# Do you pre-rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928 "2011-02-02T19:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/21 "2011-02-02T23:32:24Z")
I have an old dishwasher my SO found on the side of the road and fixed. I think it was just a cord issue, but it was old. It’s so old it’s avocado green. I don’t pre-rinse anything, but if I have something like the glass pan with baked on lasagna crust it will be soaked a while first. I put in everything from pots and pans to plastic stuff that may or may not be “dishwasher safe”. I just keep them on the top rack and I’ve had no problems at all. I have no problem with my dishes not coming out clean since I learned to not overload the thing. Then again there’s not a chance in hell I’d leave dishes sitting dirty in the sink for more than a day whether they’re soaking or not. That’s gross. Really really gross. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/22 "2011-02-02T23:56:50Z")
I voted “yes”, but because the dishwasher filter gets clogged, not because the dishes are dirty. The rinse is to get rid of large pieces of food, down to and including grains of rice. We don’t have dishes sitting around for a week, though. Ours is run every day or two. ETA: > [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I have an old dishwasher my SO found on the side of the road and fixed. I think it was just a cord issue, but it was old. It’s so old it’s avocado green. Maybe it was an avocodo green issue. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/23 "2011-02-03T00:06:37Z")
Yes, but only because I have an old decrepit dishwasher. If I had a new one, I’m sure it would do a better job of getting them clean. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/24 "2011-02-03T00:07:41Z")
I use phosphate-free detergent and have a cheap but reasonably modern dishwasher (it came with my brand-new apartment). I scrape off obvious large chunks of food but otherwise don’t rinse. Everything comes out sparkling clean every time. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/25 "2011-02-03T00:13:23Z")
Yes; our dishes come out nasty if I don’t rinse them. Unfortunately, one roommate doesn’t seem to grasp this. He even baked banana bread once, burned it slightly, and put the still-heavily-crusted pan directly into the dishwasher (there was probably a fifth of the total mass of the loaf still stuck onto the pan). Shockingly, the dishwashed clogged and we had to call the landlord. Oddly, that roommate is otherwise by far the cleanest & neatest of us. I guess the kitchen sink area just switches his brain off. I also soak anything sitting in the sink with visible residue with hot water, which he still refuses to do. It’s annoying, because whenever I have people over, I have to pre-wash all the dishes to get rid of the gobs and spots he’s apparently cool with leaving. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/26 "2011-02-03T00:21:42Z")
> [@Red\_Stilettos](#): > > All of you non-rinsers may soon be in for a shock. [All producers have removed phosphates from their detergents.](http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09333/1017093-113.stm) Since phosphate is what keeps foods from redepositing during the wash, you are going to have a problem with cruddy dishes. The two recommendations I’ve seen are pre-rinsing and running the cycle twice. That article is from 2009, and apparently the phase out was complete by mid 2010. I’ve bought detergent since then, and still no problems with unrinsed dishes. > [@Athena](#): > > Nope, other than getting big chunks of food off. If my dishwasher required pre-rinsing, I’d throw it out and buy a new one. > > That said, I don’t let it sit for a week. Rarely does a day go by that the dishwasher doesn’t get run. Many days it gets run twice a day. Two people, but we both work from home, and are pretty dedicated to made-from-scratch cooking. This for us, too. It’s amazing how many dishes you produce cooking one meal. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/27 "2011-02-03T00:28:45Z")
Hell, we practically wash the damn dishes before putting them in. So, I guess our dishware is almost sterilized. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/28 "2011-02-03T00:39:07Z")
Another vote for ‘they go in the dishwasher practically washed’. The mess that results when the drain hose gets blocked is far worse than the inconvenience of pre-rinsing. ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/29 "2011-02-03T00:49:12Z")
We are programmed to be rinsing prior to putting the dishes into the dishwasher … which is the original one put into our home 21 years ago, still working fine. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/30 "2011-02-03T05:23:50Z")
We do, but that’s because there’s something not quite right with the dishwasher. That being said, we also don’t leave ours for a week. I suspect that may be the entirety of the problem in the OP. Technically, to save water, you’re not supposed to pre-rinse, on the grounds that you use more water that way. I do it anyway, though, because I hate leaving big ol’ gobs of food on the dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/31 "2011-02-03T14:31:07Z")
What is this thing about blocking the drain hose? I don’t put chunks of stuff in the dishwasher on purpose, but sometimes things slip through (Mr. Athena is especially good at not noticing that tea mug has a used tea bag in it). Never ever in my whole life have I had a dishwasher blocked. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/32 "2011-02-03T14:55:56Z")
