11 Dishwasher Tablet Cleaning Hacks

Did you know that dishwasher tablets can be used to clean lots of things around your home?

Yep, you read that right! Dishwasher tablets are not limited to dishwashers only. They can, in fact, be used to clean oven door glass, bins, showers and so much more. 

Stick with me and discover 11 dishwasher tablet cleaning hacks. 

1. Oven Door Glass

It really doesn’t take very long for the glass in your oven door to become caked in grease splatters! 

Luckily all of this muck can be cleaned away in no time at all by using a dishwasher tablet. 

Tools you’ll need to do the job

• Gloves
• Dishwasher tablets 
• A bowl of warm water
• Some cloths

All you need to do is:

Soak the dishwasher tablet in the bowl of warm water and then start rubbing it all over the glass. Depending on how dirty the glass is you may need to repeat this process a few times.

Roud our step-by-step guide on how to clean your oven’s glass door for some more tips.

  

2. The Oven’s Trays and Racks 

Trays and racks also get plagued by mucky food spills and splatters over time, yet they’re often forgotten about when it comes to cleaning the oven. 

But it doesn’t have to be a difficult task. Follow the steps below and you’ll have cleaned your oven’s racks and trays with a dishwasher tablet with ease! 

Tools you’ll need to do the job

Bath filled with warm water 

• Foil
• Dishwasher tablets
• Some cloths

All you need to do is:

Fill your bathtub with warm water and wrap your trays and racks up in foil. Then pop the wrapped goods in the bath and place a dishwasher tablet on each item. 

Allow the trays and racks to sit submerged in the water for two hours. Finally, rinse and run a cloth over them, and pop them back in the oven when you’re done.

 

3. Rubbish Bins

Rubbish bins are typically filled with lots of stinky pieces of trash that we don’t want to have hanging around our homes. So, it’ll come as no surprise to hear that the bin itself is pretty pungent, and not in a good way. 

While you can spray rubbish bins with nice scents and empty the contents away regularly, sometimes there’s nothing better than to give the bin a good clean. It just so happens that you can do this with a single dishwasher tablet. 

All you need to do is:

First of all, make sure that your bin doesn’t have any holes in it and then fill it up with hot water. Drop a dishwasher tablet into the hot water, and let it work its magic until the water has cooled down. 

When the water feels cold, tip it away and rinse the rubbish bin out with more water. Dry the bin and start loading it up with trash again! 

 

4. Shower 

If your shower needs a spruce up then try cleaning it with a dishwasher tablet. This little wonder can work miracles in your shower cubicle. 

Tools you’ll need to do the job

• Gloves
• A bowl of hot water
• Dishwasher tablets

All you need to do is:

Soak the dishwasher tablet in the bowl of hot water, but don’t over saturate the tablet. Then start scrubbing at the shower head, tray, walls and any glass areas. When you’re done rinse all the surfaces down.

 

5. Burnt Pots and Pans

It’s so easy to let a pot of potatoes boil dry, but it’s often difficult to get rid of the burnt marks afterwards. 

However, if you’ve a dishwasher tablet at hand, the job just got much easier. 

All you need to do is:

Fill the burnt pot with hot water and pop a dishwasher tablet in. Allow the tablet to go to work loosening the burnt parts in your pot. When the water has cooled down, empty the pot and rinse it. With a cloth start rubbing at the loosened dirt. Finally, re-wash the pot with regular washing up liquid. 

 

6. Crayon Marks on Painted Walls

If you’ve got a toddler running around your home with a packet of crayons, they’ll eventually start to colour in your painted walls. 

For them it’s a game; for you it’s a nightmare! 

But, there’s a really clever way to remove crayon marks from a painted wall, and it’s all done with the help of a dishwasher tablet. 

All you need to do is:

Fill a bowl with hot water and drop a dishwasher tablet into it. Then grab a clean cloth, a white or light coloured one will work best. 

Dip the cloth into the water and gently start bloating the crayon marks on the wall. You may need to add a little pressure but try not to be too heavy handed as you may remove the paint.  

Note: This isn’t suitable for wallpapered walls as the damp cloth is likely to damage the paper, and it may start to come away from the wall. 

 

7. Stained Tea Cups and Coffee Mugs 

As a nation of tea drinkers and coffee lovers there’ll inevitably be a stained mug or cup in the house. These unsightly stains often get worse with time, and sometimes users think that the best thing to do is to buy a new set of cups and mugs for the home. 

But that’s really an extreme last resort because cup and mug stains can be removed very quickly with just a dishwasher tablet. 

