Dishwasher logic!!?

Question

Ok, folks who have dishwasher, let me ask you - Before you load the dishes in, do you wash them under the tap?
Those who dont have a dishwasher, would you rinse them under the tap then load them?


I just put them in. The dishwasher goes on every night before I go to bed, so its not like food festers in there but The Man says I should rinse them beforehand - this seems like creating extra work to me!!!!!

MrsZ, with your attitude, I dont have "unrealistic expectations" of what my dishwasher is capable of, I run it the same way every single day and have no problem.
The Man is a pet name for my man, if you have a problem and a lack of sense of humour, dont answer easy-going questions! Go and wave your attitude stick somewhere else!

Answer 1

Just BUNG EM IN

Answer 2

If you are running it every night, it should be fine without rinsing (as long as starchy/sticky foods aren't on the dishes like rice, pasta, etc because those will dry and stick to everything). If you aren't running it daily, however, food that dries on the dishes will sometimes not go away when you run the dishwasher. I would say, use common sense. To prove your argument, you could run it without rinsing and see if there is a difference or not and just go from there. Good luck. 8)

Answer 3

Arguably, due to the temperatures involved with most models, the dishes will come out "sterile" whether anything is still clinging to them or not.

I rinse or scrape the big chunks off before I load them into a dishwasher, or even before I put them in the soapy water if washing by hand.

I want them to appear clean as well. There's no actual mechanical scrubber in the dishwasher. Just chemical action and spinning sprayers. Not all units will have a spray pattern (depends on how you load it as well) to get really stuck grime off.

Answer 4

If the dishwasher is going to be set off straight away then definitely don't need to rinse, but if it is going to be a while then I rinse them so that the food residue on the plates doesn't dry and congeal on them. If it has dried on then more of a risk the dishwasher won't get them properly clean.

Answer 5

It depends on your dishwasher. Most of the newer ones are designed to handle some food particles with a garbage disposal type thing on the drain to get rid of anything that comes off the plates. Some of the older models you almost had to prewash the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher.

Answer 6

I usually rinse them, and if there's stuck on food I soak in hot soapy water. It's like an O.C.D. I guess. I have on rare occasions just put them in, if I'm in a hurry. But there always seems to be food dried on them. I use the heated dry option on my dishwasher so any dried on food seems tough to remove. Plus I figure food would get trapped in the dishwasher drain, or just splashed around on new loads. That's my logic.

Answer 7

Men are idiots, do it your way and tell him to piss off. If the dishwasher could not handle a little food in them they would be useless and nobody would buy them. Dishwasher manufacturerst the food choppers in them for a reason! It is like dumping the food down the drain and having the garbage disposal chop it up and rinse it away!
If he doesn't like it, pile all of the dishes in the sink and tell him that as soon as he prewashes them you will load the dishwasher and wash them.

Answer 8

It depends. I don't necessarily "rinse" them with water, but I do scrape the food off.
Actual "food" particles are a big no no in the dishwasher, they plug it up.
Now grease is actually good for it. Dishwashing detergents rely on grease to activate themselves, so if you are "pre-washing" the dishes, you are actually making them harder to clean.
Tell "the man" to leave you the heck alone!

Answer 9

I do a quick rinse to get larger particles off so they don't get stuck in the dishwasher and to keep food from hardening on there. I hear you don't have to do this for newer dishwashers, but old habits die hard.

Answer 10

well I don´t see the point in wasting so much water , If the plates have lot´s of left overs I scrape them into the bin then wipe with kitchen roll before putting them in. Also the man is right if you keep putting the dishes in with bit´s on this will only clog up the filter and the dishes will come out with bit´s of food stuck to the plates

Answer 11

I rinse them to get the big stuff off so that it doesn't foul up the drain; if your dishwasher can handle that, then I see no reason to rinse them and create extra work for yourself.