Life hackers claim you should just throw the pod on the bottom. Are they right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dishwasher was designed to make all of our lives easier, but the reality is that it sometimes does the exact opposite. Dishes come out dirty or wet. The filter gets gunked up. The seals leak. It can all become a bit of a pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there\u2019s no shortage of people who claim to have the perfect dishwasher life hack on hand. Whether it\u2019s a unique way of loading or letting people in on the secret to fitting more on that claustrophobic top rack, we\u2019ve seen it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But not all of the tips are legit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An extremely common \u201chack\u201d that has been going around for years claims that the little compartment door on your dishwasher that holds detergent, tabs, and pods is completely unnecessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They claim you\u2019ll see better results and cleaner dishes by throwing the pod into the basin of the dishwasher before starting the cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This hack is so common that even Renae DuHaime, a former appliance repair tech who knows quite a bit about dishwashers, believed it to be true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently on Threads, DuHaime explained how a few years back she made a video urging people to try the \u201cjust toss it in\u201d technique, and it went mega viral. DuHaime says she learned the trick from another technician and took them at their word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reasoning behind the idea is simple: By bypassing the little trapdoor completely, the pod is more likely to dissolve all the way, release all of its cleaning agents, and result in a better end product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also doesn\u2019t help that sometimes pods get stuck inside the compartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then DuHaime got a very interesting call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the videos I made telling people to toss pods into the bottom of their dishwasher caught the attention of Cascade \u2026 [and they] invited me to visit P&G (their parent company)\u2018s headquarters to speak with and learn directly from their scientists,\u201d DuHaime said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cascade may or may not have been the very first dish detergent\u2014some reports show Finish and Electrasol hitting the market a few years earlier\u2014but the brand has been around since\u00a01955, when it was introduced as a powdered detergent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So they\u2019ve been around, and they\u2019ve seen it all. And their message to DuHaime was: You\u2019ve got it all wrong.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DuHaime continued on Threads, sharing what she learned from Cascade scientists who had been studying the art of clean dishes for decades:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey showed me that through their research, they discovered that because most dishwashers have an automatic \u2018pre-wash\u2019 cycle that runs for a short time only to knock off large bits of food, after this short cycle, the dishwasher DRAINS ALL THE WATER AND REFILLS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That means that if the pod is sitting on the bottom of the appliance, it will dissolve during the pre-wash and almost all of it will rinse away before the full wash cycle begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DuHaime said the scientists estimated that this method leaves only about 20% of the detergent behind for cleaning, while 80% goes down the drain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many modern dishwasher tabs, in fact, include\u00a0multiple staged-release elements, including the heaviest cleaning agents for the wash phase and rinse-aid and drying agents that release toward the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chucking the pod on the floor or basin too early in the process puts the entire workflow out of sorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kudos to DuHaime for not only hearing out the true experts but for taking down the viral video and spending years trying to put the correct information out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though she doesn\u2019t actively work in appliance repair anymore, she\u2019s still out here trying to help people get the most out of their dishwashers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In one fascinating TikTok video, she explained the science behind why you\u2019re not supposed to rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher and how that can actually make the cleaning cycle less effective. It\u2019s extremely counterintuitive, but it\u2019s a terrific life hack once you understand why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also explained in another popular video why you should almost never use your oven\u2019s self-cleaning function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It goes to show that even highly knowledgeable people can be duped by so-called life hacks that don\u2019t hold up to scrutiny. True experts like DuHaime, who are willing to re-examine their own ideas and find the objectively best way to do things, are a rare find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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