- Users took to Reddit to debate how to load utensils in the dishwasher correctly.
- While some users think loading them upwards can cause contamination when unloading, others believe that’s the only way to make sure they’re fully cleaned.
- That being said, are you team up, or team down?
When it comes to repetitive household chores, there are certain tasks that just become automatic. Our brains become wired to just get it done, without thinking at all about what it is we’re doing. One example? Loading and unloading the dishwasher.
While you might not have ever considered your way of doing it could be wrong, there’s a whole debate out there you might be missing: When loading utensils into the dishwasher, do you load them facing upwards (tongs up, handle down) or downwards (tongs down, handle up)?
Apparently, people feel strongly one way or the other. Reddit users took to r/KitchenConfidential to debate the topic, and while you might not have ever thought twice about it, each side makes a pretty solid argument.
The Case for Team Up
Reddit users who face their utensils upward when loading them into the dishwasher claim that putting the side that touches food (tongs, blade, etc.) up ensures it gets cleaned more thoroughly.
“Knives and forks? Go with up. The better cleaning does a lot more than any potential ‘contamination’ when unloading,” says one user. “Always down? I’ve…honestly never done that. Just seems wrong,” they added.
“Up. You unload wearing gloves or with clean hands,” writes another.
“If you’re at home, does it even really matter if you touched the part that goes into your mouth,” asks one user.
The Case for Team Down
Team down is all about safety and possible contamination—grabbing from the handle allows you to avoid touching anything sharp or possibly contaminating the freshly-cleaned utensils with the germs on your hands.
“I was always told to put it down so that when you unload silverware you can easily grab it by the handle because you’re not supposed to touch food contact surfaces bare-handed,” writes @El_Guerrero_Maya.
“I don’t believe for one second they’re cleaned better pointing up. Pointing down only,” writes one skeptic user.
The Verdict
While some feel very passionately that there is a black-and-white answer, there are also some users who say the issue is a bit more nuanced.
“Any kind of spoon? Alternate. Otherwise they will ‘spoon’ together and never get cleaned properly,” adds one user.
Others mention washing them twice if you work in the food service industry: “Flat on the tray, then down in the silver rack for the second run.”
“You should be running it through on a flat dish rack twice anyway, before it even ends up in the cutlery caddy,” writes another.
The verdict? Our cleaning experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care & Cleaning Lab actually recommend a mix of all of the above:
- Alternate spoons so they don’t nest together.
- Forks go up so the tines get clean.
- Knives go down for safety.
So next time you go to load your utensils into the dishwasher, maybe it won’t be so automatic. Who knew?
Laura Millar (she/her) is the assistant lifestyle editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers home design. Prior to joining Good Housekeeping in 2024, she wrote for NBC’s TODAY.com, where she covered everything from entertainment news to pop culture updates.
