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Anyone put bird feeders in the dishwasher?


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51 minutes ago, neilpa said:

Never thought of that. But this is the type of lazy cleaning I can totally get behind (assuming there aren't any reasons not to).

The only downside I anticipate is having a plastic feeder melt during the drying cycle, but I do have plastic cups and utensils that don't suffer.  Top shelf only, maybe?

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35 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said:

The only downside I anticipate is having a plastic feeder melt during the drying cycle, but I do have plastic cups and utensils that don't suffer.  Top shelf only, maybe?

Mine would be too tall for the top shelf. I've put similar grade plastic on the bottom without issue before. If you want to be careful you could also disable the drying cycle.

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2 hours ago, meghann said:

My only other thought is if your dishwasher doesn't sanitize properly, you could have all kinds of bird germs running around in there that could then get on your eating utensils.

The feeders will be run by themselves, with no dishes.  Any surviving bugs will get another bath when the next load of dishes is run.  If the dishwasher isn't sanitizing properly, I'm more concerned about the human-borne cooties being left behind than the avian (or canine) ones.

I'm going to try one feeder this weekend to see how it does.  I'll let y'all know.

 

Edited by Charlie Spencer
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5 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Our back-up system is named Maggie.  She's mastered the advanced technique of putting her paw in the middle of the plate so it doesn't move around while she's licking it.

Our prewash system is like that. Her name  is Luna. She makes sure everything is pre-rinsed properly.

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It actually worked very well.  I tested with one of the feeders made of heavy clear plastic, appx. 1/8 thick.  This tube feeder opens down the sides to separate into two halves, so the inside and outside are both exposed.

I started with the shortest wash cycle and disabled the drying cycle.  There was a bit of residue in a couple of corners but that's due to not washing my feeders often enough.  It knocked off easily with the toothbrush I keep under the sink for cleaning feeders, and probably won't reoccur if I start doing this regularly.

 

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It is probably illogical but there is NO WAY I would put a bird feeder in a dishwasher that I use for my own dishes! I am not a germ a phobe. Not even a little but somethings just should not be done IMHO. If I use a rag to clean something like a bird feeder it doesn't go in my laundry either. It goes in the trash. I generally use a spray hose attachment and dish soap to clean my feeders.

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On 10/19/2021 at 7:24 AM, Clip said:

It is probably illogical but there is NO WAY I would put a bird feeder in a dishwasher that I use for my own dishes! I am not a germ a phobe. Not even a little but somethings just should not be done IMHO. If I use a rag to clean something like a bird feeder it doesn't go in my laundry either. It goes in the trash. I generally use a spray hose attachment and dish soap to clean my feeders.

Yeah, the stuff I read against it mentioned birds carrying a lot of viruses that a dishwasher isn't necessarily going to kill. Much more a danger of that than any human germs spreading to the birds.

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  • 5 months later...
50 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said:

When we married, our first home had no oven or range.  We did everything with an electric skillet, a toaster oven, and a microwave.

That sound like the perfect excuse never to cook for for holidays, and family get to gathers.

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