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Dishwashers are supposed to be helpful, making a daily chore faster and easier. But if your dishwasher has those foldable dishwasher tines – the kind that clamp onto the top or bottom rack with a plastic clip, sooner or later the clip cracks and the tines don’t stand up. So your dishes fall all over each other and don’t get cleaned well.
That’s exactly what happened to ours. For a while, I tried tying the tines up with cotton string to the edges of the top rack, but that really wasn’t working, and just trying to stack the bowls in that “band-aided” area for a proper wash was frustrating the heck out of me. Multiple times a day 🙁
Dishwasher parts are expensive!
Have you ever priced replacement parts for your dishwasher? Let me just start by saying that to replace the entire top rack of my Maytag dishwasher is over $100 and the foldable tine parts I was looking at were going to cost me in the neighborhood of $30 -$40. And, helloooo, they break.
Unusual uses for everyday items
So I LOVE to problem solve and come up with easy and affordable solutions to everyday annoyances (Ha! Like packing lunches). I figured I just needed some sort of plastic or stainless steel (no rust) rack that could go right in the area where the tines were missing from. After a google search for things like “small plastic rack”, “plate rack” and “lid rack”, I stumbled upon the perfect fix!
It’s called the New Ikea Variera Pot Lid Organizer. *
Super sturdy, super strong. You can open or close it wider or narrower, depending upon your needs. I’ve been using it for over a month and it looks as good as new. No rust, and standing tall. It’s the perfect rack for all sizes of bowls, plates or containers.
Loading the dishwasher now? Easy!
And hey – even if your dishwasher isn’t broken, it sure makes a swell pot lid rack 😉 Extra points for double duty!
*this post contains affiliate links.
GENIUS!
Zip ties work…
Actually, I tried the zip ties too Diane. But both those and the string didn’t work right, as I couldn’t get the tines tied up in the right spots to stand securely. I’m sure every dishwasher is different. Just depends on where they sit and what might be available to tie them to.
We are having this exact same problem…with what looks like the exact same dishwasher.
I just ordered some replacement clips from a parts site, and last night, I broke the remaining intact clips while trying to re-install w/ the new ones!
Now that several months have passed since the original post, are you still satisfied with this pot lid rack solution? It looks sturdy.. I assume that it’s heavy and doesn’t flop around much?
Thanks!
Hi Paula! I AM still happy with it 🙂 It doesn’t move around at all, hasn’t rusted, and it’s been really great. There seems to be even more flexibility as to how I can stack plates and bowls here than with the original tines. Maybe because I have the rack in there, set slightly wider apart than the others were. You can open or close it tighter, depending on your needs. It’s been a fantastic solution. I’ll probably buy another one for the bottom rack of our dishwasher since that one is falling apart as well…
Hi, Kelly! Thanks so much for posting this awesome idea. What a great solution to a very irritating problem! It has been working like a dream for about a month. I, too, am considering getting one for the bottom rack.
That is so great to hear Paula! Thank you for letting me know 🙂 And I think it actually works better than the original tines, as I have mine spaced slightly larger apart and so many different size dishes can fit all at once 🙂
I love this fix! Any time you can come up with a clever, way-less-expensive, re-use/re-purpose solution to a problem, it’s awesome. Thanks for sharing.
I bought the Ikea lid organizer and fitted it onto my dishwasher rack today. Now I can prop up large pots and dishes at the optimum angle for cleaning. Many thanks for your great idea.
My basket had holes in the bottom so whenever I put silverware in it would just fall out the bottom. Here is a cheap fix I found online that solved the problem.
Dishwasher basket repair quick and cheap