Appliances like your dishwasher are very helpful to your day-to-day productivity, as it helps to make cleaning up the kitchen go quickly. Who wants to be hand washing a sinkful of dishes, when you could just load them up in the dishwasher and head out for the day!?
Here are some ways that you and your family might be harming your dishwasher, leaving it susceptible to a malfunction this summer:
Putting dirty dishes in it. While your dishwasher is responsible for cleaning the dishes that you put it in, you do have to rinse those dishes before you add them to the dishwasher. And, not just a quick rinse – you have to make sure that the large particles of food have been rinsed from the surface of the plates so that the pump system and filter are not damaged.
Overloading the machine. If you put too many dishes into the dishwasher, or you put dishes in such a way that the sprayers are prevented from working – you could cause serious damage to your dishwasher elements. While you do want to make sure that the dishwasher is full, so as to save money on your water and power bills, you don’t want to overload the unit and prevent it from doing the job it is designed to do.
Washing items that don’t belong. Your dishwasher can be used to wash many household items in addition to dishes – however, there is a line that you shouldn’t cross. For instance, these items should never be washed in your dishwasher; wooden utensils and cutting boards, cast iron pans, expensive cutlery, crystal, takeout containers or styrofoam
Skimping on the detergent. There are plenty of items that you can buy for your home that you don’t have to be top-dollar for. And, there are other items that you should not skimp on. Your dishwasher detergent is one of those that you should pay a little more for. Check the label to make sure your chosen detergent doesn’t contain sand.
Make sure to keep your dishwasher in top working condition this summer – and, avoid a costly and inconvenient dishwasher disaster – by avoiding these common behaviors that can be damaging to your dishwasher.