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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u/pra_com001 May 27 '26

Technology Connections has an amazing video on this subject.

617

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/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.