Sarah Beeny’s divisive dishwasher technique has left her followers ‘literally traumatised’
Have you ever seen someone unload a dishwasher like this?
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Let’s be honest; unloading the dishwasher is a thankless task. It’s boring, it’s fiddly, and most people try to avoid it at all costs. But while Sarah Beeny has a trick to speed up the process, some fans aren’t impressed with her divisive dishwasher technique. In fact, they’re downright ‘traumatised.’
Whether you have a full-size dishwasher or you’ve invested in a tabletop dishwasher, we’re going to assume that load the dishwasher in an orderly manner and you take your clean plates, glasses, and cutlery out of your dishwasher in a methodical (yet monotonous manner). We also assumed that property expert Sarah Beeny would do the same, but we’ve now realised that’s not the case.
Even her husband is astounded by her divisive unloading technique. So much so that he took a video of her unloading the dishwasher to show the world what she gets up to when left to her own devices.
Sarah Beeny’s divisive dishwasher technique
In this video (which was taken as video evidence by her husband), Sarah can be seen removing the cutlery basket from the dishwasher. Pretty normal, right? Well, that’s when things take a turn… quite literally.
Sarah then turns the basket over and tips it into her cutlery drawer without sorting the cutlery into sections. The knives mix with the forks, the tablespoons mix with the teaspoons, and, in her eyes, that’s her job done.
A post shared by Sarah Beeny (@sarah.beeny)
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In the caption, she wrote, ‘Graham says the way I empty the dishwasher makes me almost untenable to live with - he’s caught it on camera just incase it’s ever needed in a divorce court 🤣🤣. I don’t see the problem - saves loads of time.’
As you can imagine, it didn’t take long for her followers to share their thoughts on her unique unloading technique. One fan wrote, ‘Good Lord! 😳 That’s a blood sport in the making! Imagine fishing in there for a knife 🔪 Yikes!’, while another simply responded, ‘Literally traumatised by that cutlery drawer.’
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It seems as though her followers’ main problem lies within Sarah’s lack of kitchen drawer organisation. And while we’ll give her some credit and agree that it’s very hard to make a cutlery drawer look pretty, not having a cutlery organiser definitely makes the whole situation look worse.
In defence of her actions, Sarah claims that this technique saves her time. However, one follower quite rightly says, ‘But then the time you saved is lost on finding the knife fork spoon you actually want when you could just grab and go.’
So, what do the experts think about Sarah’s divisive dishwasher technique? It doesn’t quite match what Gwilym Snook, dishwasher expert at AO.com, has to say about unloading a dishwasher.
In his expert opinion, organisation is key to this common household task. He says, ‘When you’re unloading your dishwasher, first start with the bottom rack as this typically holds the larger items such as pots, pans and mixing bowls.’
‘Remove each one by one, but be sure to empty any residual water that may be pooled in these items. Next up, remove your cutlery basket. We’d advise sorting through these before popping them into their respective trays, as this will save any hassle next time you need to get your knife and fork.’
‘Pop any remaining dishes from the dishwasher into their drawers neatly for ease of access. Keeping each piece of cutlery and dishes in their own segments will also help keep your crockery cleaner for longer.’
But if her unique technique works for Sarah (although maybe not for her husband), who are we to argue?
Lauren Bradbury has been the Content Editor for the House Manual section since January 2025 but worked with the team as a freelancer for a year and a half before that. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Chichester in 2016. Then, she dipped her toe into the world of content writing, primarily focusing on home content. After years of agency work, she decided to take the plunge and become a full-time freelancer for online publications, including Real Homes and Ideal Home, before taking on this permanent role. Now, she spends her days searching for the best decluttering and cleaning hacks and creating handy how-to guides for homeowners and renters alike.
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