Damage Avoidance for Delicates Defines Success and Drives Caution

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20 quotes
Success includes clean, intact delicate or valued items with zero damage. Users mitigate risk by top-rack placement or exclusion (e.g., knives, nonstick), reflecting low actual damage but persistent anxiety—indicating a need for reassurance and protective guidance.

Facets

These facets are broadly related to the theme.

Any physical damage noticed on dishes or glassware (chips, cracks, breaks, warping, etching) while unloading.

Found in 80 of 91 interviews · 81 mentions

Participant's comment on how the load was arranged (over/underloaded, items blocking spray, unsuitable items) observed while unloading.

Found in 55 of 91 interviews · 63 mentions

Captures the participant's brief reason for why the load was better/about as expected/worse (or what would have improved it) — used to group follow-up responses into actionable categories (e.g., cleaning, drying, time, damage).

Found in 90 of 91 interviews · 180 mentions

What the participant thinks caused the cleaning/drying problem (their attribution: program, loading, detergent, item type, water, machine, etc.).

Found in 85 of 91 interviews · 158 mentions

Participant’s brief reason for choosing that factor — capture their explanation verbatim or summarized (open text) for this load.

Found in 91 of 91 interviews

Which single factor the participant believes had the biggest impact on how this specific load turned out (choose one).

Found in 91 of 91 interviews

Classifies the type of funny, surprising, or typical behavior or practice the participant reports about how their household uses the dishwasher.

Found in 90 of 91 interviews · 208 mentions

Quotes

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Marisa S.

“What matters most to me is the handmade items because those are irreplaceable.”

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Nick C.

“I was so mad. Their their pods ended up removing some of the ink that I had on some collectible pint glasses, and it ruined and, like, melted the ink on these glasses. And I have never used those pods again.”

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Giulia P.

“We never put our Le Creuset branded items in the dishwasher just because they are more expensive and more fragile. And we put all glass on the top shelf of the dishwasher so that it doesn't break.”

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Sommaly L.

“Yes. I would never put in, like, my thin glassware or wine glasses. I would actually hand wash those because I'm scared they would break.”

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Michelle Warren

“The thing that I get a little bit worried about are these glasses. We've had a couple of them break in the past. We bought them a few months ago, and I'm not sure if they're just cheap glasses, but a couple of them have broken in the dishwasher. So I would say I'm most concerned about, these getting broken, but I'm not, very concerned about anything else.”

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Giulia P.

“I'm very particular about putting in the glass items on the top shelf just because we have put glass items on the bottom shelf, and they've broken in the past, we had to replace them.”

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Jennifer H.

“Definitely the placement of the glasses because I don't want them breaking inside the dishwasher, which has happened before and it makes a big mess and it's time consuming to clean up after.”

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Rafael M.

“Oh, that's kind of a hard question. I think that probably the one thing that probably somebody might recognize is the fact of making sure that the plastic ware is kept away from the heater because you wouldn't want it to melt. I have had in the past stuff going down into that heater element there on the bottom of the dishwasher and melt stuff like spatulas and and and and pieces like that. You certainly don't want that to happen with a a plastic bowl or storage container. So I you may probably, I think the things they would most recognize the fact that that stuff is kept on the top rack so that there's less of a chance of that happening.”

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Demetria B.

“Probably the plastic on the top because I have, I personally have, melted a water bottle or two and it has made my kids sad. So we make sure we don't put things like that on the bottom where it gets really hot so that we can keep the water bottles and cups that we like.”

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Dianne H.

“and then sometimes the plastic container lids will slip down because of the way they stack them and then they melt which is can be I'm really irritated if they hit the coil and you smell burning plastic.”

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Dianne H.

“Don't put any of the house chef knives or really expensive other utensils that will be used for cooking.”

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Eric S.

“Don't wash the good knives because they're valuable.”

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Shauna S.

“Not in this particular load. This is kind of like every day all this stuff has gone in the dishwasher. I don't normally put stuff in the dishwasher that I'm a little nervous about. I would rather hand wash that. Alright, like these knives I don't ever put in the dishwasher because they're very expensive, but there's nothing in this load that I'm worried about.”

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Tiffany R.

“If you feel this, see this? This, you can also feel. So you see how it's peeling right here? So if you can't if you have certain cups that have those, then when you put it on the dishwasher, you do risk it peeling. So a lot of people, like, with their special cups, like my dad, he has a lot of special cups. He doesn't put his cups in the dishwasher.”

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Mark L.

“I don't want them to rust, or ruin the nonstick coating and the and that's the hex clad set, so I don't want it to damage, any of the coatings that make it nonstick and good at cooking.”

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Jill Plaisted

“The one that matters the most would be putting nonstick cookware in there, my pots and pans, because they don't do well in the dishwasher. With the nonstick finish, it's much easier for me and they last longer if I wash them by hand.”

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Renata A.

“So we have stainless steel knives that do not go into the dishwasher and we have ceramic pans that don't go into the dishwasher and any kind of plastic does not. Otherwise, that's it.”

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Video still for a quote by Brinda D.
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Brinda D.

“The official rule is don't touch my cast iron pots. My husband tried to do that a few times. I have cast irons, a whole collection, and he tries to put those in all the time. To wash those is a no no. That that's mainly the only thing that doesn't go in to the the washer machine. He's a big stickler for if he was here, he'd make me rewind my pots. He's a big everything has to be double washed. He washes the dishes with soap before he puts them in, and he loads the dishwasher totally different than me. So since he's not here, I get to load the dishwasher how I want. So I think that's kind of the unspoken rule of dishwashing and marriage is, if you're here and you see the dishwasher, there's gonna be a fight. But if the husband is away, the dishes can lay where they go. And, and likewise, if a wife is away, the dishes can lay where they go. So that's kinda how it goes in my household too. I do I do the dishes my way whenever my husband is away.”

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Sommaly L.

“My concern when I do run this in the dishwasher is always, is it going to crack?”

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Kevin Py

“I'd say there's probably two things. There's the serving right under there. It's a Disney themed one. It does pretty well in the dishwasher, but I want it to come out clean, but also this pot as we've had for a long time. So I want it to come out clean and not have any more, you know, chipping or wear damage to it.”