How to run the dishwasher efficiently

Running a dishwasher isn't a matter of just piling all your dirty crockery and silvery ware onto the shelves and pressing start. To get maximum results from your dishwasher  both in terms of cleaning and best energy use, remember the following steps.

• Don’t fill the detergent section until just before you turn on the dishwasher. If you leave powder detergent in the dispenser, it becomes moist, cakes and loses its cleaning power. Liquid detergent can wastefully leak out of the section.
• Keep in mind that if you live in hard water area, adding a rinsing agent avoids spots on glassware.

• Reserve the top rack for small, lighter items like plastics, childrens’ plates and cups and baby bottles.
• Rinse out contents of cups and glasses before you load them. Keep in mind that you should never place glass on the bottom shelf of your dishwasher as the water pressure is stronger there which could lead to breakages.
• Plastic cups sometimes upturn during the wash cycle. To avoid this, tuck them in the top rack corners where water power is weakest, wedge them between heavy items or fix them tightly over a couple of prongs.

• If you want to make the most of your pot-and-pan setting, it’s important to load cookware carefully in order for jet sprays to flush away food particles.
• Ensure that you position pots and pans on the lower rack in the direct line of the spray arm.
• Anchor pan handles so they can’t block the spray.
• Likewise, place cookie trays and platters along the back or sides of the lower shelf so they don’t block water stream to the detergent dispenser or the cutlery basket.

• For maximum cleaning, place cutlery pieces with the handles pointing downwards.
• For safety, place knives the other way round with their pointed ends facing down.

• Do not let any thin item slip through the bottom of the basket as it could block the movement of the spray arm interrupting wash and rinse cycles.
• If utensils are very small, it’s best to hand wash them. In a dishwasher they can easily slip to the bottom of the appliance and wreak all kinds of havoc.

Getting the maximum benefit out of your washing machine is simple with the above steps.