If you think a quick pre-rinse of your dishes is essential before loading the dishwasher, think again.
WATCH: 5 Cooking Utensils You Should Never Put in Your Dishwasher
ABC journalist Grace Jennings-Edquist consulted dishwasher experts to get to the bottom of the pre-rinse debate.
According to Ashely Iredale, a whitegoods expert for Choice, “You may actually get worse results with your cleaning if you pre-rinse things than if you don’t.”
He reveals that pre-rinsing can trick your dishwasher into thinking it doesn’t need a heavy wash.
Instead of a pre-rinse, Iredale suggests you throw in a good washing detergent (tablets are best) and let it do the work for you.
While a good detergent ought to do it, he also stresses the importance of scraping any solid food off the plate before you stack it in the dishwasher.
By not scraping off solids you run the risk of clogging your expensive dishwasher and then it won’t matter if you pre-rinse or not.
Just to veer on the safe side, cleaning the filters once a month is also a great way to prevent this.
And what about pre-rinsing and its impact on the environment?
“We’ve found consistently that dishwashers are far more water and energy-efficient than washing by hand,” says Mr Iredale.
In fact, one study found that handwashing dishes uses 80 per cent more water than the dishwasher.
As for those who leave their dishes in the sink for hours until the food scraps have crusted over? You might be the exception to a pre-clean.
But before you head straight for the tap, consider wiping a crusty plate with stale bread, then tossing it straight into the compost!
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