Dishwasher silverware rack

I swear that these things are designed with holes that are too large in the bottom on purpose - to facilitate their (and their dishwasher's) early demise. Of course you toss knives in point first and eventually they saw through the plastic joint(s) in the waffle pattern and the larger hole is born. Then the silverware falls through, and the spinning waterbar is guaranteed to whack something from time to time. And pulling out the bottom rack with silverware dangling through these holes will ensure a fair number of scratches on the inside of the dishwasher door.
I believe these are designed this way to help shorten the overall life of the dishwasher.
OK, end of rant.
Does anyone sell some kind of plastic waffle material that I can cut into squares and create a better bottom for the silverware rack, so things won't fall through?
Thanks, Be

You are right!!! try putting a hand full of chop sticks in there sure failure of the dishwasher for sure. Best bet is to just wash the silverware in the sink by hand. Muff
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BE wrote:
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Maybe the design reasoning is that if they used a smaller mesh too many food particles would end up stuck in it?
Notwithstanding that the typical spray arm shoots water up from below the rack?
You could prolly experiment by cutting squares out of a plastic coffee can lid and punching some holes in it with a paper punch.
HTH,
Jeff

On Wed 10 May 2006 08:33:30a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it BE?
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If you were more careful about how you loaded the silverware basket, you might not have this problem.

On 5/10/06 12:24 PM, in article Xns97BF6A533EB34wayneboatwrightatgma@217.22.228.19, "Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote:> If you were more careful about how you loaded the silverware basket, you
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The problem is that I am meticulous about these things, but children and a non-meticulous wife are also present.
Be

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"Of course you toss knives point first..." Un-hunh...well, dont' get *me* started on a rant about folks who treat stuff roughly, then blame the design of whatever they break!
That said, my GE did come with a kind of holder to be placed under certain utensils (the heads of the utensils..) so as not to let them slip through.
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You wouldn't want that as it would block the dishwasher action.
SO either see if you have all the original doo-dads that came with your washer (yeah, I know, the applications of some of these aren't ovbious...), or develop a habit of *placing* things in their places, and given the situation you have, avoiding putting knives where you've already cut through.
Banty

On 5/10/06 12:50 PM, in article snipped-for-privacy@drn.newsguy.com, "Banty"
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I don't do that, but others (who refuse instructions to do otherwise) do.
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Just look around. Things like this don't have to be paid for. They are everywhere.
The containers that strawberries and cherry tomatoes come in might be useful. they're not all the same, and though light ones might last a lotng time, there may be heavier ones.
It could be made out of wood too. If it dries out between uses, it will last a long time, and if it doesn't, it will still last a couple years. Then make another one.
It doesn't have to be waffle, it just has to have holes.
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Even if there were no holes, the water would still come out through the sides.
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Beats me, We recently replaced a 20 you Kitchen Aid with the original tray and no holes. Maybe you need a better brand of dw? Put the knives in point up?