A wide range of cookware is produced from aluminum nowadays. Among the most popular ones is aluminum foil.
But, of course, you must be wary of what to use your beautiful cookware to do. This article will enlighten you on the effects of cooking aluminum foil on your dishwasher and aluminum cookware.
Aluminum foil in the dishwasher is not toxic. Aluminum foil neither damages your dishwasher nor your aluminum cookware. The function of cooking aluminum foil is to protect the beautiful aluminum cookware you are washing in the dishwasher. In addition, the aluminum foil helps reduce your dishwasher detergent concentration to avoid damage to your precious aluminum utensils.
Is It Safe to Put Aluminum Foil In The Dishwasher?
Yes, it’s safe to put aluminum foil in the dishwasher. Aluminum foil is harmless. What it does to your aluminum utensils is help them maintain their shine.
Perhaps you would be able to relate if you have ever washed your aluminum pans or other aluminum utensils in the dishwasher.
Dishwasher detergents are very harsh, and if you wash aluminum pans and other aluminum cooking wares with them, the detergents will cause damage to the cookware.
The outcome of the washing leaves black or white spots on the cookwares, thereby making them dull compared to when you haven’t washed them inside the dishwasher.
So, the purpose of aluminum foil in the dishwasher is to serve as protecting material for your aluminum pans and other utensils.
What Happens if You Put an Aluminum Foil In Dishwasher?
If you put aluminum foil in the dishwasher, nothing terrible will happen to your aluminum dishes. So, it’s safe to put aluminum foil in your dishwasher.
What aluminum foil does to your dishwasher interacts with the harsh chemicals in your dishwasher’s detergents. In addition, the aluminum foil oxidizes the scratches on your cooking silverware.
Therefore, the aluminum foil holds up the tarnish and leaves your beautiful utensils shining more.
In short, the primary purposes and functions of aluminum foil on your beautiful silver cooking utensils are:
- If perhaps, there’s any stain on your silver cooking wares, aluminum foil will help you to get rid of the stain.
- More so, aluminum foil serves the purpose of a polish. It helps remove old scratches from your old utensils, making them look like new ones.
- In conclusion, aluminum foil causes no damage to your silver utensils. Instead, aluminum foil makes an incredible impact on your utensils and leaves the utensils looking more beautiful.
Why You Should Put Aluminum Foil In Your Dishwasher?
It’s good, and it’s an important idea to put aluminum foil in your dishwasher. People use putting aluminum foil in the dishwasher as a hack that helps them maintain the sparkles of their utensils.
Washing your glittering silver cooking wares inside the dishwasher causes damage to your cooking wares’ protective layers. The cooking wares come out with unattractive spots all over them.
The problem doesn’t come from the dishwasher, as some people believe. But, the damage comes from the dishwasher detergent and the hot water inside the dishwasher.
Dishwasher detergents are very harsh, and if you use them purely to wash your silver cooking wares, they tarnish the dishes.
But, again, the damage doesn’t make the cooking wares toxic. It’s safe to use and cook with tarnished utensils. However, you wouldn’t want to lose the sparkles of your silver utensils, you know?
So, you can easily toss a ball of aluminum foil in your dishwasher to prevent your precious aluminum pans and other utensils from losing their glow.
Can You Put Aluminum Baking Trays In The Dishwasher?
Whether you can wash your aluminum baking trays in the dishwasher depends on your aluminum baking trays. Some baking trays are dishwasher-safe, while some are not.
The first thing you need to do is to confirm if your aluminum baking tray is anodized or not.
Anodized aluminum utensils are the ones that have additional corrosion protection and also a protective layer of oxide.
In contrast, non-anodized aluminum utensils are regular ones with only a protective layer of raw aluminum.
If your aluminum baking tray is anodized, it’s okay and safe to wash it in the dishwasher.
The reason is that the protective surface of the baking tray will protect the baking tray from the harshness of the detergent’s chemicals and the severe heat of the hot water.
