Standard advice from manufacturers, etc. is never wash crystal, china or fine knives in a dishwasher.
However, my late mother always insisted the dishwasher was invented by a woman who was tired of losing crystal and china to clumsy dishwashing servants. Could be folklore, she went in for that kind of thing. She also washed her crystal and china in the dishwasher with no noticeable damage.
Nonetheless, I do question whether the no-dishwasher rule really means ‘no dishwasher detergent,’ because the stuff they make for machines contains caustic ingredients, abrasives or some such. Is that true? For instance, how could plain hot water damage sturdy crystal, such as Waterford? (I see how the action of the water jets might jostle and potentially break fragile pieces, such as Baccarat.)
As for knives, I read somewhere the reason to avoid dishwashers is that the action of the water makes the knives bang into one another, thereby damaging the blades. If that’s true, wouldn’t a well-designed rack that keeps the implements separate overcome that problem?
First of all, if it doesn’t go in the dishwasher I don’t buy it.
Second, I wash crystal and fine china BUT I once had some very nice wedding-present crystal with a gold edge and . . . the dishwasher wore off the gold. (This might have happened with handwashing also. There’s no telling.)
The dishwasher process or detergent would probably also wear the paint off hand-painted china. For this reason my few pieces of such are for decoration only. They are dusted, not washed. (Dusted rarely I might add.)
If you put both silver and stainless steel utensils in a dishwasher, the silver could end up with permanent spots on it if it’s too close to the stainless, owing to some kind of chemical reaction. If you read the fine print on the detergent (as I did, being bored or something) it warns against this. It suggests putting them far apart. I suggest putting them in altogether separate loads.
Fine knives–mine said that, too, “Do not wash in dishwasher.” I’ve been doing it. So far no problem (it’s been a couple of years, they look like new and cut things just fine.)
I think that the banging around from the jets is the problem with the fine china, chrystal. As for the knives, if they are carbon steel and not stainless, they will come out all rusted up, and wood and some synthetic handles won’t hold up well to the high heat.
Waterford contains lead, which has a low melting point. The instructions I’ve seen (that come with this brand) also advise against washing with very hot water.
Re: knives in the dishwasher. The reason for not putting them in is as you stated. They can get banged around, which will dull your blades more quickly, but not ruin them. I would be more concerned about any wooden handles, which will deteriorate quickly if routinely cleaned in a dishwasher. Our day-to-day silver is very scratched from all the dishwasher action, but I think it would take more than the occasional washing to damage your good stuff. If it’s actually silver, I would wash it by hand.
Care instructions from the Waterford site. (IMHO, the site consciously omits mentioning the lead content as the reason for some of its advice for marketting reasons.)
I have good china (Noritake) that I use 5 or 6 times a year and I’ve washed it in the dishwasher ever since I’ve *had/i] a dishwasher. We’ve been married for 18 years and I’ve had a dishwasher for, I think, 12.
We also have medium-good crystal (24% lead crystal) – pretty sturdy stuff and I also wash it in the dishwasher except the champagne flutes which have been too tall for the top shelf of every dishwasher I’ve had.
I don’t own any silver or silver plate – I have good stainless steel flatware (18/8 Oneida) and I use it for both ‘good’ and everyday.
I don’t put my kitchen knives (including the steak knives) into the dishwasher. My mother has always had wooden handled kitchen knives and she didn’t put them into the dishwasher. My own first set of kitchen knives were also wooden handled. My current set of knives are stainless steel and have some kind of black synthetic handle – they would probably be fine in the dishwasher, but after years ofwashing and drying them and putting them into the block right away after using them, I’m kind of in that habit… Anyway, I use my knives every day and only run the dishwasher every other day.
I had read in several places that there is a chemical reaction between the dishwasher detergent and carbon steel, but I just checked one of the knife retailer websites and apparently my Henckels knives are dishwasher safe. Who would’ve thought?
Regarding crystal, the detergent can actually etch the glass (I’ve seen this on less expensive glassware). If your dishwasher has a crystal setting, it doesn’t heat the water to as high a temperature as the standard cycle in order to prevent this occurrence.
Your mother’s story of how the dishwasher was invented is apocryphal - but it wouldn’t matter even if it were true, because modern kitchen dishwashers are completely different from the “automatic dishwashing machine” invented by Josephine Garis Cochrane, which won an award at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.
The company she founded marketed the dishwasher to hotels, restaurants and other commercial groups, not wealthy households with servants. It was purchased in the 1920’s by the Hobart Corporation, which introduced the “KitchenAid” brand name that is known today. KitchenAid dishwashers (introduced in 1949) were already very unlike Cochrane’s orginal 1890’s design.
Oops. I deleted a chunk of text by mistake. I didn’t mean to say the story was apocryphal (there are second hand accounts)
The machine she made to avoid breakage was a set of custom-made racks, tailored to her dishes, cups, etc., mounted on a large wheel over a copper boiler. The dishes moved, and the water washed over them. Later, she added jets to target each piece. Today’s designs use spinning nozzle rotors, driven by higher pressure water than the original, to reach all areas of the immobile one-size-fits-all racks.
Thanks to all for the input. It’s good l to know I won’t ruin the family heirlooms if I pop them in the dishwasher once in a while! Now I just need to come up with some kind of stable rack for the non-wooden-handled knives. (You may have guessed I have a pathological hatred of washing dishes by hand.)
KP, I am particularly grateful for the history lesson!
I don’t wash the knives (other than table knives) in the dishwasher because they are sharp. They cut the plastic coating on the rack. And, it’s very easy to hand-wash a knife, not like a fork or glass.
Oh yes, putting nice food prep knives in a dishwasher is evil. For example, carbon steel can get rust spots and other blemishes. In general, I wouldn’t do it for any food prep knife that didn’t come sealing in plastic on a cardboard backing. You know what I mean.
I wouldn’t leave them in the sink either.
Dinner, butter and table knives (not carvers) don’t need to hold as sharp an edge, can be made from other, more sink- and dishwasher-safe metals.