The best way to (un)load your dishwasher

Tableware by congerdesign

Time for another quick tip! If you have a dishwasher, you're already lucky that you don't have to spend time washing your dishes by hand, but what it the most efficient way to (un)load your dishwasher?


To be clear, we have a dishwasher that is design to have the cutlery in the top drawer, glasses, small bowls an pots in the middle, and big pots, pans and plates at the bottom. If you have a different design, the ideal flow might be different.

Let's assume your kitchen is full of dirty dishes, but your dishwasher is still loaded (but clean). Before, I would have taken out the cutlery first. Why? To be honest: because it's easier than the pots and pans. But this has some disadvantages:

• When you're done with the cutlery drawer, you need to close it again to reach the next drawer.
• More importantly: if you have a big spoon that flipped over, and you open the drawer with too much force, you might splash your dishes with the (icky) water.

And the same goes for starting with the middle drawer of course. So: start at the bottom. The pots and pans might be more annoying, but the good news is that once you did the bottom drawer, it only gets better. (Well, in my personal opinion.)

Once you are done, leave the drawer open. Unload the middle and then the top one, and you can immediately start loading in the dirty dishes. It's also convenient, because usually your cutlery is anyway on top of your plates/bowls/pots/pans.

So in short:
Unloading: bottom to top
Loading: top to bottom

I hope that I saved at least 1 person of having to come up with this on their own. :)

Have fun optimizing your housework! What are some of your quick tips?