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Never again will your kids ask: “Are the dishes in the diswasher clean?”

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in: Organizing Time & Space

Amazon: Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent My kids are responsible for clearing their dishes after meals. In an effort to shrink the constant pile of dirty dishes next to the sink, the dishes are supposed to be scraped and placed straight in the dishwasher. Problem: the kids rarely notice if the dishes already in the diswasher are clean or dirty. Result: either they stash their dirty dishes in with the clean ones, or they yell ARE THE DISHES DIRTY? The answer is a simple yes or no from me, but why get involved when it's not necessary?

A tiny problem in the scheme of things, but worthy of solving nonetheless. Thanks to my mother in-law, here's an easy fix:

As soon as you empty the dishwasher, refill the soap cups. That way, when anyone opens the dishwasher, if they see soap, they know the dishes are dirty. No soap: clean dishes.

Related: Use dishwasher's "delay" function for clean dishes in the morning

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About Asha Dornfest

Asha Dornfest is a writer, parent, and insistent optimist living in Portland, Oregon. She is the author of PARENT HACKS, co-author of MINIMALIST PARENTING, and co-host of the Edit Your Life podcast.

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Comments

  1. Debi says

    January 4, 2011 at 10:35 am

    What an ingenious, simple plan. If the door on the dispenser is open, it’s clean and if it’s closed it’s dirty! Thanks!

  2. Andrew says

    January 4, 2011 at 10:48 am

    Sometimes I run a rinse only cycle… that wouldn’t work so well.

  3. Andrew says

    January 4, 2011 at 10:50 am

    Oooh – that solves my small rinse only problem! Just close the door. No soap needed. When I put on a regular wash – pop it open and add the soap then.

  4. Kerri says

    January 4, 2011 at 10:58 am

    We place an old, empty cup in our dishwasher right-side up. This way, it will fill with water whenever the dishes run. Whenever we open the dishwasher, we can tell at a glance whether the dishes are clean. Whoever puts away the clean dishes is responsible for dumping the cup.

  5. RaDavis says

    January 4, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    This beats checking the rims of stuff to see if there’s still water in them. :o)

  6. Angela fagg says

    January 5, 2011 at 8:39 am

    Great idea – thanks for sharing! I was looking into making a clean / dirty magnet, but this is much easier!

  7. Tony says

    January 7, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    The cup idea is a better solution for Dishwashers that recommend liquid soap. Thanks!

  8. Calories in alcoholic drinks says

    January 19, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    “Are the dishes dirty?” – Love it!!!

  9. Sara says

    August 28, 2011 at 7:53 pm

    We use a dog magnet. We call it the “dirty dog.” Dirty Dog moves to the dishwasher as soon as it’s emptied. When the dishwasher cycle is started, Dirty Dog moves to the fridge.

  10. Eina says

    August 29, 2011 at 10:45 am

    These ideas are wellsuited for my kids (8, 4, 2). I will try these out as soon as I can figure out how…

    What are your hacks about EMPTYING the dishwasher? Ours tend to stay full of clean dishes until the sink is full. Then someone has to empty and then refill…

About the Author

Asha Dornfest is a writer, parent, and insistent optimist living in Portland, Oregon. She is the author of PARENT HACKS, co-author of MINIMALIST PARENTING, and co-host of the Edit Your Life podcast. More about Asha »

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