Can you clean a Dish Towels in a Dishwasher?

Question

My husband consistantly places dirty dish towels in the dishwasher to clean them.

While he is loading the dishwasher, he will place soiled dish towels on the top rack (sometimes bottom rack) to get clean. I am convinced the washing machine would be a more appropriate (you know, with a cleaning detergent for fabric like "Tide" or "Cheer"), but he maintains that this does clean the towels.

Please tell me that he is not correct. Any evidence to support you stance would be appreciated.

Answer 1

It probably does clean the towels the way he does it, however there are some problems with this method.

1. It's not energy efficient and quite silly.

2. Putting towels in the dishwasher could impede water flow to the other dishes.

3. Towels don't get scrubbed in the dishwasher like they would a clothes washer, they get half @ss soaked.

4 The towel(s) could trap food particles that are washed off of dishes.

5. You can't fit anywhere near as many towels in a dishwasher as you can a clothes washer.

6. Lint fibers that come off the towels might eventually clog the pump of the dishwasher. A dishwasher has no lint filter, they have food filters and food disposers

7. Even if you washed a full load of towels in a dishwasher the average cycle times of newer dishwashers is about 90 minutes or more. Why spend that much time washing and rinsing dish towels? Conventional top loading automatic clothes washers don't take anywhere near that long.

8. Like another blogger on here said, the washing method of a dishwasher takes far longer to clean towels than it does to clean dishes, because towels are pourous and have weaves that soils can get trapped in

9. Automatic Dishwasher detergent is not formulated to clean garments. Automatic Dishwasher detergent also has tons of bleach in it. (Sodium Hypochlorite)

10. Let's not forget the heating element that comes on during the dry cycle (some dishwashers use this to heat the water to optimum level) Is there a safety risk, if cloth touches this heating element by accident?

What is your husband smoking? He's weird. A clothes washer actually scrubs your clothes and towels , a dishwasher cannot scrub garments. The most it will do is just half @ss soak them.

You could probably wash about 6 to 8 towels or so in the dishwasher compared to 40 in a clothes washer. This makes the gleaming inefficiency of the dishwasher for washing towels very clear. Like I said if he mixing items (dishes and towels) that's dumb...

What does he do stretch the towels over the tines and pin them to the upper rack so that they are stretched horizontally? Your husband's weird. What can I say?

Tell him that's why they make clothes washers, to wash towels and garments, and that he's wasting energy and more poignantly, could damage the dishwasher.

A quick washing of the towel in baking soda and hand dishwashing detergent in the sink is probably better than what he's doing.

Answer 2

I agree with you. Dish towels and cloths contain bacteria. I add bleach to mine when I wash them in a washing machine. I believe that the motion or agitation of a washing machine is more successful at releasing the particles that accumulate in dirty laundry.
I am sure washing them in a dishwasher is better than nothing at all,but I also think they would impede the flow of water to the dishes in the lower rack. That would be a problem in cleaning dishes at the same time.
Dish detergent for dishwashers is not formulated for fabric cleaning.
Be glad that you have a husband that is innovative and in the kitchen. Tell him to try his hand at the washing machine. Hopefully he will not put dishes in with the laundry.

Answer 3

He is not correct. The dishwasher is not designed to clean cloth. I don't have any evidence, (because I wash my dish towels in the washing machine) but I would think the cloth towels would get in the way of the dishwasher soap getting the dishes clean. They should go in the washing machine.

Answer 4

It's not a good way to wash a towel. Food particles will get stuck in the fabric. Also, the towel might inhibit water flow to the dishes. Finally - a dishwasher won't dry the towels so what's the point in washing them in there vs a washing machine and dryer?

Your husband has an odd quirk. But if that's his worst flaw, it isn't so bad.

Answer 5

It's likely to make the dishes stay a bit dirty, since the towel will not get clean as fast as a plate, and the dishwasher is made for plates. It likely cleans it as well as ringing it under the faucet for a few minutes though. I would still recommend washing it on high with bleach in the washing machine to make sure it's sanitary.

Answer 6

Well, we do it both ways, and it seems to work out fine each way, though I really only use the dish washer if the towel is only mildly dirty. The best test would be to look at the towel once it comes out of the dishwasher and see if it really seems to be clean to you. If not, put it in the washing machine.

Answer 7

Kitchen sponges do go in the dishwasher and I could see a dish cloth but dish towels are too big. Baseball caps can be washed on the top rack but not while dishes are being washed.

Answer 8

That's how I was taught too, until I got a dishwasher with a garbage disposal in the bottom. Now things just soak in the sink until I load it, I rarely rinse, just scrape the plate as best I can. The exception is anything that's already baked on, like a casserole dish. That gets soaked and scrubbed a little bit first.

Answer 9

Sorry I can't back you on this one. We do that all the time! Works like a charm. Plus, there's no fabric softener to keep the cloth from being absorbent later on. We actually use binder clips to hold the cloth from the top rack, near the front rather than setting the towels in like another dish.

Answer 10

Dish towels are a type of fabric used to clean something, when it's dirty, you should put it in the laundry machine .. Dishes go in the dish washer!