We wash our utensils pointing up, save for any sort of knife. I always felt that they wouldn't get clean if pointed down! My stepmother always washes her facing down because "it's so much easier to grab the handles and put them directly away."It’s a funny and silly thing unless you’re OCD about germs (not trying to insult people with ocd, my youngest son has it), but silverware should be washed with handles down. In other words, the part that touches the mouth should be up. The water and food particles then go down the utensils and rinses away from the part that touches your mouth. Who knew