I am curious
Dishwasher, laundry, TeePee
How do you do it?
(Sorry I think that haiku qualifies as the LAMEST one ever!) (Do I get a trophy for how terrible it is?)
I have some very pressing questions I’d like to ask. You know me, always tackling those controversial issues head on. Or not.
This is what I want to know…
1. When you load the dishwasher with silverware, do you put them in so that the handles go up or down?
For me, I prefer the handles to be up. This way when I go to unload the dishwasher, I’m not touching the part of the utensil that you eat off of, therefore it’s more sanitary. And me being a food safety freak, this makes it the RIGHT way.
As if one controversial issue wasn’t enough for today, here’s another one…
2. When doing laundry, do you start the water and add the detergent before or after you put the clothes in?
I put the clothes in THEN I start the water and add the detergent. It’s how I’ve always done it, even when it drove my roommate in college berserk when she saw how I did laundry. This is probably not the right way, and I haven’t ever read a washing machine’s owner manual to find out the proper procedure since I DO have a life.
And last, but certainly not least…something you could get really pissed about (pun intended)…
3. Toilet paper…over or under??
I could be tinkling at Oprah Winfrey herself’s house and if the toilet paper was coming from the underside of the roll, I’d be compelled to flip the roll around to fix it and make it RIGHT. Toilet paper MUST be dispensed over the roll.
*Clap, clap* Settle down now everyone. Settle down. Don’t everyone talk at once, there is a space for each of you to leave your dissenting opinions in the comments section.
No cat fights or name calling. Keep it clean, please.
Handles down. If it hasn’t killed me by now, I don’t think I need to worry.
TP…OVER the roll. HATE under.
Clothes go in before I start the water. I stay drier that way.
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Utensil side down, because it’s just more sanitary and also, because I’m not a fan of gorging my hands with knives and forks, every time I unload a dishwasher.
Um…I generally put the clothes in, then soap, then start the laudrey. Never knew there was a right way.
TP – Well honestly, I probably do it differently each time. So no idea.
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I LOVE this!
Okay, handles down…that way the dirty water doesn’t run down the part you put your mouth on.
The other two are very good…we argue about this at my house ALL the time!
Clothes go in first, then detergent. Hubby always fills first, but then you can’t fit as much in…and isn’t that the goal..to cram as much in as possible to limit the number of loads!
If the TP is not OVER the roll, Hubby will have a fit and change it. Me? You are lucky there is a roll on there….so I put however it falls!
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Hmm…What is so funny is that I started doing dishwasher loading with the handles up for the same reason but got TOTALLY freaked in a food science class I took and so I load them handles down now. I am very careful in the removal of them from the dishwasher.
Problem? Now that I have turned dishes over to my boys, they are NOT careful and so, we reversed. I’ll take my chances with the wash cycle, thanks! :S
I also USED to put in clothes, then soap, then laundry. But there was a problem. I HEART Tide with Bleach. Do you know what happens to your clothes if for some reason a slightly wet clump of tide with bleach gets caught in the folds of your clothing and doesn’t dissolve completely in the wash?
Your item of clothing looks like it should be on Haight-Asbury with a hemp necklace and bong saying “Groovy”.
After quite a few ruined articles of clothing, I just started doing it the other way. (I confess, I still have the instinct to do it your way though. Sigh.)
And?
I don’t have a preference with toilet paper. *GASP!* Just not anal enough (Hee.)
I guess if someone tied me down and threated to show me a Gunsmoke Marathon unless I picked, I would probably say “Over”, but again. Not something I get my knickers in a twist about (Double Hee!)
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I put the knives handles up, just so no one gets hurt, but the rest are handles down. Cuz, you know, you couldn’t possibly get hurt by a 4 pronged fork, right?
I put the detergent and water in first, let it fill a bit and then add the clothes, unless the clothes were already in there because, ahem, they were washed 3 days ago and left in there.
Toliet paper always goes over!!!! And, I would be compelled to turn it too!
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OOPS! I meant to say “I used to put clothes, then soap, then WATER.”
Duh.
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1. Not only do I put the handles up, when I load the dishwasher I put all the forks together, all the spoons together, etc., so that it’s really easy to put away.
