Your Dishwasher Can Get These Items Squeaky Clean
Sure, your dishwasher is great at washing dishes, flatware, and cookware, but this workhorse of an appliance can wash other things as well! The hot water and high-powered jets could be cleaning toys, hairbrushes, and all kinds of household items you've never thought about before. Keep reading for ways to put your dishwasher to work for you!
1. Sponges
Do you even want to think about the germs lurking in your household sponges? Don't worry — the dishwasher can clean them up and get more use out of them easily. Just toss your dirty sponges on the top rack and wash them with your other dishes. Those yucky sponges will come out looking like new!
2. Refrigerator Shelves
The shelves in your fridge put up with a lot. Over time, leaks and spills can accumulate, resulting in a nasty mess. Next time you clean out your refrigerator, slide out the shelves and run them through a dishwasher cycle to get rid of the mess and restore them to their original shine.
3. Soap Dishes
As long as they're not hand-painted, soap dishes can spend a cycle in your dishwasher and come out sparkling clean. Save yourself from scrubbing soap scum and let your dishwasher do the work!
4. Pen Holders
Desk items in home offices are often overlooked, but they can collect dust and dirt over time. If your penholders and paper trays are metal or plastic, empty them out and toss them on the top rack with your dishwasher's next load. Clean office items can brighten your entire home office!
5. Flowerpots
When reusing pots for new plants, remove any leftover soil and run the pots through your dishwasher. They will come out gleaming and ready to give your plants a clean new home.
6. Hairbrushes
Your hairbrushes can be a bacteria breeding ground, so cleaning them regularly is important. Remove any hair, and if the brushes or combs are plastic and not wooden or boar-bristle (the hot water will ruin them), put them in your dishwasher's flatware tray for a good, deep clean.
7. Pacifiers and Teething Rings
Baby items, especially ones that go in babies' mouths, have to be cleaned constantly. What parent would not want help with this ever-present chore? Many dishwashers have a covered part of the utensil tray perfect for pacifiers and other small baby necessities.
8. Rain Boots and Flip-Flops
Even footwear could use an occasional good cleaning, and shoes made of rubber or plastic can get sparkling clean in your dishwasher. Just remove liners from boots and lay them horizontally, and place flip-flops in the top rack.
9. Baseball Caps
Baseball caps wash so well in the dishwasher, you can even buy cap frames designed to help them keep their shape through the process. Let them air dry afterward, and they'll be ready for the ballpark once again!
10. Golf Balls
Place golf balls in a mesh bag to keep them from rolling around, and any grime from the green will wash right off. They will come out shiny and ready for a day on the course.
We all need something to make our lives a little easier, and putting your dishwasher to work in new ways can make your corner of the world a little cleaner. Let your dishwasher cross some cleaning chores off your list today!
References: 13 Things You Never Knew You Could Put in the Dishwasher | 20 Things You Can Clean in Your —That Aren't Dishes
