Should You Rinse Dishes Before Loading Them in the Dishwasher? We Finally Have the Definitive Answer

Key Takeaways

You do not have to rinse dishes before running them in the dishwasher—and in fact, more dirt makes it easier for your dishwasher and detergent to give you a better clean.

There may be some instances where pre-rinsing makes sense, such as particularly burnt-on or sticky food, or if your dishes will sit in the dishwasher for a while before you run it.

You may find that you need to clean your dishwasher filters more often if you stop rinsing your dishes.

My mom embedded in my head that we had to always, always give our dishes a good scrape and rinse before popping them into a dishwasher. So it felt a little too good to be true when I saw experts recommending skipping the rinse and loading your dishes straight from the table into the dishwasher. And it took me a long time t