How to Save Space in your Dishwasher
Your dishwasher is your best friend when you have a pretty busy kitchen and a crowded family with many mouths to feed. But even if a dishwasher does the dirty job for you, you still need to organize stuff correctly so nothing goes to waste, space-wise. Don’t miss out on the best tips to save space inside your dishwasher.
Remove the silverware caddy
Silverware is one of the most mess-free items to wash by hand. With that in mind, you might want to get rid of the silverware caddy to clear some space and place more bulky items such as bowls, salad spinners, and pots. Doing this will clear out a lot of space, once you remove the silverware basket you’ll realize just how much free space you have!
Fill in all the gaps
The bottom rack is not a safe space for certain items such as plastic lids and containers due to the increased heat localized below. The best thing you can do with those loose items is to find small gaps here and there so you can stuff them. The best dishes to place are ice cream bowls, mugs, and small containers.
Place flat items around the perimeter
Flat items and dishes can be very tricky because they take up a lot of space or very little space, depending on how to place them. For all of these items, the perimeter is a great spot to squeeze sheet pans, plastic cutting boards, cooling racks, and more. Once all flat items are in their place, there’s enough space for the bulkier things.
Place the glasses between the tines
It’s pretty common for people to think glasses should be placed on top of the tines of a dishwasher, but what if you try placing them between them? By placing your glasses this way you’ll end up with cleaner glasses because they’ll receive a full rinse and leave no water spots in the middle. Also, you’ll be able to load more glasses inside this way!
Store small items in a mesh bag
Small items can also be a real pain to wash when you’re trying to place everything inside the dishwasher. It’s not uncommon to be filled with water bottle caps, lids, and small cutlery that are too small to fit on the racks. So simply take everything and toss it in a mesh bag, like the ones you use on your washing machine, and place the mesh bag on top of the top rack.
Load large plates on the bottom rack
The most common item people place in the dishwasher are large dinner plates, so they should go on the bottom rack to maximize space. Make sure not all the plates face the same way, being careful to place them facing inward to the middle of the rack, so the spray of the wash cycle gets the food out correctly.
Now that you know some of the best-kept secrets to save much-needed space in your dishwasher. So next time it’s time to load it, keep them at hand and, who knows? You might be able to load it just once!