This next tip was a tough one for my family. My husband and I were both raised to always rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, and the act of putting a dish smeared with sauce or dried-on food directly in the dishwasher felt, well, dirty.
But we recently got a new dishwasher, and I noticed our dishes weren’t coming out as clean as they should. It was a brand new machine—and we were rinsing first! And that made me wonder: Could our pre-rinse be the problem?
Modern dishwashers are highly efficient. (I’m talking about those sold in the last five years—if yours is older, this advice may not work for you.) They use a sensor to determine how much water to use and how long the wash should take. When you rinse dishes beforehand, the dishwasher reads the lack of residue in the water as “clean dishes” and essentially just gives them another rinse.
So we did an experiment. Difficult as it was, we scraped the dishes and put them directly into the dishwasher. We were careful not to overload it (something we often did before) and ran it. The dishes came out sparkling—unquestionably cleaner than before. We were sold.
Leads to a high-quality wash
The kind of detergent you use matters, and if you use one with enzymes, you’ll get a better clean.1 Enzymes are biological chemicals that stick to food but not other things. By leaving a bit of food on the dishes, you give enzymes something to stick to, which increases the cleaning power of the detergent you’re using, so it can do a more thorough job of washing each load.2
Saves water
Running the faucet uses about two gallons of water per minute. Depending on how long you’re rinsing, that could be dozens of gallons down the drain—and you haven’t even properly washed the dishes yet! Modern dishwashers, on the other hand, use about six gallons to clean an entire load of dishes. ENERGY STAR dishwashers only use 3.5 gallons.3
If you skip the rinse, you can drastically cut your water use in the kitchen.
Reduces energy use
Hot water requires energy, and people use lots of hot water to wash dishes, laundry—and themselves. In fact, people use almost as much energy heating water as they do using on heating in winter. Only air conditioning uses more.4 By letting the dishwasher do the work, you cut down on the amount of heating required by the water heater.
If you want to cut even more energy use, skip the dry cycle and hand- or air-dry the dishes.
One last note:
Be sure to clean the filter in the bottom of your dishwasher every week or two to keep it working properly.
If you like One Simple Thing, please forward to a friend who might be interested in taking steps toward a healthier planet!
Consumer Reports. Best dishwasher detergents based on Consumer Reports’ tests. https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/dishwasher-detergents/best-dishwasher-detergents-from-consumer-reports-tests-a9174621249/
American Home Shield. 5 reasons why you don’t have to pre-rinse your dishes. https://www.ahs.com/home-matters/quick-tips/dont-prerinse-dishes/
EPA Water Sense. Water efficiency management guide: Residential kitchen and laundry. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-10/documents/ws-commercialbuildings-waterscore-residential-kitchen-laundry-guide.pdf
EPA. Water Sense homes save water and energy infographic. https://www.epa.gov/watersense/watersense-homes-save-water-and-energy-infographic
We don't own a dishwasher, much less have room for one, but we *never* leave the water running. Completely wasteful. We fill a large bowl, wash, then rinse, but turning the faucet on and off as needed. Someday, if we ever move to a bigger place, I would love to get one of these high falutin' dishwashers!