Only if there was any kind of disease issue with what was growing in it previously. Otherwise just a rinse with some hot soapy water is fine.

I never have & I've been on here 19 yrs. I do rinse or wash out the pots btwn plantings. If something had bugs or root rot, I might wipe out w/ alcohol (plastic pots). My terra cotta pots once in a blue moon, I might rinse w/ boiling water.

It's good you asked Elena, as there's both good & bad advice out there on the Internet.

thanks for the replies!

I've been lucky enough with my indoor plants to not have any significant pest issues, so I've not felt the need for deep cleaning of any pots.

I wash plastic pots when I reuse them. I use dish soap and a scrubby or magic eraser. Occasionally I will spray them with diluted alcohol. But I am not consistent about that. I figure soap/water is good enough. For terra cotta pots, I just scrub and rinse.

I do depending on how dirty the pot is. This is all outdoors though - I use a spray bottle of bleach, a scratch sponge pad, and a hose. Easy to clean and reuse. Of course the pot will be dirty again in no time but at least it started off somewhat clean and sterilized.