I ran out of dishwasher soap a couple of weeks ago and had to wash my dishes by hand. In the process, I realized that I wash all my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. I’m sure this bizarre habit comes from my childhood of eating off gritty dishes from our dishwasher that was overloaded with food covered dishes, loaded with an expectation that the magic food removal fairy would clean them spotlessly. I’m no rocket scientist, but I’m pretty sure these machines are not designed for such work, as I’ve never seen one that takes in lots of food without them coming out covered in food glitter. Food glitter is gross.
I decided to wash my dishes by hand, set them in the dishwasher rack to dry, then put them away. Without running my dishwasher, I’m saving water and electricity. It was mostly an unnecessary step in the dishwashing process. This doesn’t mean I won’t do it again, but I don’t need to use the dishwasher so often. My dishes are just as clean, there’s no difference in time, but I’m being better with my resources. :)