Do you rinse your dishes before placing them in the dishwasher?

It’s the argument that divides households – and we want to hear your view.

Before putting your dirty plates in the the dishwasher, do you rinse off the surplus food to stop the gunk getting caught in the pipes? Or do you leave all the cleaning to your dishwasher?

Your parents may have ingrained in your head at a young age to thoroughly rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. It would appear that most dishwasher manufacturers now say there is no need to do a complete rinse, adding it’s a waste of water. However the last time I had my broken dishwasher repaired, the engineer said it was really important to rinse to prolong the life of the dishwasher.  So perhaps my mum had been right after all?

This subject has also been debated among service providers analysing whether the chemicals in the dishwasher detergent need to interact with food soils to work properly. So that complicates things a bit.

So perhaps then it is a personal choice – what are your views?  Do yo own a dishwasher? Do you rinse before you load, or just scape off any leftover food, and then stack and go? Or do you wash-up by hand?