Meanwhile, toss a ball of aluminum foil inside the dishwasher while washing the aluminum baking tray. Adding aluminum foil is just like increasing the protection of your baking tray.
However, if the aluminum baking tray is non-anodized or the baking tray is the type with a non-stick finish, then it’s neither okay nor safe to wash such an aluminum baking tray in the dishwasher.
The reason why it’s not advisable to wash your non-anodized aluminum baking tray in the dishwasher is because of the harsh chemicals in the dishwasher detergents and the high heat of the hot water.
If you try to wash your non-anodized or non-stick aluminum baking tray in the dishwasher, your shiny baking tray will leave the dishwasher looking dull. This is because scratches will appear on the tray’s surface.
Though the scratches won’t make your baking tray useless, it only becomes darkened and less attractive. And, of course, nobody wants unpleasant-looking cooking wares.
So, it’s better and safer to wash your non-anodized aluminum baking trays and all non-anodized utensils with your hands.
Washing the utensils with your hands may be pretty stressful, but it will save your expensive and lovely aluminum utensils from getting damaged.
There can also be a situation whereby you find it hard to tell whether your aluminum baking tray is anodized or not.
The best thing you can do in this situation is to clean such a tray with your hands to avoid a story that touches.
Moreover, some manufacturers do specify if your aluminum utensils are dishwasher-safe or not. So, you can quickly check the package of your aluminum utensils to discover this.
Check out the table below to discover the differences between anodized aluminum utensils and regular (non-anodized) aluminum utensils:
| Anodized Aluminum | Non-Anodized Aluminum |
|---|---|
| The metallic appearance of anodized aluminum utensils is thicker and more affluent. | The metallic appearance of non-anodized aluminum utensils is less rich than anodized ones. |
| Anodized aluminum cookwares are heavier. | Non-anodized cookwares are lightweight. |
| Anodized aluminum utensils’ surface is much harder than regular aluminum ones. The hardness, thereby, makes them more durable. | The surface of non-anodized aluminum utensils is also hard but not as much as anodized ones. This makes them less durable compared to anodized utensils. |
| Anodized aluminum utensils are scratch-resistant. | The finish of non-anodized aluminum utensils can scratch. |
| Due to the high-quality properties, anodized aluminum cooking wares are more expensive than non-anodized ones. On the other hand, though, they are very much affordable. | Generally, aluminum utensils are expensive. However, non-anodized aluminum cooking wares are still cheaper than anodized ones. |
Why Aluminum Foil Should Not Be Washed In Dishwasher?
You see, you can use aluminum foil for numerous purposes. Apart from using aluminum foil as a hack to maintain the sparkles of your aluminum utensils, you can also use it when cooking.
You can use aluminum foil to prevent the moisture of your food from escaping while cooking.
Also, you can use aluminum foil to wrap and preserve foods such as pizza, cheese, desserts, meats, and so on. You can also use it as a baking sheet.
So, you can wash your used cooking aluminum foil and reuse it. Whether it’s okay to wash your used aluminum foil in the dishwasher depends on what you use it for.
If you use your aluminum foil to wrap foods or as a baking sheet, you can wash such aluminum foil with both hands and a dishwasher.
Meanwhile, it’s not advisable to wash an aluminum foil that you used to lift your aluminum utensils’ tarnish.
The reason why washing an aluminum foil that has been used to lift tarnish in the dishwasher is not advisable is because it can cause a mess to your dishwasher.
Moreover, if the aluminum foil has become more flexible after use, then it’s better to wash it with your hands to prevent it from ripping off.
Conclusion
It’s okay and safe to put aluminum foil in the dishwasher. Aluminum foil helps to maintain the sparkles of your precious aluminum cookware.
However, washing your aluminum utensils while you toss a ball of aluminum foil inside the dishwasher makes your old aluminum utensils look like new ones.
