How To Tell If Your Cookware Is Dishwasher Safe Or Not

We spend so much time in the kitchen planning, prepping, and cooking meals, most of us rely heavily on our dishwashers to make cleanup a breeze. It doesn't hurt that the high temperatures help sanitize dishes and ensure they are free from food bacteria. In fact, for some, the process can become somewhat of an art form, figuring out how to load the dishwasher so every dish gets squeaky clean. However, even with the common kitchen items you shouldn't put in the dishwasher, it's not always obvious what pots or pans can be thrown in with the rest of the dishes. Of course when you're standing in front of your sink with your soapy hands, interrogating whether to add a particular item to the load, you want a quick and easy way to know if it's dishwasher safe.

Luckily, there are often indicators right on the product that lets you know exactly how to care for it. Some products may not have an icon, or maybe it has just worn off over time. If that's the case, what do you do with those items? If you know the manufacturer information of your cookware and it doesn't indicate whether it's dishwasher safe, the next best thing you can do is consult their website or any instructions that came with the product for care information. This will ensure that your pots and pans are properly cleaned, and make sure that you get the most out of their lifespan.

Something is dishwasher safe when it has been manufactured to handle the high heat and types of detergents used in modern dishwashers. To identify if your cookware is okay to load in your dishwasher, flip it over and look on the bottom for text or a symbol. While there are different versions, they are almost all some variation of a plate graphic that looks like it's being rained on. The rain may look like droplets of water or diagonal lines coming down on the plates. Any version of that symbol means it's fully safe to go anywhere in the dishwasher. However, you may also see a symbol that indicates it is safe only on the top rack — usually written in text. That typically means that there is some plastic or coating that can't be near the heating element that's toward the bottom of most dishwashers.

It is important to understand that running cookware through the dishwasher that isn't intended for that type of heat and detergent can cause damage to your pots and pans. It can lead to scratches, warping, discoloration, corrosion of metals, and stripping of certain coatings. This damage can become merely an aesthetic issue, but also lead to more serious issues that may cause your cookware to malfunction. As a general rule, you can avoid putting certain types of metals in the dishwasher, like copper, aluminum, and cast-iron. But when in doubt, if you want to be on the safe side, it is best to properly hand wash dishes that you aren't sure about.