I had a friend growing up whose Mom did a full scrub and washed the dishes with dishwasher soap every time before putting them in the machine. I was stunned to see this. She basically used the dishwasher as an extra sanitizer or something.
What do you do? I rinse all the food off until it is mainly gone and make sure everything that could stick to the dishes is gone down the sink. Then, directly into the machine for a full wash.
I actually prefer to hand wash items. My wife prefers to stick things in the dishwasher. But I don’t think that either of us puts dishes in the dishwasher when they’re still full of gunk.
I use a scrubby sponge on some items that go in the dishwasher to make sure there’s no dried-on food residue. Some things just get a quick rinse so I can see that there’s nothing stuck on. Drinking glasses go in unrinsed unless there’s obvious residue dried in the bottom. I picked the second option, but in reality, it’s between the second and the third.
And despite my best efforts, sometimes items come out with food stuck to them. I think I have a pretty mediocre dishwasher.
For most items I don’t do anything, that’s why it’s called a dish WASHER.
Sometimes I rinse things like egg yolks, melted cheese, etc. though.
I try to get them pretty damn clean, anything still stuck on a plate when they go in could still be stuck there when the go out. My wife just dumps dishes in the washer without even rinsing and then complains when they don’t come out clean.
If there’re chunks of food or stuff that may drip off, like gravy, then I’ll rinse but most dishes and cutlery go in as they come from the table.
Exceptions are pots with burnt on residue which get a soaking and scrub to remove the crud.
For most purposes, if the dishwasher won’t clean the dishes, then it’s not doing its job. Get a new one that works properly.
See, my theory is just dump them in the dishwasher. If they don’t come out clean then you can wash them, which you would have done anyway. Except now you only wash the ones that aren’t clean, and not everything by default.
Hell, sometimes I’ll just soak them and put them back in the dishwasher.
I’m lazy.
Scrape the chunks off, but that’s about it. If something doesn’t come clean (which is pretty rare), yeah, soak it and put it in the next time. Or just scrape the stuck on bits off. I’m not that worried about it.
I don’t understand basically washing dishes to put them in the dishwasher. Why not just hand wash and save yourself a step?
I have a Bosch with a ‘turbo zone’.
OMG. Love the turbozone for the pots of soup and sauce I make every week. It’s sort of extra jets at one end of the washer. Stick the pot in with the jets pointing at it, and press the magic button. Slam bam thank you ma’m the post come out clean
If something doesn’t get clean, I leave it in and wash it a second time. That’s why I have more than one dish.
This is one of the great debates in my household. I refuse to wash dishes before they go in the dishwasher. If I wanted to hand wash dishes, I would have just saved my money and not bought a dishwasher. Granted, I currently own the mother of all dishwashers (a Samsung) , which even has a special high-powered zone for scrubbing pots and pans. Even with baked on crud, I very seldom have anything come out unclean.
I only wish I could break my Sweetie of scrubbing everything before he loads the dishwasher. He admits that his own dishwasher sucks, and old habits die hard for him. Maybe one day he’ll come around!
I am the dishwasher.
Scrape any chunks or thick residue into the trash, then into the dishwasher they go. Washing dishes before putting them in reminds me of a woman I used to know who’d vacuum her house before the cleaning lady came.
Step 1: Let dirty dishes soak in hot soapy water until I get around to dealing with them.
Step 2: Take them out of the water. If there’s any visible residue, rinse them off. If there’s still any residue, clean it off with a scrubber sponge. Then put them into the dishwasher.
Step 3: Run the dishwasher.
Are all three steps necessary? Probably not always, but that’s my system and it works for me.
I rinse of stuff that’s obviously going to cake on, like sauces, or the dog cleans peanut buttery knives. I rinse off rice because that’s what I learned to do but I’m not sure if that’s UL. Otherwise, it’s a dishwasher, and its job is to wash the dishes, so I’m not encouraging it to be a goddamn freeloader. I feel that most people overly clean their dishes first; even the crappiest dishwasher is much more efficient than most people give them credit for.
And in those rare situations where it doesn’t get everything, I run it through again or scrub it. That’s still way more efficient (time, water, energy) than rinsing everything every day!
It really depends if I’m washing the dishes right after using them or if they’re gonna be in the dishwasher a couple of days before we get a full load. My dishwasher sucks pretty bad for a new one and if the crud gets dried on, it’ll still be there when the load is done.
I’m not challenging your method, and I’m glad it works for you, but I honestly don’t understand what you are trying to accomplish with this. Instead of putting them in the dishwasher already clean and running the dishwasher, why not just rinse the soap off, dry and put away? or let dry in a rack. It seems like you are cleaning them twice. Once by hand and once by machine. Do you not think they get clean enough washed by hand? or is there some other reason.
If I’m going to wash right then, just push off as much as possible.
If I’m not, then things which experience tells me don’t wash off well if left to dry get a rinse (thick tomato sauce, for example).
Very clean. Since they go in with the pots anyhow, and are the easiest things to clean, why not?
The real reason is that we got our first dishwasher in 1962, and it was not that great, so I never really trust the things.
I’ve been guilty of starting the dishwasher when it was only 1/3 full. All because I needed a dish that was in there and I couldn’t be bothered to wash it myself.
I used my hand and do complete cleaning in the dish than using dishwasher. Although I use dishwasher when I feel tired.