By now you know that your hair dryer and your microwave can do way more around the house than frizz your locks and zap your coffee (if not, check out Multi-Use Bathroom Tech: The Hair Dryer & 12 Home Hacks for Your Microwave). But did you know your dishwasher has some multi-tasking skills of its own? Check out our list of 14 home hacks for your dishwasher.
Sure, some of these involve putting dirty or edible items into a place that should remain fairly clean and soapy. But that's why we've brain-filed tips about cleaning your dishwasher with Lemonade Kool-Aid and removing stubborn odors, right?
Wash baseball caps.
The Ball Cap Buddy Cap Washer is designed to let baseball hats keep their shape inside the washing machine or dishwasher. But even without one, the dishwasher can keep our cap in shape.
Finally get your dustpans and vacuum attachments clean. We know, gross. But there's no other way to get them spotless, right? Shake any loose dust into a trash bin, then place brushes and attachments in the silverware caddy and dustpans on the top rack.
Keep makeup brushes dirt-free.
Makeup brushes collect oil and bacteria that—surprise!—clog your pores and lead to acne. Run them through the dishwasher for clean brushes and clear skin. Then air dry them, if necessary.
Prep potatoes for holiday cooking.
No, it's not going to cook them for you, but you can easily wash a ton of potatoes or veggies for a big meal (we've heard Alton Brown loves the D.W. for cleaning greens) by sending them through a rinse-only cycle with no detergent.
Cook entire meals.
The potatoes might not be done when the dishwasher clicks off, but there's a surprising number of meals you can cook in the convection of a dishwasher. Here's recipes for Dishwasher Lasagna and Dishwasher Salmon with Cilantro Sauce.
Clean the germs off of cabinet handles.
The ceramic and metal cabinet knobs and pulls in the kitchen can be covered in bacteria. Send 'em through the dishwasher in the silverware caddy. But anything enameled, painted, or plated should stay out.
Wash fan grilles, switch plates and vent covers.
They're always filthy. But if they're plastic, aluminum or steel—but again, not enameled, painted or plated—they're easy to clean. Send them through the dishwasher for a spin.
Use it to air-dry.
If your dishwasher is empty in the middle of a cleaning spree, leave it open with the trays pulled out to air-dry and strain your hand-washed dishes, pots and pans.
Refresh your kitchen sponge.
Drop one in with the dishes to kill odors and get your kitchen sponge clean.
Clean your computer keyboard.
With the keyboard face down on the top rack, send it through a rinse cycle without detergent and skip the drying cycle. Then pop off the keys and let it air dry face down for a few days.
Get shiny hubcaps.
If you're too busy (or too boushy) to scrub that tire grime yourself, run your hubcaps and wheel covers in the dishwasher on the pots-and-pans cycle for shiny rims.
Sterilize kids' and pets' toys.
In a mesh bag, action figures and other small toys (like a puppy Kong toy stuffed with peanut butter) can get a quick, thorough cleaning with a cycle through the dishwasher. Just make sure to be on the look for things that might melt, like anything with doll hair.
Hard-to-clean hairbrushes can take a spin.
Just make sure you follow a few guidelines: Brushes and combs made of plastic are good to go, but not anything made of wood or natural boar-bristle brushes. And make extra sure to remove all the hair from them first to protect the drain.
Use it for storage.
If your dishwasher is broken (or you're a hand-wash-only household), use it like an extra cabinet. It's a great home for tupperware!
(Images: Baseball caps, DailyDanny.com; makeup brushes, TheGloss.com; dishwasher lasagna, PartSelect.com; dishwasher salmon, CleanerPlateClub.com; air-dry plates, WAToday.com; keyboard, ShoppingBlog.com; Kongs, TheFunTimesGuide.com.)
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so the picture you have is the exact opposite of how to clean a keyboard in the dishwasher... since the directions say face down.
i do a load of flipflops about once a summer to keep them clean. they don't bang around in the dishwasher like they do in the washing machine
Don't try the keyboard trick with an expensive keyboard. It ruined ours, and we followed the directions to a T. (We originally read about it in one of our computer magazines.)
