Ever experienced the embarrassment of having a dinner guest ask for a clean fork? It’s probably happened to us all at some point. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your friends don’t avoid eating meals at your house:
- Scrape off food before loading dishes into the dishwasher. You don’t have to wash them by hand – but chunks of food can clog the drain in your dishwasher, and might even spray out and get stuck on other dishes (like that fork your guests will be using). So it’s best to at least rinse them first.
- Don’t layer dishes on top of or put them in too close to each other. Leave room for the soap and hot water to reach each piece. This may mean having to wash a few pieces by hand, but it’s better than having to rerun an entire load.
- Run hot water first. Before starting the cycle, turn on the faucet and run it until the water is hot to the touch. This means your first dishwasher fill cycle will be hot. Check that your water heater is between 120 and 125 for optimal clean dishes.
- Run vinegar through your empty dishwasher. If you pour a cup of white vinegar into the bottom and run a normal cycle, it will clean out old food particles.
- Have a plumber test your water. If you have hard water, your dishes will most likely not get clean. A knowledgeable plumber can offer softening systems that will solve that problem.
It’s possible that, even after all of these measures, your dishes still won’t get clean. Your dishwasher’s drain could be clogged with food, pet hair, and soap residue. Call Putman Plumbing to take a look, and we’ll have your dishes clean in no time.
