8 Things You Didn’t Know Your Dishwasher Could Do
Odds are, you haven’t been taking advantage of this appliance’s full potential. These dishwasher hacks will totally blow your mind.
Bake salmon fillets
Dishwashers are good for more than just cleaning your cookware; these kitchen appliances can whip up a tasty meal, too. Just for starters, wrap salmon (seasoned to your liking) in a foil packet, place it on the top rack, and run a normal cycle (without soap) for a hassle-free dinner. While it might not be the most efficient way to cook a meal—and it can reportedly make your dishwasher smell funky—it can’t hurt to put this fun trick to the test.
Rinse fruits and veggies
If you still hand-wash each individual fruit or vegetables from your weekly farmers’ market haul, you’re wasting your time. Throw them all in your dishwasher and run a cold (soap-free) rinse cycle, and you’ll never need to turn on your sink. Bonus tip: To protect delicate produce, such as tomatoes and peaches, place them on the top rack. Heavier produce like potatoes and cantaloupes can go on the bottom.
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Keep food warm
Keeping cooked food warm can be tricky when you’re hosting the extended family for a holiday meal and the oven’s already full. For a makeshift chafing dish, set the dishwasher to dry cycle with no water and leave the dish on the top rack. Your meal will stay nice and toasty until you’re ready to serve.
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Sanitize makeup brushes
All the scouring and scrubbing in the world won’t make that gunk in your makeup brushes go away. Instead, try placing them in your dishwasher’s silverware basket and running a normal cycle. You can do the same thing for nail clippers, hairbrushes and combs, too.
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Reuse the racks as storage
Ahh, another dishwasher bites the dust. But before you toss it out, you can actually reuse almost all of its parts. The top rack, for example, can double as creative storage for craft supplies or gardening tools. Just turn the rack on its side and hang it on a wall in your craft room or garage.
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Organize utensils and writing supplies
Speaking of salvaging broken dishwashers, that old silverware caddy can also have a second life as a place to stash pencils, markers, crayons, or other craft supplies.
Dry your hand-washed dishes
Hand-washing dishes is time-consuming enough without drying them all, too. Let that huge stack of delicate bowls and plates air dry in the empty dishwasher (with the door cracked open), or run the dry cycle if you’re in a hurry.
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Create under-the-bed storage
Not everything inside your old, broken dishwasher belongs in the junkyard. Turn the wheeled bottom rack into extra storage underneath your bed; it can roll back and forth for easy access to your stuff.
Next, check out these home organization hacks to declutter every room.
