4/27/10
The conventional wisdom used to be that prerinsing pots, pans and dishes before placing them in the dishwasher made them cleaner. With advancements in dishwasher technology and automatic dishwashing tablets, though, the detergents and machines actually need dirty dishes. The detergent is designed to attack grime and grease; clean pots and pans means the detergent will attack the glassware more aggressively, leaving them scratched and cloudy. If you have baked-on food, simply scrape it off and then place the dish in the dishwasher.