In general, no, but this is in part due to the different setups of kitchens in the US and in Spain. One of the “cultural differences” I’ve had to explain to Spaniards repeatedly is this concept of “there is a machine under the sink which chops up trash tossed into the sinkhole into itty bits”: we don’t have those. I do push any solid bits into the trash, but generally no rinsing - I do rinse if it will be a long time until the next use (if it’s only me, I don’t use the rinse cycle) and there is something that will be “stuck dry” by then. For example, a glass I’ve used for milk doesn’t need rinsing; one I’ve used for milk and cookies and which has bits of cookie on the walls, does if I’m not going to run the washer immediately. Every dishwasher I’ve had came with a “basket” at the entrance to the drain: solids which have ended up in the dishwasher are captured there, so no clogged drains. Worst case scenario, a clogged basket which it takes seconds to take out, empty and put back in place - and you’d have to be quite absentminded to forget to empty it for that long. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/33 "2011-02-03T15:10:34Z")
I pre-rinse, mostly because I learned to use a dishwasher 40 years ago, and old habits are hard to break. Also, some kinds of gunk don’t come off well in our dishwasher - for instance, the slime that noodles always seem to leave on a colander they’ve been drained in. And if I’m gonna go to the trouble of scrubbing off that sort of thing before putting something into the dishwasher, holding a glass or plate under the faucet for a second before putting it in the dishwasher is pretty trivial by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/34 "2011-02-03T15:42:37Z")
okay colour me crusty food confused. Every dishwasher I have ever had has a quicky pre rinse program. Scrape food off. stick plate in dishwasher. press ten minut epre rinse cycle and when you have enough dishes ( or during off peak elec charges) turn the dishwasher on. Whats the question that am obviously missing? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/35 "2011-02-03T15:44:20Z")
We always scrape, then rinse, sometimes pre-wash in the case of dried egg and other concrete-like foodstuffs. Food doesn’t belong in your house drains; I’d just as soon not go looking for problems. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/36 "2011-02-03T17:18:55Z")
> [@manila](#): > > Every dishwasher I have ever had has a quicky pre rinse program. Ours probably does, too, then. It seems to have five or six functions, plus a delay button, when the only ones we ever use are labelled “Normal Wash” and “Start.” I usually pseudo-rinse plates and dishes, but my motivation is more avoiding putting big crud down the drain (for reasons that may or may not make any sense) rather than fear that the dishwasher won’t be able to remove residue. Large clumps of food I remove; large sauce stains I leave intact. I’ve pushed the matter pretty far over the years, sometimes in the name of experimentation; it’s _extremely_ rare for anything to come out of our dishwasher still dirty, no matter how horrid it looked going in (or how old & crusty the residue is). So I don’t worry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/37 "2011-02-03T17:30:14Z")
> [@Red\_Stilettos](#): > > All of you non-rinsers may soon be in for a shock. [All producers have removed phosphates from their detergents.](http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09333/1017093-113.stm) Since phosphate is what keeps foods from redepositing during the wash, you are going to have a problem with cruddy dishes. The two recommendations I’ve seen are pre-rinsing and running the cycle twice. > > Personally, I pre-rinse. At first, I did it because my mom did. Then, my ex-husband insisted it wasn’t necessary and all of our dishes came out still dirty. Now, with just me, I pre-rinse/light wash since most dishes sit in the dishwasher for a few days before I run it. If it’s going to be run immediately, I just scrape the big stuff off. From that link: > [@](#): > > The rules she’s referring to are coming from 16 states, including Pennsylvania, that effectively ban the sale of detergents made for home dishwashers that contain phosphates as of July 1, 2010. Canada is working with a similar timeline. The rules don’t apply to commercial dishwasher detergents. > [@](#): > > Phosphates help soften water and prevent particles from redepositing on dishes, according to the Soap and Detergent Association, a Washington, D.C., industry group. You have no idea how large the light bulb above my head is right now. We’ve had problems with a white hazy finish on dishes for about 6 months now, especially if the water softener is running low on salt. I do not typically pre-rinse for normal food-stuff: chunks are scraped and everything else is loaded the way it is. My wife, on the other hand practically washes the dishes before loading them. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/38 "2011-02-03T17:35:27Z")
Pre-rinse but fairly lackadaisically; big stuff, some sticky stuff some of the time, and specific things like coffee grounds and rice that seem to end up all over the place otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/39 "2011-02-03T17:41:31Z")
Voted yes, but it’s not 100% true. I pre-rinse/wash heavily soiled items that I know in advance will not get clean during the regular wash cycle ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928/40 "2011-02-03T17:41:37Z")
I’ve never owned a dishwasher or lived a house that has one. And I can’t add one easily at the place I’m at now. I’m 43. It is one of the great disappointments of my life and you overprivileged elites are making me cry :(. I _hate_ washing dishes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pre-rinse-dishes-before-putting-them-in-the-dishwasher/569928.md?page=3)