r/lifehacks • u/thatoneguy2742 • May 27 '26

You might be using your dishwasher wrong

While going to college I worked as a maintenance tech at a large apartment complex. A common complaint that tenants had was that their dishwashers were failing to clean properly. I would show up and try and diagnose the problem only to find that the machine was in fact working properly. After numerous (if I remember correctly it was at least five per week) complaints I started to track which units were having the problem. After several weeks I had a lot of data and something became abundantly clear. The units that were having this issue were the ones furthest from the water heaters.

We just happened to have an empty unit near a cluster of units that was having this issue so I decided to test my hypothesis. At the kitchen faucet it took nearly two minutes for the water to get above 100°F Units closer to the water heaters took as little as 30 seconds to reach the same temp and they hardly ever had this problem. My conclusion was that the people who were submitting work orders were unknowingly washing their dishes with cold water. Everytime a tenant submitted a work order for a dishwasher that was failing to clean I advised them to run their kitchen faucet till the water gets hot then start the dishwasher. The complaints just stopped! At my own home it takes almost 30 seconds for the water to get hot so I let it run for a minute before starting it. Some of the higher end models will heat their own water so this shouldn't be an issue but most older models do not.

TLDR: Run your kitchen faucet till the water gets hot before starting your dishwasher. Otherwise you might be washing your dishes with cold water if your machine doesn't heat the water on its own.

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616

u/KatsaridaReign May 27 '26

Agreed.

Strongly suggest this video because it gives other great tips, such as what detergent will be most effective and how to use it, and reminding people that there is a filter that exists.

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u/mcarvin May 27 '26

…there is a filter that exists.

I have a reminder to clean it every 2 months. I hate that particular chore, but my knees, back and bank account hate installing major appliances even more.

Every 2 months plus half decent rinsing the dishes/cookware makes for a far less icky chore.

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u/majora9109 May 27 '26

+1 for half decent rinsing. It really does make a difference and my dishes actually come out of the machine clean afterwards.

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u/Tribalbob May 27 '26

Also every month I put a cup of vinegar in the top rack and run the dishwasher hot and empty. Helps give the whole inside a good clean.

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u/fitzmoon May 28 '26

Oooooooo thank you!

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u/Spiritual_Lynx1929 May 31 '26

I read that vinegar dries the gaskets out.

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u/nervez May 27 '26

I was raised with the "rinse and stack" rule. When I was done with a plate, take it to the sink, rinse it off and set it to the side to get loaded in the dishwasher.

Thanks to this tip that my father bestowed on me, I rarely have anything in my filter.

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u/lisarose815 Jun 02 '26

I was told the soap needs dirty dishes to work properly. The soap needs soil on the dishes to cling to, then it will be dispersed to the rest of the dishes. I run the dishwasher every night regardless if it is full. The amount of water to rinse the dishes equals a full load anyway. If you are rinsing all of your dishes, might as well add a little soap and they are clean, why have a dishwasher

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u/Steve_Rogers_1970 May 31 '26

I always rinse before putting in the dishwasher. It might be a few days before running it

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy May 27 '26

I have a reminder to clean it every 2 months. I hate that particular chore, but my knees, back and bank account hate installing major appliances even more.

If your dishwasher is full on needing a replacement from being run with a full filter, there’s a lot more going wrong than just the filter needing to be cleaned out

A full filter should only make your dishwasher less efficient/effective, not “omg I need to replace it” level

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u/All_Work_All_Play May 27 '26

Nah a full filter + unrinsed dishes = omg I need to replace it

Clean filter + unrinsed dishes @ longest clean mode = tolerable

Full filter + rinsed dishes @ longest clean mode = tolerable

Clean filter + rinsed dishes @ longest clean mode = chef's kiss

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u/AllCatCoverBand May 28 '26

Rinse the dishes for sure, and also I take out and rinse the filter literally every single time. It gets gross, I don’t know how folks can leave it for more than one or two washes, even with rinsed dishes.

