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Portobellas can usually be brushed off.

If button mushrooms are really dirty they can be rinsed off.

Shitakes and oyster mushrooms are usually very clean.

Nothing wrong with rinsing all mushrooms though for peace of mind.

They will absorb only a miniscule amount of water.

and when cooking mushrooms, the water will come out of the mushroom and be cooked off at which point the mushroom will take on caramelization.

Alton Brown did an episode where he tested how much water white mushrooms actually absorbed during a rinse and even during a long soak. In both cases, the amount was negligible. Following his lead, I tend to give them a quick run under water, then dry them off by rolling them up gently in a dishtowel before using them.

i do the dishtowel thing that onewallkitchen does. i'm not as religious about cleaning the mushrooms that come packed, but i always always always wash the ones that are in those bulk, self-serve bins...

I rub dirt off button mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Or sometimes I peel the first layer off the top of them...am I the only person who does that?

A damp paper towel here too. I watch Food Network. LOL!

rub with a damp paper towel as well

gnking: no you are not the only one.

I submerge button mushrooms in a bowl of cold water, swirl a few time and then fish them out. That way the dirt stays in the water. It's much faster than cleaning them individually.

I forgot.

I always wash morel mushrooms in cold water seven times (changing the water each time).

I give them a good rinse, like all of my vegetables - tis better to be safe than sorry.

wet paper towel user here.

I religiously, thoroughly wash mushrooms. They grow in poo!

Wet paper towel. I do find that washing mushrooms makes them slimy(er)

I have to confess, I rarely purchase or eat fresh mushrooms, but I LOVE the way the undersides of portobello mushrooms feel. I have been known, on occasion, to play with the mushrooms at the supermarket and then put them back on the shelf. Please, everybody, wash your mushrooms...

Alton Brown did a myth-busters-esque episode a few years ago and he talked about this. According to his experiments mushrooms absorb only a very small amount of water and it doesn't matter if you soak them or just run them under the faucet.

I say wash them! Who wants grit in their food anyway?

I thought rinsing mushrooms was sacrilege, but I'm happy to be proven wrong.

Can we get a good recipe for vegetarian mushroom soup? The bowl in that photo looks like exactly what I need right now.

wet paper towel trick does it for us too.

rub em with a damp paper towl - or they get tough!

Wow, I didn't think so many people washed their mushrooms! I wipe with a dish towel or dry paper towel. And I've never had a problem with grit or dirt.

AMLitt, I use this recipe from Anthony Bourdain and it's really good.

MUSHROOM SOUP
This is a ridiculously easy soup to make. It's tasty and durable, and it gets even better overnight.

6 tablespoons butter (use real butter, it tastes better than crap margarine)
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
12 ounces white button mushrooms (1 package, buy the pre-sliced if you’re feeling lazy)
Can used varied mushrooms too. ie- 1/2 pkg. of cremini mushrooms & 1/2 pkg white mushrooms. definitely do this if you are doubling the recipe. Portobellas and shiitakes can be used in the mix too (but not solely)
4 cups light broth (I prefer “Better than Bouillon” Paste - mushroom variety)
1 sprig of flat leaf parsley (as opposed to curly leaf parsley. and don’t confuse with cilantro)
Salt and pepper to taste ( you shouldn’t need much salt as the broth is inherently salty)
2 ounces high-quality sherry (don't use the cheap grocery-store variety; it's salty and unappetizing and will ruin your soup)

In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the mushrooms and the remaining butter. Let the mixture sweat for about 8 minutes, taking care that the onion doesn't take on any brown color. Stir in the stock and the parsley, cover, and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low and simmer for about an hour.

After an hour, remove the parsley and discard. Let the soup cool for a few minutes, then transfer to the blender and carefully blend at high speed until smooth. Do I have to remind you to do this in stages, with the blender's lid firmly held down, and with the weight of your body keeping that thing from flying off and allowing boiling hot mushroom purée to erupt all over your kitchen?

OR - use an immersion blender right in the soup pot and puree until SMOOTH.

When blended, return the mix to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and bring up to a simmer again. Add the sherry, mix well, and serve immediately.

i guess if you're talking about portobello's you could probably run them under the tap (they have no great flavour anyway - imo - so even if they do absorb a little water, so what)
but i would never ever ever wash a porcino mushroom with water, nor with chantarelles, or other wild mushrooms.
and why does foodygirl say they grow in poo?
they might do in the states, certainly not here in italy.
portobellos are farm grown (in soil), porcini and other wild mushrooms, you might buy in the market but they have always been hand picked in woods (that, along with the fact that if the season has not been favourable, some mushrooms are simply impossible to find, makes them so expensive)
if you ever invest in fresh porcini PLEASE don't wash them in water, simply scrape di earth away with the back of a nife or a cooking brush

I would always wash commerically gathered. If you've ever been to a mushroom farm, you would understand. Let's just say that the pickers provide an extra source of nitrogen. Alton Brown's myth-buster pretty much dispelled the notion of water absorbing. Light spritz with cold water and dried with paper towel. At least brings peace of mind.