Clean and Dirty Dishwasher Magnet

My family never seemed to pay attention to whether or not the dishes in the dishwasher were clean. They would either just put their dishes in there, no matter what, or just leave them on the counter or in the sink. A few times, someone even decided to be helpful and dirty dishes ended up back in the cupboards. Seriously.

I came up with magnets with clean and dirty on them so everyone would know.

The design I created makes four magnets on a single magnetic sheet (so I can give three away as gifts) and some scrap vinyl.

The design is pretty simple. I created the design in Illustrator and saved it as both a PDF (for anyone who wants to decorate the magnets by hand) and as an .SVG file so I could cut the vinyl and the magnet on my Cricut.

The vinyl I used in this project is vinyl I got for free by getting scraps from a sign shop. Sign shops throw away scraps that are bigger than we crafters can cut on our craft machines. I even wrote a whole post on how to talk to a sign shop to see about getting their vinyl scraps.

The base layer is matte black and the top/cut layer is gold -- because these colors matched my kitchen.

The first step was to cut the gold layer with the design.

After weeding the vinyl and applying the transfer tape, I removed it from my cutting mat.

The next step was to apply the magnetic sheet to the cutting mat.

The next step is to apply the base vinyl to the magnetic sheet. In my case, it was the matte black vinyl. Using the hinge method of applying vinyl works best for avoiding bubbles during application.

Once the base vinyl is down, apply the cut vinyl -- the design portion. Also use the hinge method for this step.

You can watch this video clip of me applying the design layer to the base layer.

Once the vinyl is squeegeed down, remove the transfer paper.

Place the mat back into the craft machine for the final cut that separates the magnets.

The magnets can now be used on your dishwasher to let everyone know what's in the dishwasher.

The way we use the magnets in my house is the following:

Position 1: When the dishwasher is running, it is too quiet. We often do not even remember that it is running. Seriously, it's that quiet! So, whoever starts the dishwasher puts the magnet with the clean side up above the dishwasher handle. Anyone who reaches for the handle can't miss the magnet and should see that they should not open the dishwasher.

Position 2: Once the dishwasher is done running, whoever pops open the dishwasher to let moisture escape so the dishes can complete their drying, that person moves the magnet to the right side of the dishwasher with the word clean on top. We also let the magnet hang off the edge by a small amount, just because it is easier to grab.

Position 3: Whoever empties the dishwasher moves the magnet to the left side of the dishwasher and flips the magnet over so the word dirty is on top.

This has been working for us and I hope it works for you!