How to Use Denture Tablets in the Washing Machine

If you’ve been reading around online, you’ve probably come across several wondrous stories about denture cleaning tablets and what they can clean!

Yep, these tablets can remove stains from a wealth of different surfaces and can be used to spruce up many items around a home.

However, one grey area that needs to be covered is: how do you use denture tablets in a washing machine?

The truth is, however good denture tablets are at cleaning, you probably shouldn’t use them in your washing machine because you don’t really know what effect they will have on the appliance.

And although a lot of people will say that it is safe for you to put a few denture tablets alongside your laundry in the washer, or to clean your washing machine’s drum out with the tablets, I’d err on the side of caution and avoid doing this.

After all, most washing machine manufacturers don’t recommend you do this, it could be costly to repair the appliance if something went wrong, and you wouldn’t want to void the warranty on your machine.

It would, therefore, be better if you pre-treated your garments in a water and denture tablet mixture outside of the washing machine.

Once you’ve completed this task, launder the items in the washing machine on a regular cycle with just detergent. This would be a much safest option for you, and there’s less risk involved.

Similarly, you could maintain your washer by using specialised cleaning products or products that are known to be safe for your appliance.

If you’re absolutely set on putting denture cleaning tablets in your washing machine, you do so at your own risk.

 

Using Denture Cleaning Tablets in a Washing Machine

Note: Remember that you’re trying this technique out at your own risk!

Steps to follow:

1. Put a single denture cleaning tablet in a shallow bowl.
2. Add some water to the bowl.
3. Turn your garment inside out.
4. Find a discreet seam, and pop some of the watered-down denture tablet mixture onto it.
5. Wait and see what happens.
6. If your item starts to fade/become damaged, stop what you’re doing and don’t proceed with this method. 
7. Repeat for the rest of your laundry.
8. Add your laundry to the washer’s drum.
9. Put one to two denture cleaning tablets inside the drum – no more than two tablets!
10. Start a normal washing cycle.
11. Remove the clothes and inspect them when the washing cycle finishes.
12. If there are stains on the items, treat them. If the garments are clean and clear of blemishes, you can dry them.

If you want to clean the washer’s drum, don’t add laundry to the drum – leave it empty. Then put two denture tablets inside the drum and run a hot cycle.

Note: Denture cleaning tablets can have a bleaching effect, which is why they’re often used to brighten dulling white items. It is for this reason that it would be better if you only used the method above on white clothes. If you were to clean colourful clothes, you could fade or bleach them to some degree.

 

Using Denture Tablets When Cleaning

As noted earlier, popping denture cleaning tablets inside a washing machine may not be the brightest idea. But that doesn’t mean that denture tablets aren’t useful in many other ways.

Here are some other ways you can use denture cleaning tablets around your home: 

• You can clean your toilet, including the brown stain lines, with some denture tablets. It’s super easy to clean your toilet with the tablets, and you’ll get quick results too.
• Breathe new life into your trainers with some denture cleaning tablets. This method is a really cost-effective way of sprucing up your shoes without having to go out to buy a fancy shoe cleaner.
• Remove the blemishes from your coffee and tea cups with denture cleaning tablets. Not only will your cups and mugs be cleaner, but they’ll also be glowing.
• Get rid of the tarnishing on your teaspoons with denture tablets.

• Take out those pesky watermarks on your shower door with denture tablets. This is a really effective way of removing the dreaded lines that plague your shower door!
• Whiten your dark and dingy net curtains with denture tablets. This straightforward process won’t just give your curtains a new lease of life, but the glow left behind on them will give your room a new look too.
• Bring a shine back to your jewellery using some denture tablets. It’s not uncommon for jewellery to dull because it’s constantly exposed to various kinds of dirt daily. But with this simple solution, your diamonds will be back in pristine condition in no time!

For some more tips see our guide to denture-cleaning hacks.