to wash my Crocs in the dishwasher (and poss DC's Clarks too)

[hennybeans]

DC and I all wear Crocs and every few months I put them all in the dishwasher on top rack with kitchen bin lid on bottom rack for a good clean. They come out like new, as does the bin lid. I mentioned this to a friend the other day and she looked a bit horrified like she was making a mental note not to ever eat off my dishes again. Is this disgusting? I put plates that had raw meat on them in the dishwasher so assume if it can kill that bacteria shoes will be ok too.

Also, have been considering putting all the Clarks school shoes in too but haven't had the courage yet. I tried Clarks in the washing machine on a special sport shoe setting but it didn't get them clean at all. They weren't ruined in any way though.

Lastly, (I can see this coming) please don't say I am BU just for wearing Crocs! I have size 9/ 9.5 feet and not a huge array of options. I stay away from the 'clog' styles though.

I really didn't think the bin lid would be objectionable. It's only the kitchen bid lid- it comes into contact with leftover food, packaging that can't be recycled, tea bags, what is swept off the floor etc.
If I had forgot some leftovers in a container in the fridge and it was all mouldy, I would just scrape the food out into the bin and pop the container in the dishwasher. How is that container different from the kitchen bin lid?

70degrees is not nearly high enough to kill spores.

Someone told me she washes her dog's balls - the ones the dog plays with in the park, not the ones attached to the dog - in the dw. I was pretty grossed out by that but some of the things on here are just beyond nasty.

Do you clean the filters afterwards? I hope so. Because if you don't it doesn't bear thinking about the stuff that's being recycled round your dw.

The dw washes your dishes at a high temperature, it doesn't sterilise them and likewise it won't sterilise the racks even if you do a rinse cycle in between.

NoArmaniNoPunani Wouldn't mould spores be caused by the heat, humidity, general lack of air circulation, and operating circumstances of a dishwasher? If 70 degrees (the max for my dw) doesn't kill spores/ bacteria/ general 'germs', then don't I have a bigger problem than my shoes?

a little off topic but wherever you wash them, don't put them in the clothes dryer - they will shrink!

Most people don't expect dishwashers to sterilise, so they don't put shitty loo brushes in them and it's not a problem that they don't sterilise. A few people on her seem to think they do. If you're happy to know that your dishwasher doesn't sterilise and you put dirty shoes in there then crack on.

I had a feeling someone was going to have a problem with me throwing loo brushes away.

I don't do it often - in fact, I've just replaced one for the first time in two years...keeping at them with the bleach really does work fairly well...

Dishwashers do not sterilise - like pp said, to properly sterilise something you need a big expensive autoclave, which works under pressure to give wet heat at very high temperatures. However, it's probably the closest you will come to sterilising in your own home, unless you happen to own an autoclave (actual sterilisers for babies' bottles etc excluded).

So on that basis I think you are better off putting shoes in a contained dishwasher than scrubbing away at them elsewhere in your home, merrily dispersing tiny droplets of whatever germs you are worried about.

I hope you guys are all using the hottest setting on your diswasher for these interesting tests and remembering to turn it back to eco afterwards! You'll probably all still get salmonella though... www.ehow.com/info_10049222_dish-washing-kill-bacteria.html
Salmonella
To address concerns regarding the possible hazards of giving raw meat to pets, the National Center For Biotechnology Information conducted a study involving food bowls containing raw meat contaminated with salmonella. These bowls were emptied and placed in a dishwasher for cleaning, and the researches were surprised by the results. Salmonella is not considered thermotolerant -- meaning it is thought to be susceptible to high temperatures. However, dishwashing temperatures of 185 degrees Fahrenheit were "minimally effective at eliminating salmonella contamination."

Ewww! I'm with your friend on this one! (And potty in dishwasher???! Seriously that is beyond gross )

I would want to see your weekly QA (quality assurance) results to be sure you're not leaving human/dog/whatever poo in your dishwasher or definitely killing the bacteria in it before I said 'Go, you!'

NEXT you'll be telling me you don't own a professional waterproof heat sensor to ensure that your DW's running at a safe temperature! And that you don't keep a regular record of its performance. But would be horrified if the DW in your local hospital's staff room wasn't tested weekly, as ours has to be! Because we not only wash our own mugs in it, we wash the mugs of Joe Public who we have made a cuppa for!! Next they'll be demanding we wash their rubber footwear!

