6 myths about washing dishes that are complete nonsense
Whether you do the dishes by hand or have a (mini) dishwasher for them, there are, yes, quite a few stories going around about cleaning our plates and cutlery. And quite a few of them aren’t true.
Yes, we’ll admit it right away: what a fussy subject this is! Still, as we understand it, in some households tempers run high over this. That’s why we investigated the matter down to the bottom of the dishwasher to find out exactly how washing up works.
Washing up or putting everything in the machine: both methods have the same goal—to make sure it can go back into the drawer or cupboard clean after a wash. It doesn’t get much easier than that, and if you do it the right way, it saves a lot of time (and money)!
You have to rinse your plates before putting them in the dishwasher
Why would you do that? Isn’t that exactly what you have a dishwasher for? Exactly, because rinsing your plates before putting them in the machine is unnecessary. Of course, it’s handy to scrape large food scraps into the bin, but you really don’t need to rinse them. Dishwasher tablets contain cleaning agents that are designed to work on food residue, so your plates will simply come out clean.
The more dish soap, the better
Nope. The more soap, the more foam, and therefore the more water you need to rinse that mountain of suds away. Maybe adding an extra squeeze of soap makes you feel like everything will get cleaner (because twice as powerful, right!), but it really won’t make those encrusted forks any cleaner. So use small drops—it’ll save you money in the end, too.
You don’t need to clean a dishwasher
A dirty dishwasher means dirty dishes. Running a little soapy water through it every few months and rinsing the racks at the bottom from time to time certainly can’t hurt. Do you have limescale here and there in your dishwasher? Sprinkle a little washing soda on the bottom, place a glass of vinegar in the machine and run the dishwasher while it’s empty. Then it’ll be sparkling clean again!
The dishwasher is only for dishes
Not at all, that thing is multifunctional! Of course, you shouldn’t put wooden cutting boards, knives or Dutch ovens in it, but silicone baking mats and children’s toys can go in there too. That’ll save you an afternoon of scrubbing Lego bricks.
You have to wash the dishes with water as hot as possible
Hot water is of course the ultimate weapon against baked-on food residue. But in some cases, it’s better to rinse plates with cold water. Foods containing a lot of starch, such as rice and potatoes, only become stickier with warm water, so it’s better to soak them or rinse them with cold water.
There is no right way to load the dishwasher
Oh, but there is! This is the only right way to load the dishwasher and make sure everything gets clean.
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