Does any sane person rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher?

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHorrid]

Having a mental discussion with dh. We have just got a dishwasher, have been renting for a long time and this is our first. He has read the manual which says to rinse the dishes before you put them in.

This sounds like complete madness to me. If you are going to rinse them you might has well wash them while you are at it making the dishwasher pointless.

Does anyone actually rinse their dishes before they go in the dishwasher.

We've always used a dishwasher since DD was little as they are brilliant for washing bottles etc at temperatures much hotter than a handwash.

We normally just scrape and bung things in. However if I have porridge for breakfast I often just rinse the worst off otherwise it can dry hard before the wash (usually once every 2 days).

I find with porridge it's best to leave it in the sink - don't put water in it- then the remains come out in a oner. If it goes into the dishwasher it takes forever!

I use it when I am making jam or preserves. Gets the jars nice and clean. Someone told me that you could poach fish in it. But I haven't tried that (yet).

You'll notice a big difference in dishwasher tablets. Worth spending extra on the best ones IMO. I'm a rinser. Told my dishwasher I loved it every day for the first three weeks!

If you have a dog, you can be even lazier and just get them to lick all te lumpy bits off.... That's for the hardcore slatterns amongst you though and you'll spend much time justifying to various horrified people that the hot cycle sterilises everything.

(For the record: I don't do this, my dad does and whilst it doesn't particularly bother me, various other family members won't eat there!!)

I do - it's a dishwasher, not a heavy-scrubbing scullery maid and sometimes things need a bit of a helping hand before they go in.

I do but probably because my mum always did

I took the dishwasher that was on offer with the kitchen units - it was rubbish. Often left bits of grainy stuff on glasses and plates.

I replaced it with a Bosch recently (despite the fact that the original one still worked) - magnifique! everything clean, never rinse off food first, almost never clean filter.

It's the make that matters

Always! Even a glass that has only had water in it often gets a rinse! I don't know how to clean the dishwasher filter and have no intention of learning, but I don't expect it needs it with my attitude to rinsing, it needs it. I have to admit I am probably not very sane, though.

All you people who're rinsing - do you have crap dishwashers? I've never, ever rinsed anything and they always come out perfectly. One of the ideas of having a dishwasher is that it saves water, so rinsing negates that straight away. I use a normal wash and cheapo tablets. Filter needs cleaning probably once a week and that's it.

No, my dishwasher is a fairly decent one. Though we do use it a lot, filled full twice a day (I think that's a lot anyway). I use Fairy or Finish tablets.

Yes, we absolutely do!

Especially if the pans or dishes have had mash on them. Potato starch spreads like anchor.

I always rinse everything with hot water before I put them in the dishwasher. Sometimes I even wash them with liquid and scrub them before they go in. OCD? Moi?

Don't need to. Dog licks them instead.

Gross, I know...

It depends what is on the plate. I rinse if there is potato, rice or tomato based sauce, not a massive rinse, just a quick spray to get the worst off. Potato and rice can sometimes leave a dust like powder on everything in the dishwasher, especially if it's fully loaded. Tomato based sauce can discolour some plastic items if they are in the dishwasher together. Also avoid getting sweetcorn in the machine, it's just the right size to get through to the upper spray arm, I'm forever taking mine off to fish sweetcorn out of the spray holes thats got jammed in there.

I've got a fairly decent Boshe, it's used alot with 6 of us. I use Asda own brand 5 in 1 tablets. Finish left water spots on all my glasses, drove me nuts.

I am a rinser!!

I scrape the big lumps of grot, and will sometimes pre-soak if it's really burnt on, but, guess what? My dishwasher does a rinse cycle at the start of each programme, and I bet yours does too. Pointless to rinse first, unless you only run it every few days and want to avoid nasty niffs.

My brother does such a thorough rinse that I once emptied his dishwasher and put everything away in the cupboards thinking it was clean.

Just a scrape if anything excessive. We only run ours every other day and it's only in the summer that it smells bad. I do clean the filter from time to time and it's no worse than the sink trap or the washing machine filter.

I am the only woman in my family that doesn't rinse first (slattern ) - I do scrape though. In my defense, my Dad has had his dishwasher since I was in high school (over 20 years... my goodness I'm old), and he doesn't rinse either. Both of us eat porridge and have never had an issue with the bowls coming out dirty at the end of the cycle.

definitely....if there are lumps of food. Doesn't take a moment.

best to look after a good piece of equipment and help it to perform to it's optimum best...

I've not been in a house without a dishwasher since I was 10 years old, in those 26 years I have never rinsed anything prior to putting it in, just scape left over food into bin and bung in. I've never had a broken dishwasher.