[Erik816]

I have owned my current dishwasher for about 15 years, and I have never once cleaned it. It's working just fine.

[selcuka]

Some dishwashers have a built-in grinder (similar to garbage disposal units). Yours might be one of those.

[bluGill]

At 15 years old it probably does have the grinder. They starting going away about then though, so hard to say without doing more digging than I care to.

[stn8188]

Conversely, my wife insists on not pre-rinsing the dishes and that filter gets real gross, real quick. Unless you mean the spinny arms, never cleaned those before.

[jahewson]

Next you’ll be telling me she doesn’t pre-rinse the laundry before putting it in the washer!

[b112]

I guess the best comparison would be, if you have stuff all over your clothes, you'd probably shake the clothes off before putting them in the washer.

EG, I use the 'weed wacker' to cut up stuff, or I am racking leaves, I get pants with plant debris on them. I tend to shake them off first.

[LodeOfCode]

That'd be the equivalent of scraping your dishes, not rinsing them

[b112]

Well, sorta. I find it easier to rince small stuff off, and that doesn't work with fabric really, but your point is fair.

[Cthulhu_]

I don't generally have food waste on my clothes though.

[bluGill]

you must not have young kids. Food gets everywhere for a while when they are learning to eat.

[fouc]

Giving the filter a quick wash once a week is way less work than pre-rinsing all your dishes.

Presumably plates had the leftovers scraped off into the compost bin before putting into dishwasher anyways.