A - Z MICRO IRRITATIONS: T - TEASPOONS ESCAPING UNDERNEATH THE DISHWASHER CUTLERY BASKET
Monday, February 4, 2013 at 9:12AM 
Overview
When you’re filling the dishwasher and throwing cutlery into the basket, and a teaspoon manages to slip through the basket, or you just throw it in badly and it doesn’t make the basket at all, and it falls down underneath the shelf.
Symptoms
Sighing and tutting, followed by an awkward manoeuvre as you attempt, stupidly, to retrieve the spoon without actually pushing the shelf in. “Why do I try this every time?” you mutter to yourself, yet there you are, trying it again. Eventually you of course have to push the shelf in to get the spoon – and you’ve managed to get food and gravy all over your hand in the mean time.
What causes it?
A combination of your own slapdash dishwasher filling action, and the inevitability of teaspoons being small and prone to fall through gaps.
Who is affected?
Households where the dishwasher is not only used but used regularly and with a cavalier attitude.
Can it be avoided?
Do the washing up by hand. Or at least the cutlery. But anticipate suffering from the inevitable teaspoon left in the washing up bowl.
Related irritations
Inevitable teaspoon left in the washing up bowl
Dishwasher – slooshing sound
Reader Comments (1)
And it's not just tea spoons. Where do the heads of garlic presses get to during a cycle? I've lost three already. Lost. Completely. And a garlic press without something to press the garlic through is worse than useless.