Beyond their ability to clean our dishes, there are a lot of cool things about our dishwashers that many people aren’t aware of. So I thought I’d put together my best dishwasher tips and share them with you today, along with some useful dishwasher information I’ve discovered on the web.
Nothing will make you appreciate your dishwasher more than living without one. Having a dishwasher not only makes life easier but can also encourage you to cook at home more when you don’t have to factor in an additional hour of scrubbing dishes after any given meal. And that’s just the beginning of how helpful this appliance can be!
Related: 11 Things You Should Never Put in Your Dishwasher
10 Things You Should Know About Your Dishwasher
1. It Saves Water
Most dishwasher cycles actually save water compared to hand-washing. The water savings are even more dramatic with newer, more efficient dishwasher models.
Related: 9 Good Reasons Why You Should Actually Read Your User Manuals
2. Use White Vinegar to Prevent Water Spots
My little secret for sparkling dishes? White vinegar! In every single load of dishes I do, I place a small dish in the center of the top rack and fill it with white vinegar (1/2 to 1 cup of vinegar per load.)
Nothing else I’ve tried has gotten rid of hard water spots and stains more effectively. Adding vinegar is also useful for eliminating weird smells and clearing cloudy glasses.
3. It Can Clean Your Messes for You
Use your dishwasher to catch messes. Over your open dishwasher door, spray cooking spray onto pans to avoid a slippery, potentially dangerous hazard on your kitchen floor, or measure out powdered ingredients without worrying about any overflow or spillage.
4. It Can Clean More Than Dishes
Your dishwasher can clean more than just dishes! On the top rack of your dishwasher, you can wash: silk flowers, baseball caps, small toys, flip flops, light fixture covers, vacuum attachments, hairbrushes, gardening tools, and more! Read more about what you can put in your dishwasher (besides dishes) here.
5. You Can Cook with It
Did you know you can actually cook salmon in your dishwasher? Douse a salmon filet in your favorite marinade, then wrap it up tightly and securely in tin foil. Place it on the top rack of your dishwasher, and run for a whole cycle (including drying.) The salmon will come out steamy, moist, and delicious!
6. Sort Your Utensils to Save Time
Taking a few seconds to load your utensils into the dishwasher by type will make it easier and quicker to unload them.
7. There’s a Right Way to Load Your Dishwasher
Check out the user manual that came with your dishwasher. A lot of them contain a diagram of how best to load your particular dishwasher. (Besides just being good information to know, it may help settle any ongoing arguments about the best method for loading the dishwasher!)
You can also download my FREE dishwasher do’s and don’ts printable by clicking here.
8. You Can Quickly Fix Worn Tines
If the tops of your dishwasher tines are rusty or exposed, there’s an inexpensive fix. Dishwasher tine caps like these ones are dishwasher safe, and will instantly give your dishwasher a visual facelift.
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9. You Can Make Your Own Detergent
It’s easier than it sounds to make your own dishwasher detergent! It’s quick to do and could potentially save you a lot of money over time. You can also make them as dishwasher detergent tablets. (Believe it or not, you can actually use dish soap in your dishwasher – but only if you do it correctly!)
10. You Should Clean It Regularly
Your dishwasher needs cleaning too! Clean it regularly to keep it working properly. Get all the details from my post about how to clean your dishwasher.
Do you have a favorite thing about your dishwasher?
NEW! Can you guess the 5-letter word related to today’s post?
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Do you only use vinegar for your dishwasher or do you mean vinegar in addition to the dishwasher detergent/pods.
Thanks,
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Vinegar in addition to dishwasher detergent
Please log in or create a free account to comment.In addition to the detergent :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sorting your utensils by like styles is not a good idea. Like items can nest which will prevent them from being cleaned properly. You should mix them up and even place some handle side up and handle side down. The exception is sharp knives, place them handle up, pointy side down to prevent injury.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hmmmmmmm, if only I could wash my paint brushes in my dishwasher !
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Maybe you could if the paint ws water-based paint, but not acrylic or oil-based paint, it would stain the inside of your dishwasher .
