Loading a dishwasher is a very opinionated topic at the best of times.
Everyone claims to have perfected their own foolproof technique, but there are many different ways to achieve this.
Now, scientists claim to have discovered the best way to pack and organize the dishwasher racks.
Studies have supplied a detailed analysis of how water circulates inside the household dishwasher, showing that most people pack their dishwasher incorrectly.
After studying many cycles, experts found that the most efficient way to pack a dishwasher is in a circle around the cutlery basket, but due to the way racks are currently designed, this may be a difficult to achieve.
The studies also suggested packing the dishes according to the type of stain they contained.
It was found that carbohydrate-based stains, like potato and egg, need the full force of the jets to clean.
Protein based foods, like dried egg yolk, need more contact with the chemical detergent.
The study found that even though the entire interior gets wet during a cycle, it will not always clean everything in the same way.
This explains why sometimes some stubborn burnt food particles will be washed off, and other light stains can be baked on.
Areas with direct impact from the water jets are very localized, and only cover a very small area of the total crockery area present.
Instead, most of the water coverage is caused by water falling back down through the dishes, like a waterfall.
The findings suggest that the best way to pack a dishwasher would be to place the dishes in a circular pattern, so all the dishes get hit by the jets of water.
This means that the area immediately above the spray arms of the dishwasher and in the centre of the top shelf, appear to be the best place for dishes to get the strongest force of the water jets.
It also showed that the lowest force of water was at the edge of the lower dishwasher basket and close to the walls of the dishwasher.
This means that the detergent will have more time to work on dishes in this area, making it best for egg and custard covered plates.
It is also probably the best area to place any delicate china crockery that should not be exposed to the full force of the water jets.
The current design of racks shows a problem, as the ejection of water is in a circular motion and racks are designed in a rectangular pattern.
Different soil type removal.
Depending on the soil type to remove, the best type of procedure varies.
For the cleaning of protein based soils such as egg yolk requires an initial swelling/hydration stage which is driven by a high alkaline stage at the beginning of the cycle, afterwards cleaning occurs by detaching soil layers top to bottom following hydrolysis reactions.
Other types of soils based on carbohydrates like tomato paste, require less chemistry and more mechanical action.
The study also found that the overloading of plates causes the water to stop reaching all the areas needed.
The conclusion is that there will be more design needed to arrive at a better design to allow better water flow and more of the water jets to cover a larger area and do a more efficient was
