Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In the past, I had always scraped food off then rinsed, then placed in the dishwasher. Sometimes I got lazy and put the dishes in without rinsing. Then if I forgot to run the dishwasher, it would stink to high heaven the next day.
In this house, the dishwasher was brand new. Sellers were even so kind as to leave me the owner's manual. The manual said NOT to rinse, and use the "quick rinse" cycle instead. Supposed to save water. It's a Kenmore.
First of all, that would confuse my husband the next morning. The little magnet on the dishwasher still said "dirty" but the light showing that a cycle was done, was on. So he figured the dishes were clean and left his dishes in the sink.
Secondly, I started noticing how, even with the quick rinse cycle, I was pulling out dishes that were not entirely clean from a "clean" load. So back to the rinsing I go.
I find it hard to believe that the small amount of water used while we rinse, is less water than what is used in those cycles.
Quit wasting water and time rinsing your dishes! A modern dishwasher cleans them. Now, you don't want BIG CHUNKS of food going into the dishwasher. But some food residue is not just okay but actually beneficial. If the dishes are too rinsed clean before running the dishwasher they come out kind of funny at the end, like with detergent residue or something. Detergent is partly a chemical process which won't happen if everything is already clean. (Indeed if you have already washed everything, I wouldn't put detergent in there for your so-called "sanitizing".)
No, the dishwasher does not scrub exactly. But the water is hot, the spray is high pressure, and the detergent is pretty harsh (which is why you don't want to put anything too too delicate in there). It'll get off all kinds of stuff. And this includes sitting not just all day but a couple days. Ours cleans dried-on sauce residue from glass bakeware for instance, among many other things.
Now, there are a couple of practical exceptions. I can't help but rinse out something with milk usually, because I figure it will smell bad in there too quickly. Also, eggs. Anything with egg on it gets scrubbed completely free of egg. This is because I learned recently it is the source of smelly "clean" glassware. My SO can't smell it but I can, and if the egg is scrubbed away before putting in the machine it comes out smell-free. There may be a few other case-by-case exceptions, but generally everything else is just scraped.
I didn't used to, but then my wife came along. She wants it rinsed before going into the dishwasher, so it's scrubbed. We can't tell if the dishwasher has been run or not unless there's water beads sitting on the Tupperware. She's happy, and that's the important thing. Her kitchen, yanno.
A dishwasher is supposed to wash the dishes with no work required on my part whatsoever other than physically loading them in the machine. Otherwise, what point is there to owning one?
When you do dishes, do you wash or rinse (please specify which if you do) your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher? If you do, how detailed are you?
If you wash your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher, what does the dishwasher do that you didn't?
I don't wash my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. I do scrape the bulky food off the plate into the garbage first.
It depends on how tired I am. Typically, I wash & use the dishwasher for drying so the kitchen is "cleaned up." If I'm tired, like to tonight, I will rinse everything to get the big crud off, then run the dishwasher.
I don't like too many food particles going into the dishwasher so I do rinse them in hot water before I put them in, especially pots and pans or dishes with some caked on food that the dw might not remove. I keep the water heater in our place at 150 so the water is scalding hot, and I also use those new dw gel packs, they seem so much better than the liquid or dry dw detergents I used to use.
My ex gf had the philosophy that a dw was there to do everything so she didn't rinse, and she and I always had a discussion about it because I did rinse them before they went in.
I scrape big chunks of food off the plates, but don't wash or rinse.
The dishwasher cleans better overall if there's something for it to do. You know, like wash the dishes.
The only thing my dishwasher has issues with is stuck-on egg bits, not so much on glass or ceramic plates or bowls, but on silicone or nylon utensils. I scrape the egg off first before putting the utensils in the dishwasher.
I keep the water heater in our place at 150 so the water is scalding hot, and I also use those new dw gel packs, they seem so much better than the liquid or dry dw detergents I used to use.
150 I keep mine set at 130 and it's more than hot enough. It also reduces the bill to heat and keep the water heated at that temp. I do agree though the Cascade Complete gel packs are amazing!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
She wants it rinsed before going into the dishwasher, so it's scrubbed. We can't tell if the dishwasher has been run or not unless there's water beads sitting on the Tupperware. She's happy, and that's the important thing. Her kitchen, yanno.
Agree
I keep mine set at 130 and it's more than hot enough. It also reduces the bill to heat and keep the water heated at that temp. I do agree though the Cascade Complete gel packs are amazing!
