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Friday, April 13, 2012

Stop Pre-Rinsing And Let The Dishwasher Do Its Job

Some time-worn habits are hard to break like rinsing your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher. But stopping this ritual pays off in time and money. Not only will you save water but the energy it takes to heat it as well. Dishwashers are made to do dirty jobs so just scrape the excess food from the plates and let the machine do the rest of the work.

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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Omg, I think I have finally got my wife to stop doing this. She would pretty much wash them before putting in dishwasher. When I went to add a dirty dish I couldn't tell if they were clean or dirty.

But I guess we had some extremely well washed dishes.

Anonymous said...

I never understood why you would have a dish washer then rinse them before you put them in.Does not make much sense to have one then.

Dana said...

I have been feeling guilty(not enough to change my ways) all these years about not washing my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. I always thought it was stupid to wash something before you wash it. It's like philosopher Larry the Cable Guy says "It's like wiping before you poop it just don't make sense"

Daddio said...

Best to wash `em while the food is still moist.

Dried-on and hardened food particles are much more difficult for a dishwasher and its sand-laced detergent to clean ...

Anonymous said...

i'm bad about this as well.

Anonymous said...

Actually dishwasher does not work as well if you rinse dishes, just scrape them and put in machine.

Anonymous said...

Believe it or not, dishwashers are good for cleaning items other than dishes! I have 3 rather large, artificial green, kind of like ivy plants, some with silk flowers. I hated dusting the leaves off so I put them on the bottom rack of the dishwasher and turned it on low and they looked like new again! I know, it may be a waste of water and electricity but in the silverware bin, I also put items like combs and small dog toys and anything else that had nothing to do with food/dishes. I'd rather do dishes by hand and rarely use my dishwasher so at least this keeps it running.

Anonymous said...

I too am guilty of pre-washing the dishes and running the dishwasher with few dishes in it. I can't stand dirty dishes in the sink or the dishwasher. It is something that can probably be cured with many years of intense therapy...

Anonymous said...

We have a large hungry dog who loves to prewash the dishes.

Cyndi said...

11:11 AM I love it lol

Anonymous said...

I tried not rinsing and got food washed onto everything. Then it dried back on. When I can afford a new fancy dishwasher that I don't have to clean the food trap on, then I'll stop pre-rinsing and take the consumer know-it-all's advice.

Anonymous said...

I put dishes in the dishwasher every day but don't turn it on until it is full. If I didn't rinse the dishes first the food would dry on them and never be really clean.