Green Clean and your dishwasher

I always thought that I should pre wash my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher to avoid getting a ton of food buildup and clogging my dishwasher, but apparently you don't need to do that! You can monthly check the drain and reservoir for food scraps, (didn't know to do that) and save time and lots of water by not pre rinsing! That makes me very happy to know that.

~To weekly maintain your dishwasher, you can put a cup of vinegar in the detergent reservoir and run it empty. You can also sprinkle the bottom of the dishwasher with baking soda, to keep away bad smells. To save a little energy, this book says to not use the dry cycle and just open the door.

This is all news to me, I never knew I needed to "maintain" a dishwasher, or that my pre rinsing the dishes I was wasting time and water. All good to know.

*Also about the detergent. Most of them contain chlorine and phosphates, which pollutes our water. A third of the phosphates in our US wastewater come from automatic dishwashing liquid. A great alternative is Mrs. Meyers brand ( a lot of grocery stores are starting to carry that brand now), or any other that is vegetable based, not petroleum based, (which is non biodegradable).