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I just pour a slug of vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher just before I run it. I’m in a hard water area and the glasses come out sparkling. Thanks for the tips, Jillie!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.That works, too! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Back when spoke like hub caps were popular, I actually put all four of them in my dishwasher and they came out sparkling! Trying to clean in between all those little spokes by hand was time consuming to say the least. I’ve had a great appreciation for dishwashers ever since!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Omgosh! Our dad used to make us clean those hub caps on our moms car when ever we were in trouble during the summer. Lol. If only we were clever enough to know they couldve gone in the DW. Lol!! Thank you for reminding me of those times. Lol
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If you remove the switch plate covers when you paint the walls put them in the dishwasher.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Disgusting military uniforms (and other military issued equipment) and baseball hats. Clean with a dishwashing detergent and vinegar rinse. Do not heat dry. Tada. No more funky smell.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I put my athletic shoes upside down on the top rack when they need washing. Just make sure the laces are tied. They come out looking brand new and don’t get beat up like they can in the washer or dryer. Only once did the edge of a reflector lift. After everything was good and dry I super glued it back down. Haven’t had any lifting since. When I do shoes I often stick light globes or other dishwasher safe decorative items in with it. There are no items we eat or drink from in there with them. That way no food particles get in the shoes. They usually come out damp even after the dry cycle but are usually air dried by the next day.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have some old porcelain coated bowls and pans that I use for wall hangers. When they get dusty and I just need 1 more thing to make a full load for my dishwasher I add these to it. I look around to see if there are other decorative items that I can put in there. :) Jillee thank you for all the great tips.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I always let my dishes air dry. By not turning on the heated dry I can load anything I want in the bottom rack of the washer also. Your Tupperware dishes. Anything.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you for this! I have tried your tips on cleaning the dishwasher but continue to have issues with the items on the top rack not cleaning. Any tips?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.do you just fill up the bowl of vinegar and let it run through all the cycles of the dishwasher? do you fill it to the top so that water drops into it and makes it overflow into the wash cycle and the rinse cycle? Thank you.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love these many ideas! WOW! Thanks so much for sharing. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When my kids were little, I would put all their toys in top rack or small ones in those mesh laundry bags and run them overnight, no dry cycle, once a week or so. Nothing with batteries or electronics of course.Not sure if it was a coincidence, but my kids rarely had a cold or virus like the other kids they hung out with.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Also put all the beach toys and flip flops in after a trip. The small amount of sand didn’t seem to be a problem and may have even helped with the hard water deposits!
I was told to never stack all the same silverware in one compartment because they nest together and won’t get clean. Experience tells me this is true. Many rewashed spoons later….I put one fork, one knife, and one spoon per compartment, and if I need to put in more, I put a second set of the same ones upside down.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great ideas!! I love to put our toothbrushes in the dishwasher too! It cleans them so well!!! Especially if one of the family members has been sick.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Love all the tips! When we would do our canning from the garden we would load the dishwasher with our “clean from last years” jars and run it on the hottest or sterilizing cycle and heated dry cycle.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I put my tea kettle & lid in the dishwasher upside down when I have extra room. Since it sits atop the the range, it frequently gets splattered with oil & other gunk while cooking. It comes out sparkling clean!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love the vinegar cup idea…but how does it work? Sorry, if this sounds dumb!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My grandmother would blanch fresh corn in her dishwasher . After shucking and silking the corn, she would turn up the temperature on her hot water heater and run the cycle up to drying. Do not let it go into the drying cycle!! She would then cool the corn in an ice bath in the sink. We would then cut it off the cob, bag it in pint size bags and freeze it. This works well when you are canning up to 500-750 ears of corn for 5 families! You can freeze it on the cob using this method as well.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I put my stove grates on the dishwasher once a week. Scrubbing those things is such a pain but they come out of the dishwasher nice and clean.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.As always, GREAT ideas Jillee!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you!
Love this. Great ideas and very informative. I’m definetly going to have to show this post to my Mom. I’m glad to know some of the tips for getting stuff to come out spot free. I live in Missouri and our water is known for being hard. I don’t think I’d put my flip flops in the dishwasher. That’s just gross.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Why would it be gross? It’s getting clean & sanitized just like everything else!?!?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I must agree with Christy M. Putting any type of shoe in my dishwasher where my pots, pans and dishes get clean is just GROSS. Toss them into your washer and they will get just as clean. I wash alot of my shoes this way……….
I’ve been using the vinegar trick for many years and it has saved me buying new glasses that used to suffer from hard water spots. In addition I also use your trick of putting one drop of dawn in with the powdered soap dispenser.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I learned the hard way that you should remove and clean your trap in the bottom of your dishwasher. The newer ones have a Digital sensor which will automatically shut down your machine. In my case it took a service call to learn this!
I remember the days of not having a dishwasher and I HATED it! Luckily Mr. Picky Pincher enjoys washing dishes by hand (what a weirdo), so even now with our dishwasher we still do many dishes by hand. Our next step is to start making our own dishwashing soap!
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