All you need to do is:

Either boil the kettle or use hot water from the tap to fill up your stained cups and mugs. Then add a dishwasher tablet to every marked cup and mug. Wait about an hour before you go back to empty and rinse them all out. Finally, just wash them as normal. 

 

8. Grease Smeared Dishes

If you’ve just finished eating your delicious home cooked lasagna, the last job you need to tackle for the day is cleaning the dish. 

But it’s all stained, greasy and horrible looking. You just know it’s going to take a long time to clean it properly… But does it have to take an age? 

Nope, not if you’ve got dishwasher tablets in the house! 

All you need to do is:

Just grab your used dish and pop it on a flat surface. Then fill it up with hot water and drop a dishwasher tablet into the dish. Allow the dish to rest like this overnight and then rinse it out in the morning. 

 

9. Plastic Outdoor Furniture

After a season of being battered by winds, leaves and not to mention heavy rain, your patio furniture will need a spruce up before the summer starts. 

And this little job can be done by using a few dishwasher tablets.

All you need to do is:

Unwrap your patio furniture and set them out in a workable space. Grab a bucket of hot water and add in one or two dishwasher tablets. With some gloves on, reach into the bucket and saturate a cloth in the water. Then use this cloth to wipe down your patio furniture.

 

10. Vases

If you’ve left a bouquet of flowers in a vase for too long, you’ll get this gooey, green gunk forming at the bottom of the vase. 

While it’s not necessarily difficult to remove this green mess, it can be hard to clean a vase that is quite narrow and fancy in shape.

In order to clean a vase that’s an odd shape you need a dishwasher tablet. 

All you need to do is:

Remove all the flowers and any leaves you can reach from inside the vase. Then fill the vase up with hot water and drop a dishwasher tablet into it. Wait about two hours before rinsing the vase out with more warm water.

 

11. Sinks

If your stainless-steel sink is looking a little dull and needs a little TLC, then look no further than a dishwasher tablet! 

All you need to do is:

Empty your sink of all dishes and fill it up with hot water. Add one dishwasher tablet to the sink and allow it to rest like this for about an hour. Finally, release the water from the sink and rinse the sides down with hot water.

 

Should You Wash Clothes with a Dishwasher Tablet?

Since dishwasher tablets are designed to remove tough grease and dirt from plates, pans and the likes, the chemicals may be far too strong to be used on delicate materials. It is, therefore, better to stick to actual clothes cleaning products. 

Some users may also say that the chemicals in dishwasher tablets are able to whiten clothes, but it is better to use an actual tried and tested clothes whitener to do this too. 

 

Can Dishwasher Tablets Be Used to Clean Washing Machines?

A dishwasher tablet can be put into a washing machine, and if you only do this once you’re not likely to see many major after effects, and your washing machine may look cleaner. But you do this at your own risk! 

However, if you continuously put dishwasher tablets into your washing machine, you’ll likely end up with problems further down the line. 

What problems can you expect to find? 

• Your warranty will probably be voided.
• You’ll have to run extra cycles/do some manual cleaning to get rid of the excess residue left behind by the dishwasher tablet. 
• Several parts inside the washing machine may not react well to the dishwasher tablet’s chemical makeup – seals in particular. 
• Your clothes may become saturated in dishwasher tablet residue when you run your next cycle. This may impact the material and make your clothes unwearable.  
• You might get a blocked drainage hose that’s been caused by excess foam being created. This, in turn, may weaken the pipe and you might have to repair it in time.  

You would be better off cleaning your washing machine with specialised products that can be bought in most supermarkets. 

 

Will A Dishwasher Tablet Get Rid of Mildew and Mould?

A dishwasher tablet’s abrasive nature may be able to remove some mildew and mould, but you’d be better off buying an actual mould and mildew remover to do the job. 

Here are some items that can help you:

• HG Mould Spray – See on Amazon.co.uk
• Dettol Anti-Bacterial Mould and Mildew Remover – See on Amazon.co.uk
• Astonish Mould and Mildew Remover – See on Amazon.co.uk

 

Can You Clean an Entire Oven with Dishwasher Tablets?

In short, no. You can clean the glass in the door, the trays and the racks. But it’s best to avoid cleaning the other areas in the oven because they need to be cleaned with specific and tested cleaners. 

Bicarbonate of soda is one of the ‘go-to’ cleaners when it comes to washing down the floor, sides and roof of an oven. Although, you could look into actual products like Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner, Ecover Oven and Hob Cleaner and many others to help you with this process.