dishwasher as sterilizer

[Col. G. L. Sicherman]

["At last! My new gorilla-detector machine! They can't fool me now!"]

> Things that are a waste of money in a dishwasher:
> ...
> * "Sterilizer" cycles. The minute you touch the dishes they are no
> longer sterile. (Consumer Reports supports this claim).

Many of my women in-laws have assured me that you can sterilize baby
things by running them through an ordinary wash cycle in a dishwasher.
If somebody tells YOU this, bite her head off! This rumor is deadly.

You need _steam_ to kill those bugs. Hot water and water vapor only
make them uncomfortable.
--
Col. G. L. Sicherman
UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel
CS: colonel@buffalo-cs
BI: csdsicher@sunyabva

[g...@slu70.uucp]

In article <8...@ellie.UUCP>, col...@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) writes:
>
> You need _steam_ to kill those bugs. Hot water and water vapor only
> make them uncomfortable.
> --

In terms of heat this is true but does anyone know about the sterilizing
effect of dishwasher detergents? These are generally fairly harsh as they
don't come into contact with skin much and might have more of an effect
on germs than normal sink-type detergents.

[Duff Browne]

I would use a bit of chlorine bleach in the dish washer (make sure that the
washer has started the wash cycle - sometimes they drain the washer before
starting the wash cycle). From the smell of detergents when they get wet,
they make a little of their own chlorine-smelling gas. Extra couldn't hurt...

Duff

[Joe Petolino]

Dishwasher detergents contain a fair amount of chlorine (like liquid bleach).
Some local homebrew beer supply stores sell little bags of something that
looks suspiciously like dishwasher detergent, labelled
'bacteriocide sterilizer'.

The chlorine together with the 140 degree H2O of a good dishwasher probably
does a good job on the organisms that can spoil beer, but I don't know if
I would trust it for more critical applications.