Should You Load Silverware in the Dishwasher Facing Up or Down?

It’s always interesting when you go to someone’s house for dinner and then offer to help clean up. People are rarely in agreement on how and where items go in the dishwasher. Some people arrange silverware face up, while others insist forks, spoons, and knives should always go in face down. I wondered which was the best way of loading my cutlery to ensure that they come out sparkling and clean, so I asked an expert. Her advice was surprising.

As it turns out, the way a piece of silverware is facing isn’t as important as what’s loaded next to it. Whether you choose to point up or to point down, the key is to not sort your silverware by item, says Jessica Ek, spokesperson for the American Cleaning Institute.

“To get everything clean, you should mix up the utensils so the spoons don’t end up nesting together,” she explains. “Staggering utensils is the most important thing, even if it does take a little longer to unload.”

GE Appliances, makers of many dishwashers, agrees. According to their tips online, “Best washing results are obtained when the silverware is mixed and evenly distributed, not nested together.”

Why Should You Load Silverware Facing Down

As to whether cutlery facing up in the dishwasher basket gets cleaner than if it’s facing down, Ek says the difference is likely marginal. Instead, how you load them is more of a safety issue.

“As far as up or down, we say down, particularly for forks and knives or anything pointy,” says Ek. “This can be helpful for preventing injury, especially if you’re getting children involved in chores, and they’re helping to unload the dishwasher. It also means you aren’t touching the part that goes in your mouth when unloading.”

GE Appliances concurs, suggesting that forks and knives be loaded with handles up in order to protect your hands when you collect them to put them away. Spoons, however, can be placed with handles down if you have a ton of silverware and need to save some space.

How To Load Silverware in Modern Dishwashers

Our new-ish dishwasher has silverware baskets with slots so you can keep the silverware items separate from each other to avoid nesting. We load our spoons, but also our forks, with handles pointed down and our knives with handles pointed up. Ek says that’s basically the right idea.

“This is likely how the manufacturers intended, with knives being the most important ones to point down,” she says. “The slots are helpful to keep utensils from nesting or getting scratched.”

Just be sure that narrow items like knives or other utensils with handles don’t poke through the bottom of the basket. They could get in the way and keep the washing arm from rotating correctly. You can also put smaller items like lids and measuring spoons into the bottom of the silverware baskets. That will keep them from being tossed about in the wash.

Some dishwashers also have a very top rack for utensils and silverware. Here, the cutlery is lying down. “If you have it, use it,” Ek says. “This is a great place for spatulas and serving spoons.”