If you’ve ever loaded someone else’s dishwasher, you may know the wrath that comes with “loading the dishwasher wrong.” Maybe you put a bowl on the bottom when it should go on the top. Perhaps you put the forks and spoons “down” when they should be “up.” Maybe you didn’t rinse the dishes enough…or maybe you weren’t supposed to rinse them at all.

People have strong feelings about dishwasher habits, and conflicting conventional wisdom doesn’t help. However, when it comes to the “to rinse or not to rinse” question, a former appliance repair tech says there is no question: Unless your dishwasher pre-dates this century, you should not rinse your dishes before loading them in the dishwasher.

To be clear, “should not rinse” doesn’t mean “you can if you want, but you don’t really need to.” It means actually, literally do not rinse your dishes. Why? Because, believe it or not, your dishwasher actually works better if your dishes are dirtier when you load them.

@renduh Dishwasher and dishwasher detergent manufacturers agree–rinsing your dishes before loading them in to the dishwasher is NOT recommended! If you feel like your dishes aren’t getting cleaned even when following this information, make sure you’re: 1. Preheating the water at your sink before running the dishwasher, 2. Loading the dishwasher correctly according to your manual (especially making sure you’re not blocking the spray arms or detergent dispenser!), 3. Using a good quality........

© Upworthy