Why You Should Never Rinse Dishes Before The Dishwasher
If you’re like most people, you probably rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Some foods, like pasta and rice, can leave behind a lot of sticky gunk that’s tough to get off. It can’t hurt to get rid of some of that food residue beforehand, right?
Well, contrary to popular belief, pre-rinsing dishes might not be such a good idea after all. In this article, we’ll explore why.
4 reasons why you shouldn’t wash dishes before putting them in the dishwasher
1. It’s a waste of water
The average person uses about 20 gallons of water to rinse a sink full of dishes. That’s a lot of wasted water! If you have a large family and pre-rinse multiple times a day, you’ll be wasting a whole lot more.
Over the course of a year, that’s thousands of gallons of water down the drain! By not rinsing your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, you’d save a significant amount of water.
2. It’s a waste of time
For the most part, washing dishes beforehand is just an unnecessary time-suck. These days, dishwashers are designed to do a pretty thorough job of cleaning on their own.
It’s also worth noting that you won’t exactly be able to do a better job than your dishwasher anyway, so why bother?
Unless your dishes are caked with food or grease, they shouldn’t need a pre-wash.
3. Dishes need to be dirty in order for the detergent to work
Believe it or not, for dishwasher detergent to effectively clean your dishes, there needs to be something for it to clean.
Dishwasher detergent is designed to stick onto food and break down the particles and grease, so if you’ve already rinsed your dishes before putting them in, the detergent won’t have anything to do.
4. Pre-rinsing can actually make your dishes dirtier
If you have hard water, pre-rinsing your dishes can actually make them dirtier. That’s because hard water contains minerals like calcium and magnesium, which can leave behind a film on your dishes.
This film is often visible as spots or streaks, and it can be tough to get rid of. This means that your dishwasher will have to work even harder to clean your dishes.
Final thought
We hope we’ve given you some food for thought (pun intended) on why you should never rinse dishes before the dishwasher.
There will, of course, be times when you need to pre-rinse, particularly on dishes that have hard-to-remove food residue. But for the most part, it’s best to skip the pre-wash and let your dishwasher do its job.
You bought it for a reason – to save time. So sit back, relax, and let it work its magic!