The Dishwasher Club

Do you trust anyone else in your house to load the dishwasher other than yourself? Of course you don't!

Perhaps there's a tetrathlon we could do: swim-bike-run-fill dishwasher?
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Some advice from icemaiden who has actual expertise in this area:

In another life I was part of the team advising the UK govt and EU energy efficiency program about consumer use of DWs and have spent more than than I care to think about loading and unloading for test purposes.

The eco program takes ages but will use less energy than the standard program because it does not heat to such a high temperature. There's a triangle of time vs temperature vs cleanliness. To get the required level of cleaning, it is regulated via the eco design regulations, the time has to be long because the energy consumption has to be below a certain level, also regulated.

Please clean the filters. And clean inside at the bottom of the door, you will be surprised at the gunk that gets down there.

Cutlery is best mixed to make sure most of them get clean

Scrape off the lumps of food. Don't prewash or soak unless burnt on stuff.

Salt is necessary in hard water areas, but use the lowest salt setting if using with tablets.

Testing really has shown that the majority of people use more water and energy to hand wash the same load. So fill your machine as best you can.

Two dishwashers are definitely the way forward.

Slimline and tabletop dishwashers aren't as efficient as full size and best avoided.

Knives up or down is personal preference, but there have been some nasty accidents when, usually small, people tripped/fell into the cutlery basket when the door was open and the lower basket pulled out and knives were blade up. Many baskets can be positioned in different places so you could try another place.

Cutlery trays work for some people, but others can't be arsed with the faff of doing it properly.

Many upper baskets can be adjusted upwards to allow for big plates in the lower basket, but some people don't bother to find out how they work. If you put large glasses in the top basket then you might need to lower the basket, some can even accommodate both large plate and long stem glasses.

Price difference is mostly to do with build quality. Cheaper models have plastic bases rather than metal and the baskets have fewer adjustable features. Although entry level Miele have very fixed baskets.

Number of place settings is based on standard tableware, and may not be the same as your set, always good to take plates along if in any doubt.

Eat your Weetabix and scrape out the leftovers.

Porridge is one of the test soils because it is so difficult. The others are tea, dried milk, egg, spinach, mince and margarine. The test detergent is not the same as the ones in the shops, but all machines have to reach a certain, high, level of cleaning and drying on the eco program. And there's not a lot of difference in performance these days, you're paying for convenience and longevity.