The Age Old Question: Up or Down?

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz

Did you think I was going to discuss toilet paper roll placement? You silly fool, this is much more serious than that and any sane person knows the TP should be facing down. *eye roll*

Do you have the typical silverware set up in your dishwasher that fits on the bottom rack?

I know what you’re thinking: I’m proficient at shedding light on hard hitting topics.

We have that basket type at our GA house and while it’s not my first choice, obviously it’s been working for humans for many, many years.

This is what came with The Most Beautiful Dishwasher when we remodeled our house almost 5 years ago. {Miele} It has this secretive third rack on top for silverware. I love this dishwasher so much that I’m considering requesting it as my spot for eternal rest. It is the bomb at cleaning, has interior lights, you can knock on the outside to get it to open (although I always forget} and it fits tall wine glasses on the bottom rack like it was made for them.

It’s my favorite appliance. If it added money to the bank account via direct deposit, then the Coach could be worried about his place here.

Kidding.

Back to the standard. How do you arrange your flatware in the standard basket type?

My Uncle Alan (RIP) used to put forks with forks, spoons with spoons, etc…clearly, this is a faulty idea as spoons like to spoon but I never told him that he was insane to his face; instead, I just said so on my blog years after his passing.

We always threw ours in willy nilly, but facing DOWN like normal humans.

On this last visit to GA when I had much quality time with my girl Kelly, I noticed when I was emptying the dishwasher that I was being stabbed by forks and butter knives. I know, they’re for butter, but they are a bit sharp on my delicate phalanges.

I had to have a heart to heart with Kelly: “You do remember that one day when the guys leave us (and not by divorce) and we were going to live together in our final years? Well, I’m going to have to retract that plan unless you learn how to load the silverware without injuring me”

That looks SO dangerous!

She tried to defend her actions by stating that the flatware is able to get cleaner with her method. I’m not buying what she’s selling.

For the duration of our visit, she came around to my method which is good ’cause I’d hate to have to throw away a 33 year friendship over something this trivial serious.

I suppose I frightened her with my threat because a few days after I arrived home this thank you note arrived in the mail.

And there was no mention of the Georgia dishwasher/silverware/incident of 2021.

So, do you load yours like a normal human, all facing down? Or are we going to have to break up?

XO

39 thoughts on “The Age Old Question: Up or Down?”

  2. How do you load the forks facing down? They don’t fit into the little spaces. At least not in my basket. I didn’t even realize that there was a 3rd drawer option for silverware! How exciting. And yes, Coach should probably be a little worried….

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  5. I have a Bosch at the lakehouse with the third drawer on top, but I don’t use it for the regular flatware. It takes too long to load. I use the basket and load the butter knives blade down. At home, just the basket, again, blades down.

    And…you put your wineglasses in the dishwasher?

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    1. YAY for being on the same page.
      Yes, wine glasses in the dishwasher; they seem to sparkle when I remove them. Also, I don’t have very expensive wine glasses, so I wouldn’t lose any sleep if one broke either.

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  7. I have 2 dishwashers. I know, it’s pretty awesome. But loading 2 (on days we need both), and unloading 2 is a chore. One of my dishwashers has the 3rd drawer for silverware. I thought it would annoy me because of extra time loading -instead I have grown to love it. I get uber organized and cluster the forks in one place, spoons together, etc. Unloading is so easy then. I cannot get my ‘helpers’ to conform to this. Shock.

    When I use the basket in the extra dishwasher, I point everything down. What if someone trips and is impaled by a utensil pointing up?

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    1. You have two dishwashers. That I totally understand. But they aren’t the same? I love the third upper rack and I can’t imagine loading it and NOT having all the same pieces together. You need a family intervention.

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  9. Bijoux

    Wellllllllll, the only thing we turn down are the knives. Things don’t get clean as well when they are upside down. At least that’s what I’ve found. Our new dishwasher basket has slots that would prohibit even trying to put forks or spoons down because the slots are so narrow. It does have open baskets on both ends for larger items.

    I like that top rack!

