These Small Habits Are Secretly Destroying Your Dishwasher
I have to confess that my dishwasher is probably my favorite thing in the entire house. It feels like pure magic to load up dirty plates and wake up to sparkling clean dishes. But recently my trusty machine started leaving weird spots and making funny noises. It turns out I was actually causing the problems myself. We all have a few innocent habits that slowly wear this hard working appliance down over time. And you might not even realize you’re secretly destroying it! Here are a few that do the most damage.
Scrubbing The Plates Completely Clean
This first one completely blew my mind. I used to stand at the sink and scrub every single plate before loading it. But modern dishwashers and detergents are actually designed to cling to food particles. If your plates are already spotless, the soap just creates a massive amount of suds that can slowly damage the internal pumps. You definitely want to scrape the big chunks into the trash, but leave the sticky grease for the machine to handle.
Forgetting About The Filter
For years I had absolutely no idea my dishwasher even had a filter. I just assumed all the food washed down a magical drain. But most machines have a twist off plastic screen right at the bottom under the bottom rack. If you never take it out and rinse it in the sink it gets clogged with old food and paper labels. A blocked filter forces the motor to work incredibly hard and leaves your kitchen smelling terrible.
Blocking The Spray Arms
It is so tempting to shove just one more tall cutting board or a giant baking sheet into the bottom rack. I do it all the time when I am in a hurry. But those tall items can easily block the spinning plastic arms that spray the water around. If those arms cannot spin freely the motor strains against the pressure and your dishes stay dirty. Always give the spray arm a quick test spin before shutting the door to make sure they can move.
Using Too Much Soap
We tend to think that a bigger mess requires a much bigger scoop of soap. That logic makes sense, but it is actually terrible for your appliance. Pouring thick liquid detergent all the way to the top of the cup creates an avalanche of soap suds. Those excess bubbles can push water into places it does not belong and slowly degrade the rubber seals around the door. Just a little bit of detergent is plenty, so follow the recommendations for scoop size on the box.
Tossing In Sharp Knives
Throwing a sharp chef knife into the silverware basket seems like the safest place for it. But the powerful water jets cause that heavy blade to bounce and rattle around during the cycle. Over time the sharp tip can slice right through the rubber coating on your dishwasher racks. Once that protective coating is sliced open, the metal underneath starts to rust. That rust will eventually spread and ruin the entire inside of the machine. So always put sharp knives with the blade pointed down.
Cramming Everything In Too Tightly
We all play that frantic game of kitchen tetris trying to fit every single spoon and bowl into one load. It feels efficient to pack it totally full. But water needs empty space to actually be able to circulate and do its job. When you overlap bowls and cram plates together you block the water flow completely. The machine ends up running a hot cycle over trapped food which bakes the grime right onto the plates and clogs the drain system.
Skipping The Monthly Deep Clean
We expect this machine to clean our messes but we rarely stop to clean the machine itself. Hard water minerals and cooking grease build up quietly inside the hidden pipes. If you never flush it out, the heating element gets coated in a white chalky film and stops working properly. Taking a small bowl of plain white vinegar and running it through an empty hot cycle once a month dissolves all that unseen grime beautifully.
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-Why Using the Dishwasher Is Better Than Washing by Hand
It is honestly a little bit humbling to learn how delicate our heavy appliances actually are. We rely on them so much to keep our kitchens running smoothly after a long day. Making just a few small changes to how we load the racks can really extend the life of your plumbing. It saves you from the stress of a flooded floor on a busy weeknight. Have you ever checked the filter at the bottom of your machine? If not, start there.
Bliss Donahue-Power
