Tag Archives: dishwasher services

Tricks to Make Your Dishwasher Function Optimally

When you purchase a dishwasher, you want it to function at its best, right? And it’s possible with these tricks given by dishwasher repair professionals:

Properly prepare the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher

You can do several things to prepare your dishwasher for proper functioning. These things include:

Secure all plastics. If you don’t, water blasts may force them to roll over and fill with water, or worse, fall into an exposed heating element (if your model has one) and melt them.  You don’t want this, do you?

Never stack items. The water spray will be unable to reach (or clean) the dish sitting on top. Remember that if water cannot reach the dishes, it will not be cleaned.

Always keep stainless steel and silver (or silver-plated) cutlery separate. If the two types come into contact in the wash, a reaction can occur, causing the silver to pit.

If you have not used your dishwasher in a while, turn on the hot water tap. Run it at the nearest sink to guarantee that hot water reaches your dishwasher.

Be cautious what you put in the dishwasher. Items made of wood, such as cutting boards and spoons, cast Iron, valuable carving tools (such as chef’s knives), jars, or containers with glued-on labels, as bits of the labels may fall off and become caught in the filter, and they don’t belong in the dishwasher.

Don’t pre-rinse the dishes.

You should avoid washing your dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. This is because modern detergent is engineered to adhere to the remaining food and clean the dishes properly.

While this is the case, it doesn’t imply you should put your plate in the dishwasher with a half-eaten sandwich on it—unless you want a mushy mess.

Instead, you should scrape large objects off your plate—into the trash or garbage disposal—and place the dish in without rinsing it.

This will not only clean your dishes, but also preserve them in good shape. If no food is adhered to, the detergent may gradually damage your dishware, carving little scratches and pits into the surface.

You also waste water—up to 27 gallons each load, compared to the three to six gallons used by a normal Energy Star-rated dishwasher.

There are certain exceptions to this, of course. With difficult foods such as eggs and oats, dishwashers can’t always perform the job perfectly on the first try.

If you have a casserole dish with very burned-on food residue, it probably makes sense to soak it a little before putting it in your dishwasher.

Place the cookware on the right rack.

You must place the right items on the rack for the best outcome. To help you out, here is a guide to follow:

Plates: Plates belong at the bottom. Lay them so that the dirty side faces the area where the water spray is heaviest, which is normally in the center of the rack. To achieve the best cleaning results, angle pots, pans, and casseroles down.

Place flat pans and platters on the bottom, snuggled along the sides and rear of the rack. Never set them in front of the door; they may prevent the dispenser from opening and the detergent from reaching the dishes.

Store utensils in the basket or lined neatly on the flatware tray. If you’re using a basket, make sure spoons don’t nest together, so arrange some handles higher, and others lower to ensure all surfaces are cleaned.

Forks go up to clean the tines, while knives should be positioned with the blade down for safety. When unloading, grip utensils by their handles to keep them clean.

Glasses and cups: These belong on the top rack. Remember to place glasses between the tines, never on top. The tip of the prong can leave a watermark, and glasses jammed between two tines can fracture.

Angle the cups as much as the rack design allows to prevent water from gathering at the base of the upside-down cups.

Still, got puddles? Unload the lowest rack first to prevent drip-down. And place the wine glasses with care.

To minimize breakage, keep them from bumping into each other or the dishwasher’s top, and ensure they sit securely in the rack. Thankfully, most modern dishwashers include unique stemware holders to keep glassware stable.

Use the proper cycle for the job.

You should be cautious of the cycle you use on your dishwasher. The rapid cycle may be okay if you’re pre-rinsing your dishes, but it wastes more water and time than simply letting the dishwasher do the work.

The shorter cycle is intended for dishes with light soil or those that have recently been soiled. For example, if you have freshly purchased crockery and want it washed for the first time.

Or perhaps you and your companion sit down to dinner and want the dishes cleaned.

For regular loads, you should use the usual cycle.

That is, unless your new dishwasher includes an automatic cycle. The autocycle is intended for a daily mixed load. That’s where the machine’s intelligence comes into play: it analyzes the soil level, recognizes anything left in there, and modifies the cycle accordingly.

If your dishwasher has the intelligence to run an auto cycle efficiently, you can use it for most loads, except for exceptional cases like pots and pans or baby bottles that require the sanitary cycle.

Keep the food trap clean.

Many people don’t know that the dishwasher needs cleaning and maintenance. One area you should pay attention to is the food trap.

It’s in the dishwasher’s base and smells terrible, so people avoid taking it out and messing with it. Depending on how frequently you use your dishwasher, you should clean the trap once every three to six months.

