# What unusual uses have you found for your dishwasher? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 6, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921 "2017-08-06T15:35:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/41 "2017-08-08T11:39:16Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > I’ve never had an issue with the soap. Bras tend to die in ways that I am pretty sure are not soap related. > > My favorite hat is something like 17 years old. Its a glorious, comfortable and very well worn boonie hat. At a low estimate, it has gone through the dishwasher at least 68 times. > > This is because some Glock owners are more than slightly mad. They love to abuse their plastic weapons and then laugh at folks with steel weapons. > > Its kinda cultish really, some people love their Glocks because they are a very good product and will tell you about their guns if asked. Glockists are a totally breed, sometimes as bad as door-knocking whatever religion walking around that day. > > (name dropping: back when I had Chuck Taylor as my personal trainer, he would brag about how long it had been since he had cleaned his Glock. Last I heard, it was over 3 years and then it was only because he had bought new grips and couldn’t set the screws. ya can’t clean one part of your weapon without cleaning the whole thing. That just wouldn’t be right.) Glocks don’t have grip screws… ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/42 "2017-08-09T02:32:45Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I’ve never done it, as I can think of several reasons that it is a bad idea, but apparently some Glock owners clean their pistols by running them through the dishwasher. I have been told that it actually does work with black-powder revolvers but ------- you have to pull the grips, oil the crap out of everything when you are done, and the residue is so corrosive to the washer that it just isn’t a very good idea. Better to use a slop-sink in the basement unless you got an older one you want to dedicate to that purpose. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/43 "2017-08-09T04:38:58Z")
I used to do my toothbrush every night with the dinner dishes, but now I just handwash it in the bathroom. Recently I bought a couple dozen plastic clothes hangars. They are really nice ones, but I got them cheap over alibaba, so they came straight from the factory in China. I can’t help being paranoid about what kind of dust they would have picked up in the factory and on the way here, so I ran them through the dishwasher before using them. Cleaning toddler toys, especially before and after visitors. Most of Celtling’s toys went through the dishwasher at least weekly during the “chew on everything” years. Legos and such went into a mesh laundry bag and onto the top rack. Nothing is allowed in my kitchen that can’t go through the dishwasher. The skin on my hands cracks and bleeds every Winter even without doing dishes by hand. I don’t care how beautiful or useful the item is, it’s not coming into my kitchen if it has to be hand washed. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/44 "2017-08-09T04:52:03Z")
When you need to apply cooking spray (like PAM) to a dish or pan, do it in the dishwasher, or on the dishwasher lid. No need to clean up the spray that misses the dish. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/45 "2017-08-09T05:07:09Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > I have noticed that women seem to have a special affinity with the dishwasher. :rolleyes: Don’t be so sexist. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/46 "2017-08-09T20:28:08Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > When you need to apply cooking spray (like PAM) to a dish or pan, do it in the dishwasher, or on the dishwasher lid. No need to clean up the spray that misses the dish. Now that’s genius. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/47 "2017-08-09T20:35:25Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > I don’t do that, but some people de-oil their reactive resin bowling balls using dishwashers. Interesting. Would never have occurred to me, but I suppose the dishwasher cools off slowly enough to prevent cracking. I’m not likely to try it anytime soon, but it makes sense to me. Definitely preferable to having a hand full of slime after leaving your ball in a hot trunk for too long. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/48 "2017-08-09T20:55:14Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m considering it: grill grates. We’re getting new porcelain-coated grates for the Weber gas grill. I measured them. They’d fit. Thoughts? Thoughts on which – new grates, or putting them in the dishwasher? My Weber is probably 15 years old and the porcelain coated grates it came with are still just fine. I just scrub them down with a grill brush (one that looks like very coarse thick steel wool – do NOT use wire bristle brushes as the bristles can come loose and end up on your food, and YOU end up in hospital – [it’s a documented problem](http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/barbecue-brushes-dangers-swallow-throat-wire-bristle-dempsey-1.3741578)! In fact it very nearly happened to me!) I would not put the grates in the dishwasher. It would (a) not clean off the burned-on solids that have to be scrubbed off, (b) WOULD wash off grease, which is not what you want – cleanly scrubbed but slightly greasy/oiled grates are what you want, and (c) would possibly leave messy non-soluble crap in the dishwasher and in the pump and drainage system. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/49 "2017-08-09T22:18:51Z")
Automotive parts washer Disconnected from house water etc of course Have a tank of parts washing fluid on top, gravity feeds to inlet valve pump shoots it back up into tank. When fluid is crap, get rid of it and refill tank. Hot washes parts great and dries them. Wont ever put dishes in that washer again 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/50 "2017-08-10T23:10:37Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Potatoes! If you have a ton of potatoes to cook (like once I threw a party and had a baked potato bar), put them bad boys on your top rack. You mean to wash them before baking them in the oven, or to somehow cook them in the dishwasher? I came in to mention toothbrushes – when I would crash at my friends’ house they would have communcal toothbrushes available and then clean them in the dishwasher after. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/51 "2017-08-11T00:20:24Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > You mean to wash them before baking them in the oven, or to somehow cook them in the dishwasher? > I came in to mention toothbrushes – when I would crash at my friends’ house they would have communcal toothbrushes available and then clean them in the dishwasher after. To wash them before baking them. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/52 "2017-08-11T01:09:56Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > You mean to wash them before baking them in the oven, or to somehow cook them in the dishwasher? > I came in to mention toothbrushes – when I would crash at my friends’ house they would have communcal toothbrushes available and then clean them in the dishwasher after. As for spuds, they get steamed and washed at the same time; they bake much faster afterward. While I’d be loathe to share a toothbrush, when I’m sick I soak the brush head in hydrogen peroxide each day. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921/53 "2017-08-11T14:44:08Z")
Not quite a dishwasher story, but my childhood house had a single person hot tub/Jacuzzi. Once as a teen, I used it to clean a used oil pan for a small block Chevy. Filled the hot tub with solvent and hot water and let 'er rip (the finish right off of the tub). Not smart. We sold the house shortly after, and I did it while my mom was away for business, so no real repercussions, but I still cringe when I think about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unusual-uses-have-you-found-for-your-dishwasher/792921.md?page=2)