1. Point all sharp utensils (like knives, peelers, etc) down. After hearing about a little boy's death caused by tripping and falling onto a knife in the dishwasher, both my husband and I changed this habit immediately.
2. Group things together - all forks together, kids/baby utensils together, glasses together, etc - this makes it SO easy to unpack - grab a handful of forks and away - limit the sorting.
3. NO WOODEN ITEMS in the dishwasher. It always seemed that the wooden spoon ended up way down the bottom...on the hot element. After stoves and heaters, dishwashers cause the most house fires. We learned this after the house down the road from us, at the lake, was destroyed by fire. A tragic lesson learned (luckily no one was hurt, as no one was home. Which is why No. 4 is also so important).
4. NEVER put on dishwasher when you are not home, or asleep. It is too risky. It is a fire-hazard. Stay safe.
5. Always close the dishwasher up as soon as possible - little fingers like to explore, and the dishwasher is not the best place for them.
6. Put dishwasher on AFTER everyone has had their shower :) or else, Brrrrr.....
7. Have a system in place so you and husband/ partner know if dishwasher is clean or dirty. Too many times have I put the dishwasher on, and gone to bed, WHILST husband is up watching TV, and can't remember this. He turns it off. I wake in morning and cannot remember if I have washed it or not. And what happens - either I start putting away dirty dishes, or rewash clean ones! Argggghhhh.....! So now we use the magnet system - one side clean, one side dirty. I have also seen magnets that have "clean" and "dirty" on them and you just flip to whatever side is applicable. I might try to find one...hold on just a sec... OK - found one on Amazon:
So there you have it - that's about all I can think of about the dishwasher. Do you have any tips?
Not only did I never think it was possible to blog about the dishwasher... I would have never guessed I'd NEED a post like this! =) haha you rock! I love the sorting tip and will for sure never run it while I'm not home! Thanks love! <3
ReplyDeleteThanks - I know, a bit of a crazy post. Just one of the strange things that I think about :) Glad you liked it!
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