2. Water, laundry liquid, then clothes. Otherwise, I get detergent bleach marks on my clothes.
3. Toilet paper over.
anne’s last blog post..Haiku Friday: Winter Blues
Okay, about the dishwasher…I definitely agree with those above who won’t put utensils together for fear of spooning! I thought I was the only one who ever thought of that. I am so OCD that I load the silverware one to a section and then start again, being careful not to put two spoons or two forks in the same section.
Issues? Who me?
Dishwasher: I always put my handles sticking up. My daughter’s always in the kitchen when I am torturing myself, I mean, doing things like unloading the dishwasher. I’m scared she’ll grab the blade or something. Or that I will. And, of course, I don’t allow my spoons exotic pleasures like spooning.
As for laundry, I put all of the clothes in the washer, and then, I add the water and detergent. I know no other way. It kills my mother. Allegedly, you aren’t supposed to do this. I say pish-tosh.
Lastly, no one (read: my husband) in our house ever puts the toilet paper back on the holder. They usually sit it somewhere vertically. So the real question here is do I like paper hanging to the right or the left? I’m not really picky about it. But when a it is on the roll, I like for it to hang over. I
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1. Dishwasher – i used to put them up so they’d get clean but now I put them down so little hands don’t grab the messy/sharp ends.
2. I have a front loading washer so it has a place on top to pour the detergent. I do that first then toss the cup in with laundry so it gets all rinsed and clean as well. before the front loader though I think I just did it either way. Mostly clothes in first though I think.
3. I agree that the TP should go over however, when little hands get a hold of it that means the whole roll ends up on floor. Whereas if it is under it doesn’t unravel. So in my house now it is under but it is so very wrong.
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1. Totally agree. For the same reasons. Because I’m a food safety freak too.
2. I use liquid detergent, which changes things, I think. See, because if I put the clothes in first and then put the liquid in, then the top garmet gets all the detergent and then I wonder if all the detergent will come out of that one garment when I wash it. So, I start the washer then add detergent and OxiClean (I love that stuff!) and then add the clothes after the washer is at least 1/3 full of water. To save time, I usually start the washer filling with water and then get the clothes ready – so when I come back with the basket, the washer is filling with water. Saves, like, 1 minute, but in 1 minute the kids can go from best friends to physical fight so that 1 minute is important.
3. Over. Because when you’re peeing in the middle of the night and the TP goes UNDER then you can’t always find the end and sometimes it’s because the end is on the floor from all the rolling. Gavin likes the TP to go under because he grew up with cats and apparently that’s the way to prevent the cats from playing with and unrolling the TP. But I grew up with cats too and never had cats who played with TP. And I’m the same way.
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I’m with you on the toilet paper – always always over. I change it if my husband does it wrong!
Detergent first, then clothes. I have a top loader with an agitator which I hate – I need to let the detergent dissolve so that we actually have some hope of the clothes coming out clean!
I intentionally mix my silverware handles up and down so that they all get clean, especially the spoons, which won’t get clean if the bowls of the spoons rest inside each other – hence the some up some down approach.
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I didn’t read your comments in this regarding the spoons before I posted!
Annie’s last blog post..Valentine’s Slacker Mom
1. Utensils go in with handles inside, so the part that is dirty can get clean. Except sharp knives, they go sharp part in. I never thought about the fact that I was getting them dirty when I take them out!
2. Clothes, water, detergent. Sometimes the detergent right ON THE CLOTHES. Hey, I have a busy life! It seems to work fine.
3. Over, OF COURSE. I am always astonished that anyone would make it come out the bottom, where you have to hunt for it.
1. Handles UP. Especially for the sharp knives. I hate touching the part that is used to eat, and even more so when it is dirty. Geh.
2. Detergent, then clothes, then bleach into the bleach dispenser (as needed), fabric softener into the fabric softener dispenser, then water.
3. Meh – however the roll lands in the holder is how it goes. This is one I’m not picky about. An ex-boyfriend insisted that one of the ways was “wrong” (can’t remember which one it is now), so whenever I was in the bathroom at his house, I would swap it, just to mess with him.
