To rinse or not to rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, that is the question.

When loading your dishwasher at the end of a busy day, you probably just want to get the dishes stacked, washed and put away as soon as possible so you can finally relax.

But how often do you wonder whether you should rinse your plates, bowls and cups before putting them in the time-saving kitchen appliance? People have been debating the answer for years.

Many may be worried if they don’t, bits of food could block the dishwasher or even break it.

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However, one dishwasher expert at Which? has now confessed he doesn’t wash his dishes before putting them in the dishwasher and this is why.

Are you supposed to rinse dishes before the dishwasher?

He explained: “I never pre-rinse my plates. Just scrape the food into a bin or better still the compost, and then put the items straight in [the dishwasher].

“At Which? we spend more than 10,000 hours a year testing almost 60 dishwashers and we don’t pre-rinse in our testing either. We even bake food onto the dishes like mincemeat and eggs, so it’s like they’ve been sitting for an entire day.

“As long as you’ve scraped off the really big chunks of food, the filter shouldn’t get blocked.”

The dishwasher expert added: “The thing is if you’re just putting in clean plates into the dishwasher, it can actually interfere with the dishwasher’s cleaning performance.

“This is because it messes with the sensors on the auto programme. Most modern dishwasher tablets have enzymes that break down food too, so if they’re basically just cleaning clean plates, it rather defeats the point.

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“The auto programme senses how heavily soiled the load is and then adjusts the temperature and water pressure.

"So if your load is basically clean, it will never really understand a dirtier load and so won’t always work effectively.”

Do you agree with the dishwasher expert? You can find more information including the latest lab results for the best dishwashers to invest in on the Which? website.