What To Look For When Buying A Dishwasher
Are you washing dishes by hand? Why?
Washing by hand uses up to six gallons more water than an efficient modern dishwasher, and you have to get your hands dirty. Think of all the time you can save, no more standing over the sink scrubbing away at dirty dishes. And scrubbing alone won’t kill germs. In fact, water needs to be 140º in order to kill bacteria. That requires some heavy gloves to keep your hands safe. Plus, by using a dishwasher to wash your dishes, your water bill will go way down, and you’ll be lightening the load on your sewer.
Picking out a dishwasher? There are a few features of dishwashers that can make some better than others. It all depends on your needs.
Cycles are important. Common cycles are Pots, Sanitize, and Drying, for heavy duty cleaning, high temperature bacteria killing, and convenience respectively.
Hard Food Disposer eliminates the need to clean out the bottom of the dishwasher and gets rid of food particles before they end up back on your dishes.
Plate Warming is a feature to keep food warm as it is being served.
How to load a dishwasher:
- Rinse or scrub off food that may become encrusted.
- Face dishes toward center of dishwasher.
- Make sure to leave room between dishes and silverware for water to get through.
- Put glasses and bowls face down so dirty water does not stay in them.
- Put smaller dishes in middle and bigger dishes along edge so sprayer can reach all.
- Keep delicate dishes from touching others.
- Put plastic items on top rack away from the heat source.
- Try to run full loads if possible to conserve water and energy.
- Run kitchen faucet to get water hot before starting dishwasher. Dishwasher uses most energy heating water.
- Do not use “Rinse Only” feature.
- Let dishes air dry.
