# Driftwood in the dishwasher?



## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

Just wondering if anyone's discussed this before. It occurred to me that driftwood could be cleaned in the dishwasher in a soapless sterilization cycle. It would be easier than boiling it for big pieces and you could do several small pieces at once.


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## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

Well... I don't think this is a terrible idea, but you do run the risk of clogging your dishwasher or damaging the motor if any loose pieces fall off. With that said, I'm not sure if the sheeting of water being sprayed up and down would be enough to penetrate deeply as opposed to submerging the entire piece of wood.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

. . . could always put mesh under it to catch falling bits, and run the cycle twice. . .


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## df001 (Nov 13, 2007)

Give the wood a good surface scrub to remove any loose bits then have at it. 
Your dishwasher should have a screen at the drain to catch food particles etc, 

At worst a few cycles will clean the exterior of debris/critters if any, and start the soak process, but cant see you getting the same effect as a proper soaking or a proper full imersion boiling.

Also most modern dishwashers have an automatic jet dry or simmilar addition system for the rinse cycle. Not sure if you want that on your wood


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## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

All dishwashers have a screen at the bottom, but I pull debris out of these things all the time because the screen is not 100% accurate at catching all debris. I think it's best to perform a proper soak. Dishwasher will only make a big stink in the house and clean surface.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Fwiw, I did this a couple of months ago, with a few pieces of mopani wood in my portable dishwasher. You can certainly tell there's wood in there, but I wouldn't say it stunk up the place. Before I put the wood in, I did go over the pieces with a slot screwdriver and a knife to scrape off and gouge out any loose or soft bits, which did not take very long. Then I ran the the pots 'n pans cycle several times. It got a lot of the colour out of the wood, but not all of it. They sure came out nice and clean though, and no damage to my machine. No detergent, just hot water. 

Since I can't stand to run a nearly empty dishwasher, I also rinsed my dishes at the same time as the wood. The dishes did not come entirely clean, but most of the dirt came off them, and afterward I ran them through with detergent.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

OK, this is totally off topic and kind of gross, and super-wasteful of water & energy, but it is also possible to cook fish in the dishwasher.


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## Boogerboy (Sep 23, 2008)

characinfan said:


> OK, this is totally off topic and kind of gross, and super-wasteful of water & energy, but it is also possible to cook fish in the dishwasher.


I can vouch for this. I've made dishwasher lasagna when my oven was broken.

I also make a mean car-engine-top salmon and vegetables. _for science._


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