Okay, so you’re probably going to roll your eyes at a blog post about dishwasher etiquette – but it really does matter more than you might think. How a team treats their shared space is a mirror of how they treat each other, and for everyone to get along, you need to encourage fair play.
The dishwasher is a big part of how well an office kitchen functions, and if you need proof of how it actually impacts business – dishwasher etiquette has made it to LinkedIn!
Now, if you’re lucky enough to have a dishwasher at work, you’ll know that it’s a bit of a blessing and a curse. Sure, nobody’s got to actually wash up anymore – and you save a ton of time, washing up liquid and sponges – but it’s not all plain sailing.
Actually, it can be a bit of a pain if nobody takes care of the basics: filling, emptying, cleaning, and turning the blasted thing on at the end of the workday!
The office dishwasher is everyone’s to use, and so it’s everyone’s responsibility. But when something belongs to everyone, it’s frankly amazing how quickly it becomes no one’s problem at all.
So, to combat the problems that every office dishwasher faces, you need to set some firm office dishwasher rules: some dos and don’ts, some polite reminders – and some tough love when it’s needed. Here are what we think are the top office dishwasher rules, for keeping the peace, and for keeping the dishwasher working like new – pin them up somewhere easy to see (like on the dishwasher door, so there’s no excuses!).
- Don’t overload the dishwasher
- Always put the dishwasher tablet in the detergent compartment
- Refill the salt and rinse aid if the warning light comes on
- Always empty the clean dishes
- Clean the dishwasher once a month
Wait, there’s an elephant in the room! To rinse or not to rinse…
Before we break down why these are the rules to follow, we’ve got a huge debate incoming.
Do you rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher?
Well, if you do… Maybe it’s time to stop. Pre-rinsing dishes is a massive waste of time, water, and energy. You’re literally doing the dishwasher’s job, but worse!
For sure, scrape off any big bits into the food waste or general waste bin – but rinsing is totally not required. If you’ve got your dishwasher set up right, and you add detergent into the pre-wash dispenser (more on that in a moment), then pre-rinsing is totally unneeded.
Save your time, energy, and water. Let the dishwasher take care of it!
Now that’s out of the way, let’s start from the top – a new day, and an empty dishwasher…
Rule number one: don’t overload!
After the lunchtime rush, it’s common for everyone to cram their crockery into the dishwasher in a higgledy piggledy mess. All this does is block the dirty bits of dish from facing the washing jets, which means that you’ll end up needing to rewash many of the items in there.
Instead, go easy on the space. Leave gaps, and make sure no surfaces are touching. Fill it reasonably, and remember this rhyme:
If in doubt, take it out.
Better to run it a little emptier than crammed to bursting point!
Rule number two: do use the detergent compartment
If your dishes come out of the office dishwasher crusty and smelling like they spent the night in a pond, then you’re probably getting this wrong…
Every dishwasher has a compartment for detergent for a very good reason. If, like so many others out there, you’re chucking the dishwasher tablet into the cutlery basket before running the cycle, your dishes are barely getting cleaned at all. Here’s why…
Dishwashers are super efficient with both power and water. In the first part of the cycle, the detergent compartment is shut. The dishwasher sprays water over the dishes to knock off the loose stuff and give everything a pre-soak.
This water then gets drained out, and new water gets added in. The detergent compartment opens, and the new water is used to actually clean the dishes with the soap and heat. This water is reused for the rest of the cycle – so if you’ve put the detergent or tablet straight in the basket, it’s all gone and drained out with the dirty pre-wash water.
Now, the majority of muck has no soap to get cleaned off with, and just gets sloshed around over the dishes and glasses until the machine stops.
This can leave dishes looking clean, but most of the time there’s stuff stuck on at least some of them, and the dishwasher can get smelly. It’s all the hard-to-clean bits from the dishes that have been sloshed around, settled on the bowls and glasses, and been baked on by the drying process.
Bonus rule: do use the pre-wash compartment
Try to use the pre-wash section of the detergent compartment to keep things fresher. It’s next to the sealed detergent compartment, and looks like a mini version of it with a grated cover:
Add a small amount of detergent in here – or break off a little chunk of a dishwasher tablet – to use in the pre-soak before the main compartment opens.
Rule number three: don’t forget the rinse aid!
Rinse aid – pain in the neck, pouring that stuff in… Unfortunately, that hunched over squirty action you have to do to get it in is one of the most important things you can do for the office dishwasher!
Rinse aid is an “ionised surfactant”. Basically, it makes water dry faster, and stops water spots forming on glass and silverware. But more importantly than making things shiny, it keeps your dishwasher cleaner for longer. By drying quickly, it prevents mildew and mould taking hold, which stops funky smells in their tracks.
But what about the dishwasher salt? Lucky for us in Wales, most of our water supply is quite soft, with barely any mineral content. The softest water is found in the valleys, and while it’s a little harder in and around Cardiff, it’s still much better than it is over the border!
This means that adding salt to your office dishwasher in Cardiff (and most of Wales for that matter) isn’t as pertinent as it is in other parts of the UK. You should still do it to prevent limescale build-up and keep the machine in tip-top shape, but we’d say rinse aid is the one to keep on top of for sure.
Rule number four: always empty the office dishwasher ASAP
Don’t use the office dishwasher like an extra cupboard – make sure it’s emptied as soon as possible.
For one, this stops things inside staying damp for longer than they need to. But the main reason is for the sake of your colleagues. Leaving clean dishes in the dishwasher leads to a horrible muddle – where someone comes along, sees a dishwasher full of what they assume are dirty dishes, and adds a cup of tea dregs that spill all over the lot.
That clean load has probably got to be run again.
The easiest way to manage this is by making sure the last person to leave runs the dishwasher, and the first to arrive empties it – or to have a rota for dishwasher duties. If life happens and the dishwasher’s full by the end of lunchtime, then run it and empty it before you go home. Add any new dishes in, and consider running a half load cycle for the morning arrivals to tidy away.
Rule number five: clean the dishwasher regularly
Gunk and food chunks can build up quickly in a heavily used office dishwasher – but if you stay on top of cleaning the machine itself, it’ll stay fresh and perform well.
Every month or so, run the dishwasher on empty, using a dishwasher cleaning liquid or white vinegar to flush out the system. This will break down grease and mineral deposits. Clear out the dishwasher trap (which is where most of the gunk gathers), found near the bottom spinny jet washer. It’s a bit grim, but it takes two minutes and it makes a huge difference!
Wiping down the dishwasher’s seals around the doors every month or so will help tackle leaks and mouldy growths. Those rubber seals are usually the first thing to go, and grease can eat away at them faster.
Office Cleaning that Keeps Everyone Happy
Get professional office cleaning from The Abbey Cleaning Service, and keep that office kitchen looking like new. Call 029 2067 9323 today, for a clean that’ll keep you in everyone’s good books!