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i always put in clothes, start water, then add soap. i always use liquid soap. i think if you use powder, you need to let it disolve a little in the water before you add the clothes. that’s why i always use liquid soap.
we don’t have a dishwasher, but i think i was taught to put handles down, except for knives.
toilet paper, always under. my partner likes it over. we decided that whoever puts the new roll on gets to put it the way he or she wants it. it works nicely, and motivates one to change the roll instead of leaving it for the next person. however, i have occasionally put the roll on “his way,” as a gesture of affection.
just found your blog.
i’ll be back, i’m sure
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Yeah Haiku Friday!
All right, Silverware- Sorry, but it’s handles down in our house
Laundry- Yes, laundry, water, then soap. I think it distributes it more evenly that way. Maybe I’m just mental.
And TP, I really have no preference, as long as it’s whole and hasn’t been shredded by the cats. lol.
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Handle down. Cleans the part with the food better.
Clothes, water, soap. Or maybe water, soap, clothes. The second happens when I finish one load and start another.
Toilet paper? I DONT CARE.
Are you gonna break up with me now? Please dont.
Miss’s last blog post..Happy Valentine’s Day. Or whatever.
Melody’s fear of falling on the forks is not totally irrational. Well, maybe the forks, but definitely not when it comes to knives. A couple years ago, a little girl was killed here in Kentucky while staying with her grandmother. She ran into the kitchen as the grandmother was loading the dishwasher, lost her balance, fell onto a point-up knife, and died.
That said, I put all the handles down, except for the all-stainless steak knives. Good knives never go in the dishwasher around here, so they’re not an issue.
Clothes, water, then liquid detergent after the machine fills a bit. Not the proper way, but as long as the two teenagers don’t cram the washer so full that clothes have no room to agitate, I’m a happy woman.
Toilet paper has to be over the top. My husband puts it on the holder the other way. I’ve tried to tolerate it, but just can’t.
1. I’m the dishwasher here, so this isn’t an issue.
2. I put in clothes first, then soap, then turn it on. UNLESS it’s powdered detergent, then it goes in first with a little water and I add the clothes as the water is running.
3.OVER, always over.
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1. handles down. I feel the forks and spoons have less of a chance laying into each other and therefore get more clean this way. I just wash my hands before I empty the dishes.
2. We have a HE washing machine. Which means I have no option but to load the clothes first, then add the soap to the side dispencer thingy, and then start it up.
3. OVER.
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Handles up. (I got stabbed once really bad because I didn’t do it. Five stitches in the underside of my arm)
On the laundry it doesn’t matter to me. I just do it as fast as I possibly can.
Toilet paper–under. I have cats. I try not to help them spin the roll and shred the paper anymore than I have to.
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Toilet paper? Definitely OVER. Diswasher? Handles down for me, but I know it’s supposed to be handles up. Old habits just die hard. I’m not too particular about laundry, but I always turn it on, put the detergent in, let it fill up for a while so my powdered detergent can dissolve, then throw my clothes in. I used to do it the other way when I used liquid detergent, and I can’t tell a difference in cleanliness or anything. I only do it this way with powdered detergent because I want to be sure it dissolves and doesn’t clump onto one article of clothing.
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I don’t have a dishwasher, so no opinion there.
Front load washing machine, so I HAVE to put the detergent in before I shut the door and start the water.
Toilet paper under.
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Silverware – knives should point down (sharp knives), forks up, and spoons…well however they get put in by my seven year old son. LOL
Laundry – start the water, add the soap and fabric softener (in the downey ball), and add the clothes.
TP – it doesn’t get hung because the dog would just eat it…he’d say, “YUM! Giant marshmallow on a steek!”
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1. We wash our silverware handles down because our dishwasher is crap, and the food collects at the bottom of the silverware holder *gag*
2. We turn it on so the tub starts to fill, and then add the soap. Less chance of getting soap colored stains that way. Plus, less build-up on the clothes
3. Over. It doesn’t dangle as much that way
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1. Handles are up.
2. I have a newer front loading washing machine so i put it in during the fill up and after the clothes are already in. It actually goes in a nice compartment on the top of the machine.. I love my washing machine and dryer.
3. Either actually. I usually am too busy to even care anymore. /sigh
oh good LORD, girl. tp MUST go UNDER. it’s harder to tear when it goes over the roll….
