I used to be uptight about how to load the dishwater until I put away a load that was packed by my partner, "like a raccoon on meth", and noticed there wasn't a difference in the cleanliness.

Now I just worry about buying new bowls. Will the bowls fit nicely given pitch and angle of the of the dealies on the rack? The bowls I inherited from my grandmother fit so nicely in any dishwasher I've loaded them into, but now they're starting to crack...

Some things won't matter, some will. I think it's changed over time as dishwashers and detergents got better.

The article mentions that newer detergents do better with unrinsed dishes. And I remember a commercial about a dishwasher that could eat a cake. My old model sure couldn't do that! If I wasn't careful I'd find hunks of food sitting inside after it ran. It also used to be that putting thin tupperware on the bottom rack was a sure way to melt it. Now I can't remember the last time that happened to me.

Things that used to provably matter... now don't.

On the other hand, I have a family member who loads the spoons in a big pile, and they stick together and don't get clean. Or, I had roommates who kept putting my good knives in the dishwasher, and the finish got ruined. That stuff still matters.

I like the article's conclusion: we can just get the answers, and update our knowledge. We don't have to treat this like a pre-internet argument, where we just went in circles repeating heresay.

> I used to be uptight about how to load the dishwater until I put away a load that was packed by my partner, "like a raccoon on meth", and noticed there wasn't a difference in the cleanliness.

My partner loads the dishwasher like a raccoon on meth. I do it like a software engineer who's been thinking about The One True Way To Organize Things for decades.

Cleanliness is fine either way. But I really hate that she can't fit a full day's worth of dishes in there so I have to do an extra load later.

What I notice is that the dishes and glasses don't chip when I put them in and I do when anyone else does. Don't matter if there are more clean dishes per load if they're broken, people.

Similarly, I used to stress about loading the dishwasher when I was a teen. I would spend so much time loading it that I have myself a neck ache from leaning over and I could have saved time by washing the dishes by hand.

I still try to be somewhat efficient about loading the dishwasher, but… if I notice myself stressing I just say “screw it”, run it, and wash the rest by hand.

The other thing I’ve realized is that sometimes things don’t get clean if you load them properly. For example, tall glasses that had smoothies in them. It’s a little gross if you don’t notice it until you’re about to use it, but… you can just look at them and wash them by hand when you unload the dishwasher.

I guess this is all to say that sometimes the best optimization is to not think about it too much.

IMHO the main advantage of neatly loading dishes neatly is that unloading becomes a 60 second exercise as opposed to a 5 minute one. It's not so much that I don't have 5 minutes to spare, but my back appreciates it if I can get it done quicker. I get 4 plates with each hand, silverware is already sorted neatly... it's just overall a better experience.

In other words, even if you believe the time taken to sort is identical whether you do it loading or unloading, the difference is if you do it while loading you divide that task into many smaller tasks instead of doing one big sorting task on unloading.

I like to re-try everything a new way occasionally even if I've been doing it one way for 20 years.

I think that heavily depends on the specific dishwasher.

I inherited a dishwasher and became more uptight after:

- dishes that left the soap partially unused

- wet dishes

- melted stuff

- stuff that blocked the upper rotating thingie

- stuff that fell into the heating element and bottom rotating thingie

maybe seeking a racoon-friendly dishwasher would be a relationship saver.

I view it as an area where diminishing returns are almost as soon as you get started. Using a dish washer is already getting a TON of work done for me that I would otherwise have to do. Trying to squeeze any extra from it is kind of silly. I'll always have to run it some more tomorrow.

The only trick is to not block anything from the water, or a direct reflection of it. Other than that, it's a free-for-all.

>and noticed there wasn't a difference in the cleanliness.

If they screw it up good enough there is a difference because the water streams can't get where they need to to get everything sufficiently cleaned and rinsed.

> dealies

Not often so I learn a new 5 letter word. I have the same issue with trying to get rid of the fiestaware from my childhood home my mom gave me when I graduated college. It just fits right.

In one of my jobs (civil service) I had to pack and unpack a cheap dish washer, for a horde of unruly kids each day.

If you pack it orderly unpacking is a lot faster. It also helps to avoid problems with leftovers blocking the dish washer. Turns out most dish washer manufacturers thought a bit about how to load a dishwasher ideally (that matches the layout of the machines insides).

For home use with small amounts of dishes it won't really matter tho.