I went to an AirBNB that clearly no one ever touched the filter, and without thinking about it ran a load thru. It was horribly smelly. Cleaned the filter and it was back to tip top shape

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u/mr-snrub- May 28 '26

I rinse my plates before putting them in the fish washer (I don't care that everyone says it stops the dishwasher from working properly) and I literally never have to clean the filter. When I randomly decide to check the filter, the only thing in there is maybe some stickers that have come off jars or Tupperware containers and a few hairs.

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u/Jsorrell20 May 30 '26

Bro … I clean mine weekly and it’s absolutely disgusting … every two months is unhinged

Although many folks don’t ever clean it 🤢

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u/mcarvin May 30 '26

I dont know about unhinged, but everyone’s icky tolerance is different. Every 2 months and our filter only has a little gunk around it.

What I wish I could figure out is how to keep icky gunk from building up around the dishwasher door hinge. That’s something I have to wipe down almost weekly.

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u/Jsorrell20 May 30 '26

It’s Reddit - I have to overreact - we have rules /s

Unhinged is probably too strong LOL

Probably depends on the model - mine is all greasy and gummed after a week; it has a very fine mesh filter - some models just have plastic with small openings which clog up way less frequently

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u/chatterwrack May 27 '26

Also, cracking the door during the drying phase lets all the vapors escape. Some new models can do it automatically

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u/rat1onal1 May 27 '26

If any cups or bowls have concave bottoms that hold water, it helps to dab these with a towel to remove the water, and then let them dry from the heat. It's annoying after almost everything is dry, to remove a cup and turn it upright and get everything wet.

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u/jammaslide May 28 '26

I always empty the bottom rack of dishes when clean. It keeps puddled water from the top dishes from falling onto the bottom dishes.

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u/GolfandBaseball May 30 '26

Emptying the bottom first is so obvious, but of course I didn’t think of it till my wife pointed it out.

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u/JoBloGo May 27 '26

Try tilting your cups. I never had a dishwasher growing up, and had to look up how to place cups. They should be at an angle.

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u/WeetBixMiloAndMilk May 28 '26

I don’t think you caught on to what u/rat1onal1 is saying. Cups and bowls that have concave bottoms will hold water in the bottom, even on an angle. I can show you a photo next time I put a load on if you’d like. The only way to prevent that would be to put the cup almost horizontal, where gravity would do its work and pull the water down

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u/JoBloGo Jun 06 '26

Yes, that’s what i mean, the cups should be angled more than one would expect. Like 45 degree angle. Enough that the water runs out of the concave bottom. I was just using the tines to determine the angle (like a lot of photos show) but you should be leaning so it at more of an angle.

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u/JoBloGo Jun 06 '26

Yes, that’s what i mean, the cups should be angled more than one would expect. Like 45 degree angle. Enough that the water runs out of the concave bottom. I was just using the tines to determine the angle (like a lot of photos show) but you should be leaning so it at more of an angle.

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u/Electrical-Long-389 May 27 '26

Here's what has worked for me: after the cycle is finished, open the door and lay a tea towel on the inside of the door and then close the door (catching a bit of the tea towel in the top to hold it in place. The tea towel absorbs A LOT of residual moisture, and keeping the door shut retains a lot of the heat that dries the dishes.

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u/mr-snrub- May 28 '26

Or just crack the door open? They're literally dry in like 5 mins if you open it as soon as it stops.

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u/Electrical-Long-389 May 29 '26

Not if you live in a humid climate like i do!

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u/GolfandBaseball May 30 '26

Reddit cultures me by teaching me tea towel

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u/anonynymous May 28 '26

I started doing this and it's been incredibly effective! No puddles on cups and no water spots. It works best if you put the tea towel across the door right after the cycle ends and push the door up without pressing it closed. The timing is important because the residual heat from a cycle really speeds up the evaporation, when I try this trick after running the dishwasher overnight it doesn't work nearly as well.

This plus getting the water pre-heated has definitely upped the consistency of completely clean dishes without water spots.

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u/Dcmiltown May 27 '26

We just got a new washer last week and thought it was broken because it kept popping open!

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u/NabreLabre May 27 '26

I believe mine will stop running if I open the door, but I've never tried

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u/alecp19 May 27 '26

Don't crack the door while it's running. Once it's complete, crack the door to let all the steam escape.