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Dude. I’m totally with you on all three. TP MUST be over. MUST.
Silverware MUST be handle up, but for a different reason. Because I’m afraid one day my kids will somehow fall down and IMPALE themselves on a fork or knife sticking UP out of the holder. Your reason sounds so much more sane, doesn’t it?
I, too start water & add detergent after I’ve loaded the clothes, although apparently this is the wrong way, according to the stickers on the door of my washer (I DON’T have a life).
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Uh . .. drink more . .. clean less!
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I put the utincil side up and grab it from the bottom as I pick them up. I feel like they get cleaner if they are facing up.
Laundry det. Well I have front load, so I just put it in the dispenser.
Toilet paper, I like it from the topit seems to roll off better that way.
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Have you been listening in on my fights with my husband (again)?
1. Pointy side down, for goodness sake. Not only is it cleaner, but I HATE GETTING POKED WITH THE STUPID KNIVES WHEN I EMPTY THE DISHWASHER. Ahem.
2. Soap first, then clothes. Otherwise, sometimes clothes get funny spots on them.
3. OVER. OVER. OVER. Under is simply not acceptable.
I’m with you on everything except the laundry. Unless I’m too lazy to put the armload of clothes down to start the washer and pick it up again. Then it goes in first.
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1) Handles down, since the toddler likes to help unload she’s less likely to impale herself with them that way.
2) We have a front loader so clothes, then water, then detergent oh and the fabric softener too.
3) MUST! be over but I somehow got mixed into a family of ‘unders’(along with a few other annoying habits) so i’m the odd woman out.
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Helloooooo out there!
So glad somebody missed me, 3 kids has officially sunk my battleship…seriously Crazy! Your little girl is sooooo cute…are you going through a bit of night waking suddenly (since they are exactly the same age, thought i’d ask–don’t tell me if you’re not or I’ll hate you–JK 
? It’s almost as if i am back in the newborn stage at 9 months–ugh!
To answer this blog…I must say I always put my teeth in first, handles up, until my newest dishwasher which has tiny holes for handles down only—i agree though, it’s cleaner to only touch the handle!
Detergent–i have been burned with stains from putting detergent in last, so I now always put detergent in the water then add my clothes. Anywhoo! Hope you are well–always fun for a laugh when i get to readyour posts!
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Dishwasher: When we were in the CRAPPY apartment last year, we did everything “eating end” up, just because the dw was such a giant turd that it didn’t get them clean the other way. Now that our dw ROCKS, we point them down – and not just for the sanitary reason, but also b/c it is entirely possible to imbed a fork in your hand. Ask my mom. Just one little slip.
Laundry: I used to do it your way – that’s how my mom did it. Lately I start the water, throw in the detergent, then put in all the clothes while it’s still running. I can think of reasons why, but none of them are pressing enough to change one way or the other.
TP: It has to come from over. Or I will die.
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1. Handles up – I’m with you on the hygene thing.
2. Laundry in first, then water. Although lately I’ve noticed it gets done a lot faster if I start it first and let it fill while I Oxy Clean nearly every piece of my preschooler’s duds.
3. Honestly, this made me laugh. I never pay attention either way, but actually had a VERY JEALOUS boyfriend once long ago who claimed, if you can believe this craziness — guys put it on one way and women put it on the other. And the fact that he found my toilet paper coming out OVER the roll (or under, I can’t remember), must have been something that I’d learned from a stint living with a college boyfriend, and how much that bothered him, yadda … yadda … yadda.
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I can not believe you have nearly 90 comments about toilet paper. I, for one, prefer my toilet paper to be OFF the little dispenser thing. In fact, when we remodeled our bathroom we did not put a dispenser in it. Our tp lives on the back of our toilet and its very happy there.
As for laundry, I start the water and detergent and start filling with clothes as it fills up with water. HOWEVER I do not EVER, no not EVER, separate darks from whites or whatever it is normal people do. It all goes in one. Yes. For real.
And, sadly, my dishwasher doesn’t work properly because we have hard water. So, I hand wash my dishes. But, I did used to do it the same as you.
