gratuitous poll post

[nny]

I just read a story in which Sheppard washed the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher which... made me squint rather. So - poll!

[Poll #1609130]

Comments

[sabinetzin]

This was a huge bone of contention between me and one of my roommates. She'd sit there and wash the dishes and then put them in the dishwasher, and I was completely perplexed by it every time.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

I DO NOT UNDERSTAAAAAAAAND.

*giggling helplessly*

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

The dishwasher uses hotter water than my hands can stand, so it's more sanitary, but... washing dishes can be sort of meditative and satisfying; it's an easy task with a visible result. I dunno. I suppose doing both is sort of odd but other than using excess water, it's harmless.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

It just seems so pointless to do both? Rinsing beforehand makes sense as an effort to extend the life of the dishwasher, but washing dishes twice is kind of odd to me. XD

[perardua.livejournal.com]

I don't own a dishwasher anymore, but when I did, I'd rinse them first. Never wash them twice though - a dishwasher is meant to be a labour-saving device, right? Right?!

[villainny.livejournal.com]

YES THIS. Although I'm sure Bill Bryson has written about how little labour the devices manage to save... XD

[alexi-lupin.livejournal.com]

Mind you, most of the time I do put them in directly. I just rinse if I think there's something on there that will set or become difficult to remove in the dishwasher, because generally the dishwasher contains dishes that have accumulated over the day,so they might be sitting in there for a while.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

*nods* Tomato sauce particularly.

[icedmaple.livejournal.com]

Technically, I make my housemate do them because I cook for her.

We used to have a dishwasher in our old house, and she would rinse the dishes before she used it.

To me, that defeats the purpose of a dishwasher entirely.

[avariel-wings.livejournal.com]

No dishwasher, but when I'm staying with my parents who do have one, I tend to scrape off the solid bits of food waste into the bin and let the dishwasher deal with the rest.

[manynames.livejournal.com]

I have had this argument before. I've known people who insist the dishwasher is not for cleaning things but simply for disinfecting them with hot water/steam, so you have to wash all the dirt off first. My best friend's dad had to get all the dishes pristine and then dishwash them. I think this is madness!

[skygiants]

I would trust entirely in the dishwasher except for large bits of food . . . if I HAD a dishwasher. >.

[spiderine.livejournal.com]

When dishwashers used to be less powerful than they are now, rinsing and/or pre-washing was often necessary in order to get food particles off. My mom used to pre-wash a lot of the more gakky stuff like pots and pans. These days, new dishwashers are so powerful that it's not necessary, but some people do it out of habit or just because they're neat freaks.

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

My father washes the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. He also has an exact system for how each type of dish should be placed in relation to the spray.

[kashmir1.livejournal.com]

I only wash my dishes by hand right now because our dishwasher died a slow death last year. Before that, I would rinse them before putting them in the dishwasher to get the huge bits of food off of them. If they weren't that bad, they would go straight in the dishwasher without being rinsed. I sort of played it by ear. ETA: I feel I should mention that our dishwasher was OLD and wasn't very powerful, which is the only reason why I bothered rinsing in the first place.

Washing them ENTIRELY with soap and everything and then putting them in the dishwasher is ridiculous and a waste of time, energy and water.

[jumperkid.livejournal.com]

I should amend my answer by saying that I only rinse if there is like, sauce or food stuck to the crockery in question. If I ate like, a sandwich and the plate is basically "clean" I'll put it in the dishwasher w/o rinsing.

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

Of course rinsing depends on how much food is on them, and how long they're going to sit before going in the dishwasher, or how long the dishwasher is going to sit with them in it before it gets turned on.. And heavly caked on casserole dishes get soaked overnight first.