Who wants to take dishes that are still dirty out of the dishwasher?
Probably nobody. Many people have therefore resorted to soaking the dishes in warm water beforehand.
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However, this does not affect the washing result and thus the cleanliness of plates etc., very few people know. There are three reasons why you should avoid soaking dishes.
1. Unnecessary waste of water
With cooking pots and pans, it can definitely make sense to first soak burnt-in items so that you can then remove them more easily with a dishwashing brush or sponge. However, eating utensils such as plates and bowls should not be pre-washed or soaked in a full sink.
Soaking is usually unnecessary because the food goes onto the plate already cooked and does not cause stubborn dirt, as can happen when preparing it in a pot or pan.
Soaking plates and bowls is an unnecessary waste of water, which not only harms the environment but also costs money in the long run.
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2. Breeding ground for many bacteria
Another reason not to soak is the formation of bacteria on the dirty plates in the washing up water. The mixture of leftover food and warm water provides ideal conditions for bacteria.
Bacteria can multiply on soaked dishes, especially after eating meat, fish and seafood.
Instead of getting cleaner, plates and the like become dirtier the longer they sit in the sink. The bacteria can then easily spread from the unwashed dishes throughout the kitchen. So it’s better to wash it straight away or put it in the dishwasher.
3. Dishwasher does not recognize dishes as dirty
Anyone who believes that pre-soaking in the dishwasher can ensure a clean result is also wrong. Quite the opposite: if you soak or rinse plates beforehand, you prevent the machine from achieving the best possible result.
This is because almost every dishwasher now has a dirt sensor. This scans the dirty dishes and, depending on the degree of soiling, determines how much water and water pressure are needed for cleaning.
If the dishwasher thinks the dishes are clean, it washes them with less cleaning power and removes less obvious dirt such as grease films less reliably.
This article first appeared on chip.de.
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