Dishwasher - dirty vs clean

**Libby** · 10-09-2011, 12:18 PM

Just looking for suggestions/tips on how to signal to others if the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty.

Our dishwasher door is plastic so those magnets that say 'dirty' or 'clean' and you flip them around as appropriate won't work for us.

Sticky notes won't work either as people lean against the door while they're working at the counter.

Signs on the counter get shoved around further and further away from the dishwasher as well so thats not going to work.

My issue is that the majority of the time, only "I" know if the dishes are clean or dirty. (DH will ask me if he's not sure) I have a habit of rinsing dishes super well so they look clean then placing them in the dishwasher to get wash/sanitized. Dad will just yank out dishes assuming they're clean b/c there's no food stuck to them. I'm afraid one day he's going to get sick or so sick that it will land us in the hospital and thats something I'm trying to avoid.

Any ideas?

**Ramona** · 10-09-2011, 12:34 PM

In our house, if the dishwasher door is closed, the dishes are dirty.

If the dishwasher is open and they're airdrying, they're clean
and it's an open invitation to put them where they belong

.

**pinetree** · 10-09-2011, 01:20 PM

Here if the door is locked it means its clean, if you get something out and dont unload it you relock the door. If its unlocked that means its dirty or needs to be ran.

**Libby** · 10-09-2011, 01:33 PM

Both great ideas...unfortunately they won't work here with dad. The door being open takes up the entire prep/cooking area and is a trip hazard and the lock/unlock thing, we don't have a lever for it

**zakity** · 10-09-2011, 02:05 PM

What about some old tshirts or something cut into strips? You could tie one on the top rack in front when you unload it. If the strip is dry, they are dirty. A dry strip would show that it hadn't been ran yet. You would need a good handful of strips and somewhere for them to dry.

**Josephhgoins** · 10-09-2011, 03:31 PM

One of the tricks we have used before is that on the top rack we place the cups right side up until right before we turn it on. So if the cups are up the dishes are dirty and if they are down the dishes are clean.

Also, we rarely cleaned the dishes well enough that you just didn't have to look and see.

**nuisance26** · 10-09-2011, 06:55 PM

~Don't you have a lid on your soap compartment?
If the soap compartment lid is up and the soap is gone, the dishes are clean. Fill and close the soap tray as soon as you start loading in the dirty dishes. So when you look in and see a closed soap compartment, you know that the dishes are dirty.~

**zakity** · 10-09-2011, 09:25 PM

Oooo... I like the soap compartment thing.

**Neeley** · 10-10-2011, 01:12 AM

Our system is simple...Once the dishes are clean, they are put away. If someone needs something they get it from the cabinet, drawer or wherever it's "home" is, not from the dishwasher. Anything in the dishwasher is considered dirty.

**Syn D** · 10-10-2011, 02:37 AM

I am the only one that loads and unloads the dishwasher..

I wash the dishes after dinner and put them away then done.

**Mrs K** · 10-10-2011, 08:14 AM

We also leave the door opened when clean but just a bit. Doesn't take up space, but lets hubby know he can put dishes away.
It's not fool proof though: he has put dirty dishes in a clean load before. Was really happy about that lol!

**janal14** · 10-10-2011, 01:24 PM

Would a suction cup stick to the plastic front? You could get a suction cup window hook and use that to hang a clean/dirty sign on the front of the machine.