Noun: dish washer.
age: The first dishwasher—operated with a handgrip—was patented in 1850; The first electric appliance was put up for sale in 1929.
appearance: A convenient buzzing cube in your kitchen filled with dishes, cutlery, pans and toilet brush.
What? Yes, I know I shouldn’t put pots in there. My fault.
You know very well I mean the toilet brush. And a toilet brush holder, of course.
You’ve gone too far this time. Not me actually: It’s Mumsnet user “Swizzle007,” who recently posted about getting caught by a friend with a toilet brush in the dishwasher. “She was completely disgusted and said it was disgusting,” the user wrote in a since-deleted post on the platform’s fabled topic “Am I Unreasonable.”
Let me make it clear to you Swizzle007: Yes, you are unreasonable. This was certainly the opinion of the majority of commentators: “absolute rank”; “Absolutely disgusting”; “Washing utensils in the stool” and “naaaaasty” is an analog selection.
Quite right too. There were a few in favor of the brush. Someone said, “You can make me a cup anytime.”
It immediately put me off my drink. weak. A study found that children who live in homes without dishwashers have stronger immune systems. They speculated that this was because less efficient washing meant more exposure to microbes.
And how is that remotely relevant? Well, a dishwasher with a toilet brush on it must be more contaminated with microbes than washing dishes by hand, right?
Thanks, that’s some solid “science” out there. Speaking of science, how about a science-based dishwasher test?
You really know how to live. I suppose it could take my mind off the horror. Well, pre-rinse or not?
Know this: Don’t pre-rinse. Right: Dishwasher detergent is designed to stick to food residue. Knives facing up or down?
Down, obviously, for safety’s sake. Tricky question! From chefs and knife makers to the “cleaning manager” at the Good Housekeeping Institute, everyone says chef’s knives shouldn’t go in there, they’re silly: They’ll get sharp and can damage your dishwasher, too.
Any other gems, smartpants? Yes: Researchers at the University of Birmingham have found that putting your plates in a circle with one carb-laden dishes near the center and one protein-laden on the outside is the optimal arrangement.
This is really interesting. Yes: Carbs need a good blast, while proteins are easy to wash away once they swell in slow-moving water. So arrange the dishes in a nice circle and place the toilet brush in the middle, ideally.
Say: “I already brought my own travel mug! Why don’t you put my coffee in there? It saves laundry.”
do not say: “It’s the dish sponges you have to worry about: They have the same bacterial density as actual stool.”