Luckily, we already had a replacement keyboard on the way, since we were dubious when we started the experiment.
@elainevdw
yeah, i don't know how true the whole keyboard thing is anymore. It used to be true back in the day when keyboards used to be fairly simple devices, but that isn't the case anymore.
If you have a keyboard which has keys that come off. You can pop them all of (tip: take a photo first, then you know where they all go back) put them in a big bag with some and water, let em soak, shake them up, and clean them, then dry thoroughly. A toothbrush can help for the stubborn stuff. While they dry you can clean the gunk out of the base.
If you have an new apple keyboard without keys that remove easily, or any similar keyboard. I use fantastic, a towel, and dental tools.
Soft old toothbrushes that have been cleaned/sanitized (and hopefully once belonged to you) also make a great cleaning accessory for the the chiclet style keyboards. No toothpaste necessary!
Stick your keyboard in the dishwasher? Not even. If its that bad throw it out and buy a new one.
And who can go three or four days without their keyboard to let it air dry?
Some of these suggestions are ridiculous. Use it for storage if its broken? Get it fixed. lol
I have though washed tennis shoes in the top rack of the dishwasher with nothing else in the washer. Flip flops work too.
I clean my makeup brushes with mild shampoo and hot water and dry them hanging in the bathroom. Never occurred to me that the dishwasher would sterilize them much more effectively. Thanks for the tip!
I always laugh at the people that exclaim, THROW IT OUT IF ITS DIRTY! when it comes to keyboards. Yeah, I really want to go out and buy a new 60-80 dollar piece of equipment every time it gets a little dirty. I've washed many keyboards in the dishwasher. You can wash just about ANY piece of electronics in there - people do it with old dust and gunk covered arcade PCBs all the time. As long as there isn't a battery inside to cause a short and you actually let it dry completely, it wont hurt a thing.
Hey, why don't you throw away your clothes as you wear them instead of washing them. Tear up that carpet and have some reinstalled any time you have a spill.
Some people truly don't know the value of things.
I run my toilet brushes and holders through the sterilize cycle about twice a year. I then run it again, empty with a little bleach before I even consider putting dishes in there again! In theory... it's already sterilized but I just want to make sure!
http://lapsushumanus.blogspot.com/
This might seem super obvious, but I regularly throw the whole family's toothbrushes in the dishwasher when anyone comes down with a cold. It also extends the life of a toothbrush in decent condition not to have to throw it away just because it is unsanitary.
Ditto, carrieactually! The DW is my favorite place to de-stink flip-flops, Tevas and Crocs.
Am I allowed to mention sex toys here? Silicone, glass, and plastic toys, if you use them, often benefit from a spin through the dishwasher. Just make sure you unload them before the roommates or kids get home!
Actually, leepert, the correct place to put crocs is the garbage bin.
;)
You missed my favorite...using the dishwasher to clean the glass globes from the bathroom light fixture.
My dad, a contractor for decades, once remodeled a kitchen for a couple of guys that included a giant oversized sink with a dishwasher on either side. One half of the couple was lefthanded, and one was righthanded, so that was part of it, but more so was the fact that they would be able to take clean dishes out of washer A, use them, rinse and stack in washer B. Given the cost of kitchen cabinets, and how two dishwashers would allow you to have fewer, expensive, wooden built cabinets, I thought this was a great idea, and surprisingly cost effective. Not really a hack, but dishwasher related.
Cleaning your toothbrushes in the dishwasher? They are only suppose to last three months. them once you are . And if the water is too hot you are destroying the effectiveness of the bristles.
We have a dishwasher that came with the house but we didn't have a dishwasher in our previous place of seven years and so we are use to washing by hand. Not to mention some of best laughs and conversations have been at the sink.
So the dishwasher is coming out and we are installing a wine fridge. Far more useful for us.
@elle@lapsushumanus: toilet brush in your dishwasher is just gross. Throw it away and buy a new one!
@pearmelon
judging other people's sanitary habit? Not cool.
My mother has an OOOOOOOOOOOLD broken dishwasher that belonged to her mother. She uses it to store CDs. ;)