Most of us are in the habit of rinsing our dishes before stacking them in the dishwasher. Aside from saving time and water, there’s another reason to skip the rinse: it could actually keep your dishes from getting clean.
Consumer Reports explains that pre-rinsing dishes, glasses, pots, and silverware can make them come out dirtier. Here’s why:
The reason is that most dishwashers costing $500 or more sold in the past five years or so have a sensor that determines how thorough a wash is needed. At the start of the cycle, it rinses the dishes and then checks how dirty the water is to determine the proper amount of time and water to get everything clean. If you’ve already rinsed off much of the muck, the sensor misreads the dishes as already fairly clean.
Of course, that’s kind of the point of the sensor cycle, and some folks, like my mom, like to get their dishes fairly clean before running the dishwasher anyway. In that case, you’re probably good to go, since your dishes don’t need much cleaning. One might ask why you’re washing them again, but hey, we’re not here to judge.
However, if you’re simply rinsing off your plates, this is something to keep in mind if you want a deeper clean. Consumer Reports recommends removing food scraps but then skipping the rinse altogether. For more detail, head to the post below.
Why Dirt Gets Your Dishes Really Clean | Consumer Reports
Photo by peapod labs.