How to Save Aluminium That’s Turned Dark in the Dishwasher

Aluminium cookware is something which is a good conductor of heat, but when you expose it to specific chemicals, it can turn dark. This discolouration can cause a substantial lack of effectiveness, so it’s important to understand what happens.

Here at Repair Aid, we know what’s going on. Ultimately, the high levels of heat the appliance works with can discolour the cookware, especially when you pair it with the natural mineral content of water, and chemicals in your dishwasher liquid.

Thankfully, this isn’t too difficult to tackle. Let’s take a look at what you can do to try and remove discolouration from these kinds of materials.

Dishwashers and Aluminium Cookware – The Facts

So, generally speaking, there are two types of things that you should never put into a dishwasher if you haven’t pre-treated them. This is both aluminium cookware, and stainless steel. Metal generally doesn’t do well in a dishwasher. There’s too much force and pressure going on which can cause discolouration and damage.

Generally speaking, you shouldn’t put aluminium cookware in the dishwasher. It is very easily damaged and corroded.

Dishwasher Safe?

The majority of dishes have symbols on them that allow you to identify whether or not they can be cleaned in a certain way. It’s important to acknowledge that the symbols aren’t necessarily internationally agreed-upon, so each country will have a different symbol. With that being said, it’s important to look for the dishwasher safe symbol on cookware before putting it in a dishwasher.

How Do I Clean Aluminium Cookware?

Okay, so trying to clean aluminium cookware isn’t too difficult. First of all, fill it up most of the way with water. There needs to be enough room inside the cookware for the water to boil without spillage.

Now, for every part of water inside the cookware, you want to add 3 tablespoons of either lemon juice, white distilled vinegar, or cream of tartar powder. Bring the whole thing to a boil, and let it sit for 10 minutes, before you remove it from the heat and tip it all away.

Next, grab a cleaning utensil soaked in warm water, preferably something with metal to remove any excess materials that have been lifted from the aluminium surface. Rinse it, and then dry it off.

Final Thoughts

Thankfully, repairing aluminium cookware that has been damaged isn’t too difficult. These kinds of products are easily repaired, but ideally you want to avoid damaging them in this way to begin with.

Ultimately, you need to make sure that you follow the instructions when it comes to cleaning any cookware. Manufacturers print these labels for a reason, and that is to make sure that you can use the product for as long as possible.

If it doesn’t have the dishwasher safe symbol printed on it, it probably shouldn’t go inside a dishwasher. You need to make sure that you look for the symbols before you start using them properly, to avoid problems like this and guarantee that your products will last a lot longer.

Author: Repair Aid®

Date published:

Categories: Dishwashers

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