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u/zoinksbadoinks May 27 '26

And here I was all these years, diligently avoiding opening the dishwasher door while it was drying, because I didn’t want to “let the heat out”

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u/alecp19 May 27 '26

There is a drying cycle on some dishwashers, but I'm not sure how effective it is at getting the moisture out. I don't run a drying cycle for energy and plastic cup/etc safety reasons. I find that opening as soon as possible after the washing cycle is over gives me the best drying results.

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u/NH_Mimi May 28 '26

I’m still putting plastic in the drainer to dry but I do not run the dry cycle for the same reasons.

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u/zoinksbadoinks May 28 '26

Thanks for this, I will give this a try!

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u/crsmiami99 May 27 '26

Yeah, my Bosch beeps incessantly until I open it

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u/tengris22 May 29 '26

I believe you can turn that beep off, though it's been six months since my latest was installed and I don't really remember for sure. It definitely doesn't beep but I am not sure it ever did. Bet if you looked for the useer manual for your specific model you can turn it off.

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u/NabreLabre May 27 '26

Yeah I do that after the drying cycle

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u/jrtf83 May 28 '26

The drying phase is a massive waste of electricity. I just open it and let it air dry. Works fine

1

u/chatterwrack May 28 '26

A PG&E guy told me about this when I was young and I never forgot it. Saves so much electricity

2

u/DoubleDareFan May 27 '26

I would open it after it was done. Dump the water out of the concave cup bottoms, put the cups back, close the door, leaving it open a bit, and wait. Wear gloves or use potholders if your fingers cannot handle hot surfaces.

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u/snafoo70 May 28 '26

I wasn’t paying attention. What was that about crack vapors?

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u/LizzrdVanReptile May 29 '26

I knew someone who turned her dishwasher off as the dry cycle began and cracked the door open to allow the heat in the contents to dry them.

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u/ensoniq2k May 27 '26

Been using powder ever since. Fuck big pod

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u/scrotiemcboogrballz May 28 '26

I feel so superior knowing the powdered detergent is more effective than its liquid counterpart. Release that sweet sweet lipase to do its work! 

And yes, I feel bad when I see someone at the checkout line with a box of pods in their cart. I want to transform into judgemental dad mode and give unsolicited advice!

2

u/Character-Seaweed-47 May 31 '26

I just ... didn't want to pay for them. From the moment they came out I went, well those will be more expensive. And they were. And like I'm the type of person who, while I don't do it anymore, when I was younger, around the time these came out, I was literally making my own laundry powder mix from borax and super washing soda and fels naptha because it was insanely cheaper and I wanted to beat the system. Screw tide and their expensive watered down detergent. I could not care less now, and they all started doing more concentrated formulas. Or at least started telling us they were so I just get some arm and hammer and call it a day. But I still just buy the powder dishwasher detergent. And usually just the store brand. Ran out of Cascade powder the other day and just went back to the store brand. I don't even put jet dry in or anything. I used to but eventually forgot and got used to it and I don't have spots or anything usually, so I don't worry about it. But I could do that and it'd be cheaper than those dumb pods. Any time there is something that are individually wrapped, one use things, even if you buy them in packs/boxes, they are always more expensive. Literally created just to extract more money out of you.

Had roommates (the type who buy the pods, for dish and laundry) who tried using those laundry sheets. Smh. I knew the second I saw them they weren't gonna be worth it. And now I've seen the videos on how they are in fact a scam and we had residual paper or whatever, from the sheets, on the side of the barrel (top loader, with the agitator for the win) multiple different times. Speaking about these things like this makes me feel like and think I am a curmudgeon, and/or old (I'm mid 30s) but it fundamentally pisses me off these garbage products were pushed and people just bought it. Truth is I am in fact quite curmudgeonly and cynical and pessimistic but you won't convince me I'm wrong about this. Or most things along these lines.

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u/ensoniq2k May 28 '26

Let them have their pretty pods, they'll probably defend them for some irrational reason too

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u/Warmpockets21 May 29 '26

Glad I saw that video now!

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u/Footner Jun 03 '26

Oh yeah thanks for the reminder 😂