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If I had a trophy, you could have it because that was pretty bad (but fun!), handles up (of course), laundry just like you (of course), toilet paper OVER (of course) DUH! It’s the best way and I promise I have written worse haikus…
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1. I try my best to put them handles up for the same reasons as you. Plus, I’m teaching my toddler to help with chores and I want him to learn sharp ends down. (with supervision of course)
2. It depends on what mood I’m in but I usually put the detergent in first, wait till I see suds and then start adding the clothes. After putting the clothing in then I add some of that white powder like Oxy Clean. This way, I figure I can have my cake and eat it too!
3. Oh HELL no! I’m with you. I don’t care where I’m at. If I’m at a place where it’s loaded with the paper under, I take the roll off and switch it. I’m evil. I can’t help myself! OCD perhaps?
TheMacMommy’s last blog post..de Composition
1. Silverware goes in any way. I could care less.
2. I have a front loader, so the soap has to go in the tray before starting her up.
3. Toilet paper rarely stays on the rack. Sacha pulls it off all.the.time.
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[...] Standard Operating Procedures [...]
Everyone else have given the good explanations, so I guess I’ll just add:
1. Handles up
2. Water & detergent, then clothing while it continues filling.
3. TP always comes over the top.
Christina’s last blog post..Sigh
Handles out, b/c it’s easier to put them away when they’re clean. And I’m all about easy. Sometimes, though, if something is really cruddy I put it handle down.
My silverware actually came with instructions NOT to put the same kind together, to mix it up, to get things clean and to prevent scratches on the silverware (not sure how that works, but I FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS!!).
I usually do what the machine tells me to do. See above re: instructions. Heh. My front loader says, clothes first, detergent on top, so that’s what I do.
TP goes OVER. For sure. I even let Little Man have at it when I *ahem* need to.
VDog’s last blog post..Haiku Friday Back Again
I put knives pointy side down, but otherwise I put handles down because then the eating-side is up and gets better water flow–meaning it gets cleaner.
Always put in the water AND soap and let the soap dissolve before adding clothing. No grainy soap residue that way.
TP over the top–it makes the little pictures right-side-up. My parents always did out from underneath cuz dad said that was the only way to tear it off one-handed…but Hubby likes over the top, and I never cared enough to argue it either way. Currently we have a toddler so the TP stands up on the back of the toilet anyway!!!!!!!!!!!
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1) You are obviously an intelligent woman, handles up and not just for sanitary reasons, but also because a) a child could trip and impale themselves on a knife or fork or b) you could cut yourself when unloading.
2) My faith in you is wavering. I hope you use liquid soap and for heaven’s sake start the water, add the soap then the clothes and all will be well.
3) You read my mind! TP always goes over and if someone mistakenly puts in under they must be corrected.
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Dishwasher- spoons handles up, forks prongs up because the prongs slip through the holes if they are down, butter knives handles up, steak knives dangerous with blades up for the same reason the forks prongs are up.
Washer- soap, then clothes, then water. Unless I am adding Clorox, then soap, Clorox, water and then clothes as the water is running but not full.
T.P. -I am just happy someone changed the dang roll!
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1. Whichever way the kids put them in. This is SO not my job.
2. Soap, clothes, water. Have to do it in the same order all of the time (soap, clothes, water) or I forget to put in soap. Haven’t forgotten clothes yet.
3. TP on the counter next to the toilet. Up, down it doesn’t matter, we have a toddler so it is much easier to just let it sit there.
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The way my dishwasher manual specifies (I’m such a geek!) – knives go handles up, everything else handles down.
I have a front loading washer, so clothes go in the tub and the door gets shut; detergent, softener, bleach goes in the proper compartment in the little drawer at the top; then push the start button. The washer decides when the detergent enters the tub, but it’s definitely after the water.
Always, always, always over the top. If my husband does it “wrong”, I have to fix it as soon as discover it.
Day late and dollar short here, but..
1. Handles up. Sanitary reasons aside; I wouldn’t want to get caught on the wrong end of a fork prong.
2. Start the washer, put the soap in, USUALLY wait for the water to fill, then put the clothes in. I don’t think it matters anymore with all the liquid detergents, but I know that it helped with dissolving the powdered stuff. Old habits.
3. Over, but only because my ex was a freak and traumatized me if I put the paper on wrong. I’m scarred for life I tell ya.