How Should You Stack Your Dishwasher For Best Performance?

So I was wondering, we all stack our dishwasher every day, and the way we stack them is, of course, unique to the individual who is stacking it.

What I mean is, is there a right or wrong way to stack the dishwasher? And do any particular techniques win out?
And If you stacked it wrong, would that affect the performance of the dishwasher as well as the probability of getting clean dishes at the end of the cycle?

Speaking of dishwasher cycles, which cycle is the best for your dishes?
Is it eco, normal, glasses wash, auto wash or heavy wash?
Do higher temperatures help get the dishes cleaner?
Is the longer cycle better than the shorter one?

Also, would the dishwasher’s warranty be voided if you caused it damage by stacking it not according to the manufacturer’s instructions?

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and this topic

You can also use the Community search function to see if there is already relevant discussion, and likewise on the Choice.com.au web site.

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A quick note on cycle selection - the best program to use is the one that uses the least amount of energy but still gets your crockery clean - for lightly soiled plates this may well be the eco program, but you’re gong to need a much more intensive setting, with way more heat, to shift baked on stains in pots and pans.
Further on the eco mode - for many dishwashers this is the program used for registration - ie, to calculate the star ratings. Manufacturers want the best star rating possible, so they develop these programs specifically to use as little energy and water as possible while just meeting the minimum performance requirements. So a better name for them would be ‘registration program’, however calling them ‘eco’ makes them sound much better in the eye of the consumer. As most of the energy for dishwashers (and washing machines for that matter) goes into heating the water, the eco mode will have the lowest temperature of any setting on your dishwasher. Should you use it? Yes - if it gets your plates clean then great, you’ve reduced your running costs. And if it doesn’t, the worst that’s going to happen is you have to leave the still dirty plates in there for the next wash. One thing to note however is that dishwashers use heat to dry - if you use the eco program, particularly if you have a lot of plastics in the load (with low thermal mass) it won’t dry as well as a more energy intensive program will.

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Another useful energy saver employed on Miele (and probably other dishwashers) is a selectable air-dry feature in Miele’s case called “Energy saver”. At the completion of the final rinse and draining, the door opens 3 or 4 centimetres to allow the dishes to air-dry. The program continues to run for about another hour and we find it dries satisfactorily other than a few ‘cupped’ dishes that retain a little water that may have been dried in a heated, additional energy using, drying cycle. Stacking the dishes with a slight lean usually allows this cupped water to run off.

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@airedale may not be impressed with this article regarding his dishwasher recommendations.

“Resident dishwasher guru Ashley Iredale listed her most frequently encountered slip-ups including rinsing plates beforehand, stacking cutlery the wrong way and not cleaning the filter.”

image

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The Daily Mail is a Fail. image @airedale

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Sheesh, you wear heels and a dress to ONE Daily Mail Christmas party and they’ve forever got you pegged…
Interestingly, they reverted back later in the article when they were directly ‘quoting’ CHOICE.

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