Settle an argument please?

[Tarquina]

In my house is a dish drainer which has a caddy on the edge to hold cutlery in an upright position. It's quite deep, so only the tines of a fork or the bowl of a dessertspoon sticks out of the caddy if put into it tine- or bowl-side up.

Person A argues that cutlery should be placed in the caddy tine/bowl side down, because if they are pointing up, when someone in the house grabs them to put them away, they will touch that part of spoon or fork that goes into another person's mouth, possibly with unclean hands, thus spreading germs.

Person B argues that cutlery should be placed in the caddy tine/bowl side up, so that the water drains away from the part that goes into a person's mouth, and so that the tines and bowls are not touching the base of the caddy, which may be dirty. Also, all the photos online show the cutlery that way up (see pic) which proves it is right.

Let the voting begin!

I kind of agree with both A and B!

I would probably put the cutlery in as per the picture but then tip the container sideways to empty so the cutlery starts to slide out and can be grabbed below the bit that goes in your mouth.

Iyswim!

Knives and scissors down so you don't stab yourself on points sticking up, everything else doesn't matter, but I've found that spoons don't always drain properly if they are bowl down.

How often do you wash the holder thingy out? They get horrible and cruddy if left for any length of time.

Tines/bowls up, jabby points of sharps down. I also clean mine every day because I have seen some rather unclean ones before.

I put mine in all facing up like the picture, not sure why just prefer it that way

If I could guarantee it was clean, I'd put them facing downwards. If I couldn't, I wouldn't.

Always facing up , even if sharp , I don’t clean the drainer daily but do cutlery , so don’t want it facing down , especially spoons .

the picture is correct 👍🏻

Pointy bits down, handles up

I always put mine facing up, as per the picture but this is in my dishwasher not the caddy thing you've got.

Tines/bowls up. And wash your hands before touching them to put away. It's that simple for the germaphobes!!

Same as when using the dishwasher. If you put them facing down they don't wash properly!

I don’t think it matters at all. Wash your hands and keep your drainer fairly clean.

One thing I would definitely do is ensure sharp knives are pointing down.

I think the people in the house need more to do and more important things to think about.

Mine go in a tray at the top of the dishwasher. No arguments!

The bottom of the cutlery drainer is likely to be muckier than my hands, so I’d go tine side up.

I don't have one of these but in my dishwasher I put forks and spoons tine/bowl up and knives point down. When I put them away I just touch the neck of the handle and not the bit that goes in your mouth.

Up! Those things are slime magnets.

I point them up as otherwise the tines can get in the way of the lower arm but I don't think there needs to be a definitive answer. I agree best to avoid touching the eating bits when emptying

As someone else has said, these things get slimy in the bottom and are a pain to.clean properly, so on that basis I'd put the cutlery with the handles down. My hands are clean when I take it out anyway.

I have a tray in mine 😂I was so worried about DDs tripping and falling on the cutlery when they were little.

What if you were not there when others take out the cutlery, such as a cleaner, lodgers, teenagers?

This is my position -- if it were just me, I would be happy with tines-up.

No cleaner or teens. Just as husband. And I'm pretty sure he's clean too.