Households across the UK are regularly at loggerheads over how to properly load the dishwasher, with common disputes arising from overfilling, not pre-cleaning dishes, and the correct orientation of plates. Two thirds of Brits who own a dishwasher and share their home have admitted to having a spat or full-blown row over the right way to stack this essential kitchen appliance.
A survey of 2,000 adults revealed that most disagreements revolve around the proper placement of cutlery, what items belong on the top and bottom racks, and who should be responsible for loading and unloading the machine. Over half (51 per cent) of respondents follow a specific method when loading their dishwasher, while 30 per cent simply cram in items wherever they can fit.
Interestingly, nine out of ten participants are convinced that their way of stacking the dishwasher is the correct one. This belief has led 46 per cent of people to re-stack the dishwasher after someone else, due to disagreement with the other person's technique. In some cases, individuals have resorted to washing dishes by hand after they were poorly stacked and came out still dirty.
On average, households run their dishwasher five times a week, but it's only fully loaded for four of these cycles. This inefficiency has caused friction in 18 per cent of homes, with 16 per cent citing it as a personal bugbear. The study was commissioned by Ecover, who have teamed up with The Tetris Company to launch a new version of the classic game, aiming to inspire people to break away from wasteful dishwashing habits.
