You may have never considered the notion that there are tons of items in your home that could benefit from being sanitized in your dishwasher. Using this versatile kitchen appliance to help you clean other household items will make your life easier.
Obviously, the choice to use soap or not will depend on what you are washing. Using your dishwasher to clean the following items can save you a lot of time:
Baseball caps and hats
Far too fragile to withstand the normal spin cycle, most people avoid putting their favorite hats into their washing machine. The handy dandy racks in the upper level of your dishwasher keep your hats secure and help to maintain their shape.
Pet toys and accessories
Chew toys and favorite balls or squeaky toys can become fresh and free of bacteria after a hot water cycle.
Garden hand tools
Rinse off the caked on dirt and let your garden tools benefit from a good scouring on occasion. You can always inspect your tools much easier when they are clean.
Gum boots
While it may feel weird to put footwear into the place that cleans the items you put into your mouth and eat off of, you will get over it once you see how shiny and clean everyone’s boots are. The transformation is ideal for back-to-school and preparing for travel. Alternatively, wash your rain boots once at the end of the season and prepare them for storage so they are clean for the following spring.
Veggie shortcut
If you don’t want to wash your larger vegetables — cucumbers, squash, zucchini, etc. — by hand, consider relying on your dishwasher to do the job. If you’ve picked or purchased a large yield this will potentially save you tons of time since you won’t have to rely on the scrub brush to take care of all those bumpy details. Reduce your food prep time tremendously by employing your dishwasher, using cool water and no soap, to help with the cleaning.
Travel bathroom accessories
If you are a savvy green traveler, most likely you have a zillion reusable containers that get gunky and sticky from time to time. Get yourself prepared ahead of time and wash everything out prior to your next trip. Your dishwasher is an excellent tool for sanitizing your personal grooming products and helping you reuse items for as long as possible.
Kid’s toys
Creative minds are often snacking when they are playing. This can lead to sticky Legos and grimey toys. Keep things simple by doing a load of kid’s toys once in awhile. This is especially handy if you are running a daycare or just getting over a flu bug in your home.
Wash dishes as you go
If you wash dishes as you cook, you will avoid having a sink or counter full of dirty dishes when you are finished. This may only leave you with a couple of plates, cups and corresponding cutlery. Sometimes, it is easier and more efficient to wash your dishes by hand. Letting plates gather in the dishwasher for a few days will cause any leftover food to become cemented on and even more difficult to remove. This method is only more efficient if you are not constantly running water in the cleaning and rinsing process. Simply rinse the dishes and then lather them up once the water is turned off. After everything has been scrubbed, turn the water back on for a quick and thorough rinse.