My Dad insists that everything is thoroughly rinsed before loading the dishwasher, to the point where things look just as clean upon loading as they do when emptying. I really do not see the point. Is it normal to do this?

I don't have a dishwasher.

doesn't seem normal to me

Have to agree.

Car Expert

I have to confess that I do give things a quick rinse before putting them into the dishwasher. Your dad sounds completely normal to me

I answered "No" because my wife deals exclusively with such domestic engineering, and quite right too...

haha, well i give mine a quick rinse to get rid off the big food stuffs. the dishwasher can do the hard work

but your dad seems to be being a little bit overly clean... *shrugs*

Don't rinse them before they go in, check them when they come out. Otherwise you'll waste your time cleaning stuff off them that the dishwasher would have got off anyway; rather than just cleaning the stuff off that the dishwasher didn't get off.

Now that is logical. I like your way of thinking!

Good idea. I'll try and persuade him


It's supposedly something to do with the filter getting more dirt in than necessary. Apparently if you put pots in when they are not clean, the dishwasher cannot handle it. This either suggests the dishwasher to be a gross waste of money, or that we need to muster a greater sense of adventure. Maybe I should try when he's not around, just to see what it can do...

Depends how much needs rinsed off! I've seen my children put pots in the dishwasher with several portions of mashed potato still firmly attached. But I suppose i'm lucky to have seen my children put pots in the dishwasher at all...

There are similarities between our offspring I think .
Disadvantage of seeing what the dishwasher doesn't get off is that by that stage it's been baked onto the dish by the high temperature. My dishwasher doesn't like weetabix or readybrek for some reason - it copes with mostly everything else

I seem to remember somebody on the forums put some dishes in a machine that washed things, but it wasn't the right machine was it, Nicki?

Don't some dishwashers have a 'pre-wash' program, meant to rinse off or loosen the Weetabix-y bits etc?
Mine does.
But it doesn't like plates that have had rice on them - it leaves a layer of starch so they never look clean and shiny.

I get the feeling I am the dishwasher here and I usually do a good job!! [I think]
After all, I dirty them, so I had better clean them!!

I'm with YAP - bung it all in and just check it's clean when it comes out. Washing it all before you put it in defeats the object surely?!

Well we don't have a dishwasher- but if your going to rinse the plates before putting stuff in wouldn't it be about the same effort to wash them manually ?

Hehe!


Well, that was because mum told us to put some plates (which had just had chocolate cake on) in the washing machine, so being good children, my brother and I put our plates in the washing machine, thinking someone would get them out. Next morning, when we heard loud clunks, we realised that infact they were being washed along with the washing. They didn't break though!

Weetabix is the worst. You spend 5 minutes rearranging the dishwasher to find a space for the bowl and then it comes out with the weetabix baked on solid - and not only that, but it has managed to transfer itself to all the glasses as well.

Mw1 - Why don't you print out this thread and stick it on the front of your dishwasher for your dad to find. It would serve two - nay, three - purposes.

1. It would give him food for thought about loading the dishwasher.

2. It would allay any of his fears that your time spent in front of the computer is anything other than constructive.

3. It's a great advert for the wide and varied uses of the AB forums!!

Bearing this in mind, I'd best be polite to your Dad.

I think that he's barmy...

By all means clean off the big stuff, but there is no point in rinsing the dishes so well that they look as clean when they go in as they do on the way out. Has he forgotten that we are in a drought?

My mum is just the same! She even doesn't rinse them , she really really rinse them that they look totally clean befor logging on the dishwasher and I don't really get her point..
She gets so mad when I log on the dishwasher without rinsing the plates!

You have to love the guy who invented the dishwasher. You wash the plates yourself then you put them into the dishwasher. I want to shake his hand and steal his money, he doesn't really deserve it after all. It's like the solar powered torch! Useless!

Actually, I've seen solar powered torches. The batteries charge up in the day time from solar cells, then the torch works at night.

Maybe they do actually work . It just sounded stupid when I first heard about it.

Never ...just bung em in me!!

Why have a dishwasher and wash the things yourself...never had a problem with residue after or DW getting bunged up...all sorts of crud goes into ours.

PS I put the dishcloths in too from time to time

my dishwasher

I have even cooked a whole salmon in it!!

What regulo was that on D??

And did you wash up at the same time??

Gas Mark 6

First catch your salmon - I caught mine in the River Tesco.

As long as you wrap it well in several layers of foil - not too tightly but enough to keep the water out - lay it on a small plastic board in the TOP rack and set the washer to - well, on mine, it's "INTENSIVE", the longest wash, the salmon cooks to a turn

I love how serious you're being.

.... you didn't acutally cook a salmon in the dishwasher, did you?!

It wouldn't be the first person I've heard about who claims to have done so!

just like buying some lamb chops in a packet with the words "free range" on it


orrr... going to wales, where the allergy advice on a bottle of milk says "warning: contains milk"

it's true.. go to wales if you don't believe me!

My husband has always een the dishwasher in our house.
When the girls were little he says it was great to be able to go in the kitchen, shut the door and put the sport on the radio in peace!

The only problem that we had with our dishwasher was that it did not go round the house picking up all of the dishes that the brats had left lying around! So I decided not to do it either, and it was amazing just how quickly the problem rectified itself, especially when they had friends around. If there is anything much left on plates I scrape it into the container for the hens to have but otherwise they go straight in. Anything with egg on is left in the washing up bowl to soak for an hour or so and then it gets washed perfectly well in the dishwasher.

My mum is obsessed with rinsing the plates before we put them in the dishwasher.

Some people just have too much time...

Tell me about it...

I quite agree ... but rinsing plates before logging the dishwasher isn't the perfect or the most interestin way to fill your leasure..