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  10. When my kids were little (and I finally got a dishwasher), I loaded the cutlery facing down, to avoid any potential stabbings of little hands (or worse!). Now that it is only me that has the potential for injury, I load them standing up. I believe it does get them cleaner, and it saves on the basket getting damaged from all the pointy things. And it forces me to pay attention and stay in the moment, when loading and unloading the dishwasher. It was nice knowing you, Suz… 😉

    Deb

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  11. i’m a weirdo then…silverware UP but butter knives down. Sharper things on the 3rd shelf up top of my Bosch. The forks go through and catch when pulling the rack in and out. And also I think they get cleaner not all huddled up in the basket. I just reach around and grab them by the handle to put them away.

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  13. I have the ridiculous basket thing and everything I put in there goes down…until The Husband comes along when I’m not looking and puts random items up; while others down.

    Why yes, I AM constantly re-arranging the dishwasher after he gets down with it…how did you know? 😉

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  14. We have the same exact dishwasher! And I will NEVER go back to a silverware basket because the silverware rack is so far superior to any basket. Also, if the silverware is facing up in a basket, and you go to put it away, you’re putting your fingers on the part where people eat!

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  15. Maddie

    Ooo I envy your Miele dishwasher. My fam got a Miele vacuum when I was a kid and it turned vacuuming from a chore to a fun time trial sport. Miele vacuums 4evah. Their dishwashers must be fantastic.

    I was raised silverware up or, when things got crowded, silverware higgeldy piggeldy was acceptable. I’ve never seen silverware loaded 100% all down! Clearly I haven’t seen enough of the world! 🙂 These days we have both tray & basket so butter knives go in the tray and other silverware goes all up in the basket. Forks and spoons go in a little pattern – I live a wild life, I know – so unloading is a breeze/ouchless/hopefully sanitary. Yeah. Hopefully sanitary. Gonna stop thinking about that now. Might have to try your method….. or maybe just buy a Miele dishwasher!

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    1. I’ve heard the Miele vacuums are amazing as well; so now I covet one.
      In the Miele dishwasher, we have the upper tray ONLY, so everything gets SO sparkling clean. In GA I think it’s a Kitchen Aid; I don’t love that it doesn’t have a dedicated spot for wine glasses (I have to wash them by hand; start a go-fund-me, please) and we use the standard silverware basket. I put everything DOWN and it all comes out sparkling clean, so it must be a good dishwasher too.

      WHERE have YOU been? I was worried. XO

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      1. Maddie

        Oh Suz, I have been busy doing life and it has not been fun. Blah. I have missed u so much. I’ve peeked in a few times but I’m the world’s slowest at comments. So I owe u a thousand Congratulations! for the happy events in your fam. Also, *thank you* for sharing the videos of birdsong at your mountain house. I just think of that amazing chorus of birds in that beautiful setting and I feel less stressed.

        PS. We have a KitchenAid dishwasher! I would not trust it with wine glasses. Touch wood, it has been ok with our other fancy schmancy drinking glasses tho. Ours has a top tray for silverware but it is weeny so a basket is included too. Think I will try your everything down method! I am living on the edge people! 🙂

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        1. Thank you for all the nice words—you always make my day!

          Ok, so our GA Kitchen Aid might be the same as yours. It has that third upper rack and I was SO excited about it until I realized that our flatware really doesn’t fit in it. Only a slim spatula or two. What a buzzkill. I put our stemless glasses on the regular rack with glasses/cups, but there is nowhere to put a stemmed wine glass. The Miele has these awesome drop down stem holders that I believe were created in HEAVEN by our Lord Jesus. They’re that good.
          Geeze. After talking about wine glasses so much, I think I need a MEETING.

          YOU need to write a blog. I don’t think you realize how funny you are in your comments. Be well!!

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  16. When we got a dishwasher with the upper level that accommodated silverware, we had many a discussion about how to use it. I still prefer to plop silverware into the basket thing, but Z-D is all about fussing around with that top shelf. To each his own, I guess.

    I didn’t know about Miele dishwashers. We have a Bosch, but when it needs to be retired I’ll look at the Miele, too. Let’s hope that’s not soon though.

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  17. Truth be told I put them in whatever way they are facing when I reach down to the basket! Yeah, not fussy! The basket on my dishwasher has a cover with slots in it to put them facing up but I have never really used it! I have no idea why! I would love, love, love to have a top rack for silverware!

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  18. Not only do I agree with you that silverware should always be loaded into the dishwasher face down, I second the notion that spoons spoon and forks fork, so they must always be mixed up as best as possible.

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