For an appliance that is supposed to save time, the dishwasher sure causes a lot of discord — mainly about how to load it.
While it should be a simple task, more than 40 percent of Americans said they fight over how to load the dishwasher, according to appliance maker Bosch. Maybe that's because it happens in the kitchen where it can be scrutinized, debated and redone.
According to General Electric, there are three type of dishwasher loaders.
"Protectors" want to load utensils with the handles up so the eating end isn't touched when unloading.
"Organizers" just want to load and unload everything as fast as possible.
"Curators" are particular. They place all the tall plates together even though they don't have to.
Loading technique is now more important than ever. Energy-saving dishwashers use less water, which heightens tensions about how much pre-rinsing to do. Appliance and soap makers urge against pre-rinsing dishes, but some people insist on doing it anyway.
Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart offers these cautions:
"Never put knives, pewter, wood, china, crystal, cast iron, nonstick pans or gold-plate flatware in the dishwasher." And don't mix sterling or silver-plate software with stainless-steel because a reaction of both metals can harm them both.
If you are looking for an ally in your dishwasher strategy, don't go to AI. When asked, Grok retreats to diplomacy. Grok says there is no actual best way. Just try to space things out. It doesn't take a super intelligence to know that, though.