TikTok’s unofficial grandma, Babs Costello (@BrunchWithBabs), has done it again. The 73-year-old is known for giving granny advice on everything from meal prep to how to clean her car, but her new video might just be her best yet. Costello recently went viral for showing her fans how to load a dishwasher. correctly — and their advice will make you completely re-evaluate how you’ve been doing common household chores.
On the surface, loading the dishwasher is one of the easiest tasks. In fact, you’ve probably already taught your kids how to do it. But it turns out there’s an art to properly placing dishes and utensils in the washer for maximum cleanliness and convenience.
According to Costello, it’s best to be strategic when loading the dishwasher. The top shelf is for the most fragile items: small bowls, mugs, and wine glasses. You can also place larger utensils, like spatulas, between breakable items. Meanwhile, the bottom shelf should be reserved for plates, pots and pans (Costello prefers not to put his pots and pans in the dishwasher, but he won’t be too judgmental if you do).
The most shocking tip of all involves a feature that many dishwasher owners didn’t seem to know their machines had. “For tall wine glasses, don’t forget to lower the top rack before closing it,” he explains as he pushes down on the side bar, lowering the rack. If the comments section of the video is any indication, many people had no idea they could lower their top shelf, but it turns out it’s a pretty standard feature.
However, Costello’s advice doesn’t end with his first trick. He reads on for the best tips from his viral Dishwasher Loading video.
Do not pre-rinse your dishes.
This may seem like a hack, but according to Costello, it’s not necessary to rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Instead, he advises scraping them off, which gives the soap something to stick to. It turns out that his advice is 100 percent correct.
As reported by The Guardian, pre-rinsed plates could give your dishwasher the wrong idea about how hard it should work. “If you pre-rinse everything, your dishwasher will think your dishes are cleaner than they really are, so it won’t wash as hard and may come out dirtier,” Ashley Iredale, an appliance expert at the Food Defense Organization. consumer. the Choice group said to the middle.
Nest those cups!
So those tips in the dishwasher that seem perfect for putting your mugs on top of are not designed for high-stakes balancing acts that could result in your favorite mug biting the dust in a dishwasher-related incident. Instead, you’re supposed to place the cups between the prongs where they’ll be safe during washing.
All plates must face the center.
Loading dishes so they face out may seem more practical, but Costello recommends placing them toward the center of the washer. The reason makes perfect sense: it makes it easier for the spray arm to reach your dishes and ensures they always come out clean. He also adds that the spray arm should never become clogged, so be careful not to overload it.
Even if you already knew some of Costello’s tips, his video is a good one to share with your kids, especially if loading the dishwasher is your chore. In her caption, the TikToker, who calls herself “everybody’s grandma,” points out that “everyone has their own system” when it comes to loading the dishwasher. However, her tips and tricks are given with love, and may leave you with fewer dishes that need rewashing.