Shopping for a dishwasher? Taking this one thing with you will avoid an expensive mistake

Dishwashers might seem like a simple appliance to shop for but they are not all made the same inside.

If you thought the only thing you’d need to measure to buy one is the space it’s going to be installed into, think again.

One woman has learnt an expensive lesson about another important dishwasher detail that needs to be considered when looking at new models.

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In an article on “game-changing dishwasher tips and tricks” for CHOICE, Alice Richard revealed she learnt “the hard way” the importance of taking a plate dishwasher shopping with you.

“Before you buy, you need to make sure that your plates will actually fit in your new dishwasher. And if you wash your wine glasses in the dishwasher, take one of those along too so you know it’ll fit,” she wrote.

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After the new dishwasher was installed, Richard went to put her plates inside only to find they were so big they blocked the spray arm.

“I literally had to buy a new set of plates so I didn’t have to suffer the indignity of hand-washing them right next to my shiny new dishwasher,” she said.

When shopping for dishwashers, Richard suggested looking for options with adjustable height baskets so that if you do have plates that are too big to fit you can simply adjust the racks.

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The tip was one of five listed by CHOICE along with swapping expensive dishwasher tablets for budget buys.

The Aldi Logix platinum dishwasher capsules tied for first in the consumer advocate’s dishwasher detergent review this year. This means you can get a fantastic wash for $0.26 a cycle compared to $1.18 a cycle with Finish Powerball tablets.

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Another tip on the list also involves dishwasher tablets, but this time it’s where you put them that matters and it’s not the detergent dispenser.

Powder is best in the detergent dispenser but tablets should go in the bottom of the dishwasher.

According to the dishwasher experts, we don’t need to worry about the detergent in the tablet washing away with the rinse cycle because by the time that has ended only the wrapper will have begun dissolving.

Expert reviews our dishwasher stacking attempts

And in more good news for your budget and the planet, rinsing before putting dishes in the dishwasher is unnecessary and a waste of water.

This is because the dishwasher will sense a rinsed plate as cleaner than it is and not wash them as well.

Instead CHOICE recommends just scraping the food bits off your dishes before stacking them.

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The final tip is about stacking, which causes arguments in many households so if that’s your situation you might want to heed this advice.

“When you’re stacking your crockery, try to visualise how the water will flow around it – can it reach all the dirty surfaces that need cleaning?” CHOICE dishwasher expert Denis Gallagher said.

“Squeezing everything close together might mean you fit more in, but you’ll actually end up creating more work for yourself because you’ll have to re-wash anything that didn’t get clean.

“Face the dirty side of each item inwards towards the centre of the dishwasher, and stack larger items towards the back and at the sides.”

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