Please teach me how to use a dishwasher!

13 years ago

Okay, I'm not a *total* idiot, but our new dishwasher will be my first this decade, and DH hasn't used a dishwasher since the early 90s. I'm curious to know how we should plan to use this thing, since I've heard that technology has changed in dishwashers in recent years.

Big questions:

- Do we scrape dishes clean/"pre-rinse" (= dog in our house!)? Does the dishwasher clean more or less effectively with food bits left on the plates? (I've read that the food bits help, but not sure if this is true.)

- Can we put (dishwasher-safe) pots in? I'm thinking yes, but want to be sure...

- Still no wood (spoons, cutting boards) in dishwasher, or has that changed?

- We probably will only fill this once every other day or so---what happens to dishes with hardened food on them? Can the dishwasher handle that, or do we need to be sure to get that off first?

Dishwasher is a Miele Inspira, no food particle grinder thingy in it. Water is pretty normal (not particularly hard or soft, according to water district). We plan to use the Miele tabs to start with, and then explore other detergents once everything is happily working with those. Any other particular factors I should be paying attention to? Thanks!!

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Comments (9)

weissman
13 years ago
scrape but don't pre-rinse
if the pots are dishwasher safe - then yes
you can put wood in but it may warp - your choice
you can leave dirty things for days without any problem
rococogurl
13 years ago
I'm a M girl as I'm quite devoted to mine.

First, find out if you need the softener -- there should be a water tester strip. Then adjust accordingly (tech support helps with that they can direct you to program it as needed over the phone. Don't waste $ on salt until you know if you need it.) I don't need it with our Optima so I had them program it to disable the salt function.

Scrape well with spatula or paper towel. No need to rinse (they say not to rinse). Tiny bits of food get caught in the little filter in the bottom that we empty once a month or so -- not much in there but it traps food particles.

You can load those babies any way and stuff gets clean. It's amazing. We are switching out to have all cookware that goes in. SS with SS handles comes out wonderfully.

Fill the rinse aid dispenser with Jet Dry or Somat ($$) -- I don't see much difference. Turn the setting to 3 to start.

Starting off with Miele tabs is a good move IMO. I cut them with a garden shears. They work really well. Somat tabs also work well. I find that much easier than powder and no chance of using too much. I also cannot breathe around the powder or the gel -- can't stand smell. So tabs are 4 me. I tried the Cascade powerballs but they don't go in the little trap door easily and they have a chemically smell to me. I bought them for the old GE before the replacement and I'm down to 2 -- only use them for huge, heavy loads with pots and pans.

We wash every day so Dw doesn't get smelly. But you can do a rinse and hold. If you have Express setting it's a quick one that we use for smaller loads. I don't like to leave stuff in there but if you will the rinse and hold will help.

We don't put in anything wooden but we do knives, the plasticky cutting boards and everything else including plastic storage container and the flexi cutting mats.

I'm a super happy owner/user and hope you will be the same.
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weissman
13 years ago
Good knives shouldn't be put in the DW. It will ruin their edges.
londongirl_2009
13 years ago
I have the Miele dishwasher also and I love it. I buy the powerball detergent and I have yet to find any dishes that have not come out SPOTLESS! It does a fabulous job. I do not put pots and pans in as I only run the dishwasher every 3 or 4 days. I do not pre-rinse. Scrape any large particles from plates and put them in as is. Even after sitting for a few days, everything is great. I have the cutlery tray on the top and I used to find it a pain to load - but cutlery is spotless to so I am really happy and I sort it so it is easy to put away too.
michellemarie
13 years ago
I also have the Miele dishwasher. It cleans great, but I do soak those bowls that have dried oatmeal and cream of wheat. Maybe tomorrow I will not soak bowls and see if they come out clean.
I have found that with both of my dishwashers, the Finish powerball tablet works better than liquid.
houseful
13 years ago
I am running my new DW right now for the first time!! It's been 15 years here without one.

I too felt like I needed to relearn everything, but everything went smoothly. I don't put any wood in the DW. I'll probably never have room for pots and pans, so we will continue to wash those by hand.

As I was reading the instructions, I read the part about the test strip. I could not find mine anywhere. Does anyone know if I can get another one? I am pretty sure we have hard water. Is it a real problem to run the DW a few times without a water softener?
katsmah
13 years ago
I was telling BF earlier today that I love all of my new kitchen, but the star has been the Miele DW. I have the Diamante Plus model. What a treat after my old DW which was so bad that if I didn't wash the dishes before they went in the DW, I would have to wash them when they came out.

I only run the DW 2 - 3 times a week. Only 2 of us and old habits die hard, I usually hand wash the pots and pans. I just scrape the dishes and they clean wonderfully after sitting with dried on food. I had some Cascade Complete powder left over and use a very small amount, far less than I ever thought I would have to. I didn't think I would like the utensil tray, but I'm so impressed with how clean the utensils come out.
rococogurl
13 years ago
houseful -- I believe you can get water test strips at the hardware store -- and also at a pool supplies place. It shouldn't be a problem waiting a month or so but these dws are electronicized (hope that's the right verb) to run at a set up that gets the best cleaning results for the conditions. If you have hard water you can get build up and it can affect the glassware.
trailgirl
13 years ago
Thanks for the info, especially on the Miele. It sounds like my dog is not going to appreciate our new dishwasher......

Please teach me how to use a dishwasher!

Comments (9)

weissman

rococogurl

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