We even have to use industrial washing machines to wash baby clothes- not of really ill babies or should I say 'known-infectious babies', but all of them's clothes.

Unless you're sure your DW is actually running at the high temperature you think it is and have proof of that- I wouldn't be putting anything other than dishes through it.

And I would wager that the average pair of Crocs (which I do not disdain as I wear them all the time domestically!) harbour far worse, on average, that a plate or chopping board I've just chopped Asda chicken on.

NoArmani Yes, I think I can live with that. I don't sterilise my hands after using the toilet; I wash with soap and hot water (probably a lot colder than 70deg) and then have no problem eating with my hands. Soap and hot water are ok, not everything has to be bleached or sterilised. I was only wondering if others would find this gross, in which case I won't talk about it IRL! No doubt everyone does something like that.
RE the spores you mentioned above, I was trying to say that I don't think that has to do with washing shoes, but rather other circumstances that people who only wash dishes in their dw are just as susceptible to.

Why do we need to eat from sterile plates with sterile cutlery?

I don't expect my DW to sterilise everything. I expect it to clean it.

If there are microbes left on them in small amounts our immune systems will kill them. If those microbes come into contact with stored food, it will be stored at temperatures at which they cannot grow.

But in the filter of your warm wet machine you are creating a veritable swingers paradise for the lovely bacteria from the jumble you have tipped into it. How are you cleaning that properly before covering your next lot of dishes and cutlery with the zillions of bacteria mutating and developing spores from being warm/cold/hot/warm/cold all over again and again?

Lioninthesun If 185 degrees hardly kills salmonella then really what is anyone to do? Maybe a dw isn't actually hot enough to kill things like salmonella, but is effective because it washes the salmonella off the plate and down the drain (if you see what I mean). I have separate chopping boards for raw meat and other foods, but if they are all washed together then what about cross contamination if 'baddies' aren't being killed? Why isn't everyone becoming ill just from dishes, let alone shoes, loo brushes, dildos etc in the dw?

They aren't testing for faeces and other nasties found in shoes (athletes foot or whatever) because usually people don't try to clean these in a machine used to clean food.... If you are meant to throw away a slightly cracked plate because it would harbour bacteria, how would cleaning anything that isn't flat and ceramic/smooth work properly anyway?

Cold raw meat remains on a chopping board are a totally different kettle of shit to bog brushes, shoes and pottys.

Would you (the dish washer cavaliers) wash the above mentioned in your kitchen sink?

The drying cycle is well over 70 degrees - same as a steam steriliser.

The caustic soda in the detergent should kill a few things off too (as well as being poisonous.

That is a valid point about cleaning something not smooth and flat. I wouldn't eat off my shoes or bin lid after washing in the dw (sometimes I can still see muck in the nooks and crannies of the bin lid, although the shoes are spotless). I am trying to say that these things get clean enough for shoes and a bin lid and that I have always thought the dishwasher was left in a clean enough state to then wash dishes in after. Perhaps I should be cleaning the dw filter in bleach (regularly, not just after shoes).

Faeces isn't only on shoes. It's on raw meat, eggs, dirty hands, etc.

yuck

I put the cooker hood filters in the dishwasher. They are not flat, but come out clean. (It is recommended by the manufacturer)

The steam will get round the corners

finestvirginia I don't wash loo brushes at all, but I regularly wash my DS's football boots in the kitchen sink (which I clean after). It splashes mud everywhere and is an awful mess... but where else exactly am I meant to do it? I can only think someone will suggest outside, but there is no way I could hold a garden hose, and a boot, and a scrubbing brush without a disaster. And it is only very hot water that removes the mud anyway.

Perhaps I should be cleaning the dw filter in bleach (regularly, not just after shoes)

That's only just occurred to you?!

Things I do regularly to the dishwasher: add salt, add rinse aid, put in tablets, empty filter of food particles, run an empty wash with a bottle of cleaner inside once in a while.
I can absolutely believe most people only wash dishes in their dw, not other objects. I do not believe that most people bleach their dw filters regularly. Please, Women of Mumsnet, correct me if I am wrong.