The beauty is that it’s easy to clean even by yourself without involving the services of appliance repair Alexandria professionals.

Tricks to A Perfectly Functioning Dishwasher

A dishwasher isn’t a necessity, but it really comes in handy. After all, who wants to deal with a massive mound of dishes after preparing and eating a meal? Unfortunately, you can’t enjoy your unit if it functions incorrectly.

Thankfully, you can do several things to ensure that the unit is always in top working condition. These things include:

Keep the filters clean at all times.

You should clean your dishwasher’s filter after each usage. That may seem like a lot of labor, but it’s worth it.

After removing the filter from the machine, just rinse it under running water to loosen any trapped particles, allow it to dry, and then replace it. If you can’t remember to do it after each usage, try once a week.

The beauty of cleaning the filters is that you don’t need to hire a dishwasher repair professional to help you. You can easily do it by yourself.

Always scrape food from the dishes.

To avoid clogging the filter, scrape your plates and remove as much food residue from pans and dishes as possible before adding them to the washing machine. Foods like Weetabix and porridge adhere to dishes if they sit in the dishwasher for an extended period before being run.

Put these plates in the sink to catch the water when you run the faucet. This will assist in soaking up the worst of the breakfast leftovers. Then, just before the cycle begins, place them in the dishwasher.

Some people have the notion that they should pre-wash the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher, but you don’t have to. In fact, you usually end up causing more havoc when you pre-wash the dishes.

This is because when you pre-wash the dishes, you remove the adhering surfaces for the soap. As a result, the soap doesn’t clean the dishes as well as it should. The consequence is leaving you with dirty dishes even after running them in the dishwasher.

The right way to do it is to scrape the food from the dishes, and you are good to go. This will remove the food particles that can clog the unit and, at the same time, leave binding spaces for the soap so that it effectively cleans the dishes.

Keep the dishwasher salt topped up at all times.

Experts report that using salt is the key to a long-lasting dishwasher. Salt serves two functions in your machine: first, it softens the water and prevents the buildup of hard water deposits, and second, it helps keep the dishwasher clean by preventing bacteria buildup.

Some dishwashers allow you to tell how hard the water is where you live, but if yours doesn’t, you can find out the exact level by calling your local water board.

If your dishwasher has this feature, it will use the least amount of salt necessary to keep hard water deposits at bay.

A common misconception is that you don’t need to add salt if you live in a soft water area or have a water softener. This is not the case.

You must always add salt to the machine to keep it bacteria-free. If germs are allowed to multiply, your dishwasher’s water flow and wash performance will suffer.

Inhibiting the water flow over time may dramatically diminish the life of your dishwasher. And you don’t want this, do you?

Regularly check spray arms for blockages.

You should also clean the spray arms regularly with a mix of washing up liquid and water (how often depends on how frequently you use your dishwasher).

While you’re at it, look for debris in the jets, such as fruit pips and small food particles. A clever approach is to send water into the intake of each arm – if it flows freely, it is not clogged. If it is, clear it with a toothpick or something similar.

Besides unclogging the spray arms, check them to confirm they aren’t bent. If they are, straighten them. In some cases, you might find them too bent or damaged. In such a case, simply straighten them.

Deep clean the dishwasher

Dishwashers are one of the appliances that many people clean the least. This is because many people have the impression that they are always clean, but this isn’t the case.

According to survey, consumers clean their dishwashers three times per year on average. This is not enough. The best way out is to thoroughly clean your dishwasher every two months by running it empty on the hottest setting.

You should soak a cleaning cloth in hot, soapy water and wipe off the surface of dishwashers with plastic exteriors. Wipe it dry with a clean, dry cloth or a paper towel.

After this, fill a spray bottle with a homemade solution of one part vinegar to three parts water if your dishwasher is stainless steel. Spray it on the exterior of the dishwasher and wipe it clean with a cleaning cloth.

A screen in your dishwasher collects food and other particles. The screen becomes clogged with time, resulting in badly cleaned dishes and increased wear and tear on your dishwasher.

You should remove the filter from the bottom and spray it with hot water from the kitchen sink.

Soak the filter for 10 minutes in warm, soapy water before rinsing with hot water. Use a scrub brush to remove any leftover food particles or residue.

Rinse your filter, then before putting it back in the dishwasher, check the drain for buildup and clean it with a sponge.

Parting shot

These are some things you need to do to ensure that your dishwasher is always in top working condition. Besides these things, also use your dishwasher correctly. As a rule of thumb, never run it when it’s too full, as it will fail to function optimally and reduce lifespan.

For peace of mind that your unit is in good working shape, contact appliance repair Fairfax professionals at least once a year to look at it and fix any issues it might be having.