Speaker 1: the companies that make those detergents assume you won't pre wash.
Speaker 1: If you do, those compounds may leave a powdery residue
Speaker 1: on your dishes. Because of that, we'd recommend that users
Speaker 1: of modern dishwashers and commercial detergents scrape off chunks or
Speaker 1: anything that might clog the machine, but not be fussed
Speaker 1: about rinsing sauces or crumbs. A Third, you want to
Speaker 1: fill the machine to your best advantage, load the dishes
Speaker 1: to face the center of the machine. The spray arms
Speaker 1: sprays out in a circular motion, so plates that aren't
Speaker 1: facing the center will get a heavy cleaning on the
Speaker 1: wrong side. Also, because the heating unit is located on
Speaker 1: the bottom of most machines, heat sensitive plastics should go
Speaker 1: on the top rack to avoid risk of melting. Forks
Speaker 1: and spoons should face up to minimize the risk of
Speaker 1: nesting inside a packed utensil basket. This also keeps the
Speaker 1: basket from getting in the way of the wash, making
Speaker 1: sure the head of the utensils gets nice and clean.
Speaker 1: If you have a ton of silverware to wash, try
Speaker 1: to spread out similar pieces to avoid nesting, or alternate
Speaker 1: them head down head up along the same lines. Resist
Speaker 1: the urge to overload the dishwasher. In general, if one
Speaker 1: item is completely blocking another, neither will get truly clean. Finally,
Speaker 1: you should run occasional maintenance on your machine. Your dishwasher
Speaker 1: likely has a filter that needs to be removed and
Speaker 1: cleaned out on occasion. Most soils like saucer crumbs will
Speaker 1: slip right through the filter, but any aerrant chunks of
Speaker 1: food will get caught and clog it up. To clean,
Speaker 1: simply remove and rinse with a little bit of dish soap.
Speaker 1: Be sure to rinse it completely or it will cause
Speaker 1: sudzing during the next cycle. Also, lime scale, especially in
Speaker 1: areas with hard water and grease, can build up in
Speaker 1: these spray arms and filter over time. To prevent any
Speaker 1: problems from escalating, it's a good idea to clean your
Speaker 1: machine about once a month. There are dishwasher specific cleansers
Speaker 1: on the market, or you can google to learn how
Speaker 1: to run a cleansing cycle with vinegar. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: based on the article What's the best way to load
Speaker 1: a Dishwasher, unhostuffworks dot Com written by Leah Hoyt. Brain
Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with howstuffwork dot
Speaker 1: Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.