Let’s talk about how to load a dishwasher real quick.

Anyone with a dishwasher has experienced the uniquely frustrating moment of opening a finished dishwasher cycle only to find dishes that are still dirty.

Maybe there’s baked-on lasagna on a plate, cereal stuck to a bowl, or a cloudy film on your favorite glass.

Before you blame the appliance or the detergent, take a hard look at your loading technique.

Loading a dishwasher seems intuitive—it’s just dish Tetris, right? Wrong.

A dishwasher is actually a sneakily complex machine that relies on precise water jets and spinning spray arms to do its job.

When you treat it like a haphazard storage locker, you block those mechanisms from working, wasting your time, money and water and energy resources.

Learning how to load a dishwasher isn’t just about fitting more stuff in each cycle.

It’s actually about organizing your dishes and utensils strategically so the machine can clean them efficiently.

Here’s how to organize your dishwasher for the ultimate sparkle:

The Two Golden Rules of Dishwasher Organization

Before diving into specific racks, let’s talk about the non-negotiables of dishwasher operation.

Ignoring these two rules is the primary cause of dishwasher dysfunction.

Rule 1: The “Breathability” Principle (Don’t Crowd)

A dishwasher cleans by spraying hot, soapy water from moving jets.

If the water cannot reach a surface, that surface will not get clean.

When you overstuff the dishwasher—overlapping plates, stacking bowls on top of one another, or jamming too many mugs together—you create “shadows.”

These are areas where the water jets are physically blocked by another item. 

Dishes should never touch. 

There needs to be enough space between every item for water to circulate freely.

If you hear clanking of dishes or glasses touching during the washing process, it means the items were too close to one another.

Aside from not getting clean, overcrowding plates, bowls and glasses are likely to get chipped too.

Rule 2: The Spin Test (Clear the Arms)

Almost every dishwasher has at one spinning spray arm, if not two: one under the bottom rack and one under the top rack. If these arms cannot freely spin 360 degrees, your dishes won’t get clean.

Before you start a cycle, always do a spin test: Give the bottom arm a flick to ensure a rogue pot handle isn’t blocking it.

Then, check the top rack to ensure no tall items sticking up from the bottom (like a baking sheet) will obstruct the upper arm’s movement.

Group Like With Like

The secret weapon of professional organizers and dishwasher experts alike is the “Like with Like” methodology.

Randomly shoving items wherever there is a gap is inefficient for both cleaning and unloading.

Instead, approach your dishwasher like a filing cabinet.

• Plates next to plates: Load all dinner plates together, followed by salad plates.
  
• Bowls by size: Group cereal bowls in one row and larger serving bowls in another.

Why this works:

When you group similar items, they naturally nestle against the tines in a uniform way.

This uniformity creates predictable, open channels between the dishes, allowing the water jets to pass through evenly.

If you put a large mixing bowl next to a small saucer, the large bowl will almost certainly block the water from reaching the saucer.

Bonus: Unloading is twice as fast because you can grab a whole stack of identical plates at once to put them away.

Step-by-Step Dishwasher Loading Guide

The Bottom Rack: The Heavy Lifters

The bottom rack is closest to the heating element and the most powerful jets.

This area is for your toughest, heaviest dishes.

• Plates and Platters: Load these facing inward toward the center spray arm.
  
  Ensure they are standing straight up in the tines.
  
  If your plates are deeply curved, give them slightly more space than the tines dictate to ensure water gets between them.
  
• Large Bowls: Bowls belong on the bottom rack, but they are often loaded incorrectly.
  
  Don’t lay them flat face-down.
  
  This creates a “water umbrella,” shielding everything underneath them from getting clean.
  
  Instead, angle them downward against the tines so the dirty insides face the water source, but water can still flow past them.
  
• Pots and Pans: Like bowls, these should be angled downward.
  
  Don’t crowd them; one dirty pot that gets fully clean is better than three crowded pots that need hand-washing later.

The Top Rack: Delicates and Odd Shapes

The top rack provides a gentler wash for smaller or more delicate items.

• Glasses and Mugs: Place these upside down along the sides.
  
  Try to angle them slightly.
  
  If you place mugs completely flat upside down, the concave bottoms will collect dirty dishwater that spills over everything when you unload.
  
  Angling allows that water to drain off.
  
• Small Bowls and Ramekins: Use the center tines for smaller bowls.
  
  Again, group like sizes together and ensure they are angled, not lying flat.
  
• Plastics: Plastic items always go on the top rack to keep them away from the intense heat of the bottom heating element, which can warp them.

The Cutlery Basket: The Danger Zone for “Nesting”

The silverware basket is the easiest place to create blockages.

If you drop five spoons into one slot, they will nest together, and the food between them will never wash away.

• Spoons and Forks: Mix them up within each compartment.
  
  Alternate some handles pointing up and some pointing down if your utensil basket doesn’t come with individual utensil slots.
  
  This variance prevents them from nesting tightly together.
  
  Remember to hand wash wooden utensils so the wood doesn’t get ruined.
  
• Knives: Only load butter or table knives into the dishwasher.
  
  Always hand wash knives used in food prep.
  
  Washing in the dishwasher will only dull the blade and ruin the knife.

Summary Checklist for a Perfect Load

1. Scrape, Don’t Rinse: Modern dishwashers have sensors that actually work better when there is some food soil to detect.
   
   Just scrape off the big chunks.
   
   A rinsed plate can also make it more difficult to get clean in the dishwasher since detergent is designed to grab onto food particles and extra water only complicates the process.
   
2. Like with Like: Group similar items for uniform spacing and better water flow.
   
3. No Touching: Ensure no two dishes are touching each other.
   
4. Angle Down: Angle bowls and cups so water drains off them.
   
5. The Spin Test: Always manually spin the spray arms before closing the door.
   
6. Rinse Aid: Fill the rinse aid reservoir to help particles rinse off during the cleaning cycle.
   
7. Clean the Filter: If your dishwasher comes with a removable filter, be sure to clean it at least once a month.
   
   A clogged filter will prevent a clean load.

Over to you!

The case for learning how to load a dishwasher is pretty solid!

Using the dishwasher loading tips outlined in this post means:

• Cleaner dishes
• Fewer loads
• Quicker unload times
• Less time spent on this chore

All of those reasons make sense for the small investment of time to learn dishwasher organization, making it easier to keep your kitchen clean and organized!

Resources You’ll Love

Looking for even more ways to save time by being more organized?

You’ll love this daily organizing calendar that gives you a single acton step to take to get closer to your organizing goals!

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