Anyone put bird feeders in the dishwasher?

[Charlie Spencer]

6 hours ago, SirVive said:

I fill my hummer feeders half full of water and microwave it until it boils good and I figure that gets any spots I can't reach plenty well.

Some models of hummer feeders are very easy to separate and clean.  Seed feeders with a fatty coating are the tough job.

[SirVive]

2 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Some models of hummer feeders are very easy to separate and clean.  Seed feeders with a fatty coating are the tough job.

Two of my three don't open very well - but maybe that's why I got them for free. I haven't had a problem with the seed feeder but I guess that's probably because I built it custom with a mesh floor, only feed BOSS, and it's under the eaves. Usually it's just a matter of shaking off the dry hulls and I'm done.

[floraphile]

We used to run our feeders throught the D/W, but the plastic eventually got extremely brittle from the ?heat ?soap.  The same think happened with my old food processor bowl.  At any rate, we only handwash them now.

[crisevan]

I think maybe. You can wash bird feeder immediate at there. I know that cleaning it with vinegar and some household item will more effective.

[Snake Fingers]

I would put a feeder in the dishwasher… but my mom wouldn’t let me.

[Birds are cool]

1 hour ago, Snake Fingers said:

I would put a feeder in the dishwasher… but my mom wouldn’t let me.

I hand clean them in the sink.

[cooldood]

On 10/12/2021 at 4:22 PM, 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.

 

Dishawashers do sanitize.  I work in the food manufacturing industry so I have some experience here.

DW must reach 150 and this will result in 99.999% of bacteria.  You do not have to boil to kill most bacteria.  People will see bits of food on dishes after washing and think they are not sanitized but they are.  I won't go to deep into the biology but the remaining food after going through a dry cycle will have such a low Water activity level that it will not support bacteria. 

If you want your feeders sterile ( not sanitized) you will have to get them above 250 to kill everything including botulism.  However Cbot is anaerobic and does not apply to feeders 

[Charlie Spencer]

2 minutes ago, Chapman Kieran said:

Additionally, bird feeders may have small crevices or hard-to-reach areas that can trap water and food debris, which can lead to bacterial growth and potential health hazards for birds. 

Wouldn't that be true regardless of how they're washed? 

[MichaelLong]

22 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Wouldn't that be true regardless of how they're washed? 

I think they're assuming there would also be other dirty dishes in the dishwasher with it