Poll: Loading the dishwasher

Help me settle an unspoken dispute with my husband.

When loading the dishwasher, one of us always puts all of the spoons in one basket, the forks in another, the knives in another, etc. so that unloading is easier. The other of us mixes up the spoons, forks, and knives to avoid "spooning" with the idea that the silverware gets cleaner this way.

Which way do you do it?

Which one of the two of you mix the utensils together? LOL I am going to have to do a lot of straightening of my kitchen once I get my feet back underneath me.....

Definately one type of utensil per basket. I'd rather eat off of less-than-clean silverware than spend the time organizing it.

I ALWAYS mix up the silverware so that they get clean and esp. so the spoons don't stick together. When I put them away. I just grab all the spoons, forks, etc at one time from each basket and do it that way.

I was always told to mix them up so they don't stick together. At least that is what I was told. It doesn't take all that long to separate them and put them away when they are all mixed up. We have pretty low water pressure in our apartment (but they still bill us an outrageous amount), so anything to help cleaning the dishes is utilized in our house.

I mix em up. Always have and didn't know why. Now I do

I throw it in there any old way. As I see it, you have to sort it at some time, so I'd just as soon grab it all out and sort it into the drawer. Thank you for posting a thread that shows there is somebody out there more anal than I am!

I organize. My silverware dealie has about 7 sections. I do forks on the right, spoons in the middle ones, and knives to the left. My boyfriend definately knows better than to mix them up!

I seperate the silverware, too! I hate "untangling" the forkes from the knifes!:tounge2:

Ooops, I voted wrong in the poll. So count one more for organizing and one less for mixing.

I mix them. Organizing doesn't bother me nor do I find it to take much time.

Even though we have a dishwasher, we always wash dishes by hand.

I mix 'em up. I just make sure that the tines of the forks and the blades of the knives are DOWN.

What about those of us who sort some but by different rules?

I always put the kitchen knives point up in the furthest forward section, so nobody stabs themselves reaching for something else. I also always put the long things like spatulas or wooden spoons furthest to the outside. I have this idea they'll block the water from reaching smaller things. I put the tines of forks and blades of knives and bowls of spoons up, so the water is not blocked by the basket. And I mix up the tableware.

I understand from Martha that the thing to do is put all the same kind in each section, but some handle-up and some handle-down. Now I might think she's a little anal about some things, but she did used to have a catering business before she was a magazine, she must know something about getting the flatware clean . . .

Gee, I never thought of going to Martha for the answer! The goddess of all household rules!

I mix them up also with knives $ forks tip side up for best cleaning I don't think my husband knows where the diswasher is... so not really an issue with us

I put everything in where it lands, due to laziness, and sort when I unload. However, I put spoon bowls down and fork and knife points up, so that they don't stick through the bottom of the basket and jam the whirly-piece on the bottom. Whether this matters to you would of course depends on your basket mesh size and whirly-piece placement, but it is important in my machine...

Mix it up I say!

I don't have a dishwasher where I live now. When I had one, my S/O was like the dishwasher Nazi. He insisted that every speck of dirt be off the plates before putting them in. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of having a dishwasher? It's not a dish sterilizer, but a washer.

He also separated all the silverware and put it eating end up in the baskets. So I got into that habit, too. To avoid the dish washing procedure lecture. Which finally ended in, "Bren, I'll do the dishes from now on." You can imagine how devastating that was.

I am trying to remember when I had a dishwasher(military housing sucks), but when I did have one, I just threw them in all together. I was never as concerned with the placement of the silverware as I was the rest of the dishes.