When it comes to loading the dishwasher, safety should be top of mind. Pointing sharp objects like knives, forks, and skewers upward with the handles down can pose a risk of injury, especially when reaching in to unload clean utensils.
Imagine this scenario: You open your dishwasher after a cleaning cycle, ready to put the sparkling dishes and silverware away.
As you reach into the utensil basket, a knife or fork tip jabs your hand. Ouch! It’s a startling and painful experience that’s actually quite common.
To prevent dishwasher accidents, most people would recommend always placing sharp utensils pointing downward in the silverware basket. This simple precaution greatly reduces the chances of getting poked or cut while putting dishes away.
Of course, spoons and butter knives generally pose less of a safety hazard, as they have no sharp points. However, placing spoons facing down has an added benefit – it prevents water from pooling in the spoon’s basin during the wash cycle.
This means fewer pesky water spots on your clean spoons.
Up or Down for the Best Clean?
While the direction of your knife points is clear cut (pun intended), the ideal orientation for the rest of your silverware is more nuanced. The primary goal is to get your utensils completely clean, with no stuck-on food residue surviving the journey through the dishwasher.
So which way gets the job done better?
The key to getting your forks and spoons fully clean is to maximize their exposure to the dishwasher’s jets of water and detergent. If spoons and forks are nested tightly together, surfaces can be blocked from the spray, hindering the cleaning process.
The simple solution is to place silverware in the basket with adequate space between each piece, regardless of which direction they face.
But when it comes to cleaning the business end of your utensils – the part that goes into your mouth – which way is best? The dishwasher-loading community remains divided on this issue:
- Team Handles Down argues that pointing utensils upward allows better access for water and detergent to flow to the eating end for a superior clean.
- Team Handles Up counters that pointing utensils downward lets water and detergent flow down the handle to the food-contacting end, following the natural flow of gravity.
Surprisingly, there’s no conclusive scientific data that definitively proves one method delivers better cleaning results than the other. However, most dishwasher manufacturers recommend placing forks and spoons with the handles up for optimal cleaning performance.
This allows water to flow off the handles and carries food particles and detergent down to the eating end of the utensil.
Loading Tips for Silverware Success
Beyond the great up/down debate, a few other techniques will help ensure your silverware emerges from the dishwasher spotless every time:
Avoid overcrowding
Don’t try to cram too many utensils into the silverware basket. Overcrowding prevents proper water circulation and can cause utensils to nest together, blocking surfaces from getting fully clean.
Leave sufficient space between pieces so jets of water and detergent can reach every nook and cranny.
Separate by type
Place forks, spoons, and knives into their own compartments in the basket. Mixing them together randomly causes nesting and increases the likelihood that a utensil may not get fully clean.
Keeping each type separate and providing a bit of space between pieces yields better results.
Upgrade your basket
If your dishwasher has an old school silverware basket that lacks dividers, consider investing in an upgraded version with multiple compartments. A divided basket makes it easy to keep spoons, forks, and knives separated and properly oriented for safety and cleanliness.
Promote top-to-bottom cleaning
Place larger utensils like serving spoons, spatulas, and tongs on the top rack, not in the silverware basket. This prevents them from blocking water flow to other items below.
It also positions them ideally for unobstructed exposure to the upper water jets.
Don’t mix metals
Wash sterling silver flatware separately from stainless steel utensils. When the two metals come into contact in water, a chemical reaction can occur that leaves silver looking spotty and discolored. (ref)
If you don’t have enough silver pieces to run a separate load, place silver in a compartmentalized mesh bag or wrap each piece in a small rag or paper towel to prevent direct contact with stainless utensils.
Putting It All Together
While the debate about pointing silverware up or down in the dishwasher may never be fully resolved, following a few best practices will keep your utensils clean, shiny, and safe to handle:
- Always point sharp knives and forks downward to minimize risk of injury
- Keep spoons and forks separated with space in between to prevent nesting
- Don’t overcrowd the basket – less is more when it comes to effective cleaning
- Place larger items on the top rack to avoid blocking water flow
- Upgrade to a divided basket and separate sterling silver from stainless steel
Through optimizing your silverware loading technique, you’ll get cleaner utensils while protecting your fingers from the dreaded fork stab or knife nick. Now that’s a win-win dishwasher situation!
With these guidelines in mind, you can spend less time obsessing over which way to point your forks and more time enjoying your sparkling clean cutlery.
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Davin is a jack-of-all-trades but has professional training and experience in various home and garden subjects. He leans on other experts when needed and edits and fact-checks all articles.