DH requests this question be answered...

[sshudson99]

My DH always complains that I don't load the dishwasher right, so I let him deal with it. I think he throws them in there anyway possible. I tell him, honey, come LOAD your dishes If I can only convince him that I can't wash clothes right, sweep and mop right, clean the windows right......

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Hands down... handles DOWN!!!

If you squish all of them in the basket, they won't get clean. If you are worried about touching the clean part after they wash you can always take the basket out and lay them on a towel to put them away. Even in the restaurant industry (where silverware is required to go through the super hot, high pressure machine twice) the handles are always to be inside the basket. =)

 

[robinb]

Handles down so that the tines, bowls and blades are up and in direct contact with the water and soap. I wash all my sharp knives by hand.

 

[pixiewings71]

Handles UP! I have NO doubts that my dishwasher gets thru the mesh basket they sit in just fine. My basket sits in the middle of the bottom rack, right above the spray bar, there's not usually anything left on my utensils after running thru the dishwasher.

 

[tlh0726]

We have have always alternated some up some down. Sharp knives always pointing down.



From the cascade website

Prevent nesting in the dishwasher

Silverware can nest in the dishwasher, which prevents pieces from getting as clean as they can be. To prevent this, load some with handles up and some with handles down.

 

[dis-happy]

Handles down, which, BTW, is the way recommended in Consumer Reports magazine a few months ago (I noted it because my mom and I have this little argument going on too).

For me:
It gets things cleaner.
The spoons aren't all nesting in each other either.
The tines of the forks aren't getting stuck in the holes and getting bent.

My sharp knives: I almost always wash and dry by hand (carbon steel) but there is one cheapy paring knife I sometimes put in the d/w; if so I put it facing down for safety.

 

[shellyfive]

To the OP.....
My husband likes to sort and wash clothes in monocromatic colors only...orange w/ orange, pink w/ pink , etc.
Suddenly your world doesn't seem so bad, does it????

 

[redrosesix]

I agree with NotUrsula.

I assume they get cleaner with the handles down. (My mom does them handles up and she always seems to have to wash out the basket because food is left behind.)

We also grab below the tops of the forks and spoons (and empty after washing our hands), so they're not getting dirty.

I wash all knives by hand, so the kids can empty the dishwasher and there's no issue of getting cut.

We do the same, and for the same reasons. And I also wash the knives by hand.

 

[ktlm]

DH likes them handles down. He claims they don't get as clean the other way. I like them handles up because I don't like getting poked and don't want DD to stick her hand in and meet the sharp point of a knife.

 

[surfergirl602]

handles facing up. They get clean either way - and look just the same coming out - and when you are taking them out of the little carrier you don't get your grubby hands all over the eating part, and don't stab yourself on the knives. We also don't over load, and we don't stack spoons. We've never had any residual particles after washing.

 

[DisneyFed]

Wait ... There's a systematic way to do this??

Mine go in hodgepodge.....don't tell my wife there's more than one way to do it, she might start expecting more of me

My wife is just happy I help....

 

[skw444]

Handles down. I feel like it gets them cleaner. Plus the tines of the fork don't get stuck in the holes of the basket. I also wash my sharp knives by hand.

 

[Gi19]

Handles up everytime...

 

[TMB1203]

We started doing it handles up when the kids were little and started "helping" unload the dishwasher -- didn't want little hands getting stabbed. We still do it this way. Also, it seems like even though our hands are clean, grabbing the business end of the utensils seems weird b/c you're gonna eat with that end.

:
Us too...for this reason!

 

[sksjasams]

Handles down. They don't get really clean otherwise. I also have a restaurant background and that is how its done there. Just grab the silverware by the base when unloading. Wash sharp knives by hand. I purposely don't sort and make sure types are mixed together when loading to avoid nesting. Be sure to let us know what your DH has to say about the results!

 

[littlbugmom]

Handles down....for all of the reasons already listed.

Sharp knives are washed by hand.

When unloading, grab from the base.

 

[wmharley]

i rarely use it, but when I do:

forks, spoons go handle down.

Knives go handle up (don't want to be cut.)

 

[Mickeypooh99]

I load handles down except for sharp knives.

This is so funny to me because my DH refuses to load the dishwasher. We have been married 14 years, and after about 3 years we had a HUGE arguement about the dishwasher. I got upset about the way he loaded the dishes. I could fit way more in there. He would load them all randomly, and then I would have to rearrange them so the rest would fit. We NEVER fight so it was a big deal. The biggest fight we have ever had. He said if I didn't like it then I could load the dishwasher. So thats what I do. He has not loaded one dish since then. I do regret that arguement sometimes.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Handles facing up:

1. Reduced risk of injury from pointy objects

2. Sanitary--though my hands are clean prior to emptyng the dishwasher, no reason to touch the parts that will go in people's mouths or be used on food.

 

[bumbershoot]

Handles down. The force of the water isn't strong enough to clean properly when it has to go through the mesh of the basket before it reaches the business end of the utensils.

I don't touch the business ends when I take the utensils out after washing. I lift out the entire basket so that I can grab them around the exposed part of the handle.

Same.

Except this is DH's job, and he does a MUCH better job of it than I do, so I've given up the "someday you're going to be stabbed" eyebrow raise. And I don't think he has been stabbed.

He has no interest in leaning over to get the utensils one by one, so he gets the basket and puts it on the counter, and loads them into the drawer like that. Therefore he's NOT grabbing them by the eating ends, but by the middle of the handles.


If DS wants to help, we hand him some and he puts them away. I see no point in him getting his hands all into the basket.