According to online housekeeping experts, your dishwasher could have hidden talents. From cleaning a filthy computer keyboard to freshening up a bunch of dusty silk flowers and scrubbing potatoes, it’s said to be handy for a host of chores. MANDY FRANCIS put some of its more unusual uses to the test.

NO MORE MUDDY BOOTS

A warm wash on your dishwasher’s lowest temperature will, online gurus claim, leave your Wellies sparkling clean

Claim: A warm wash on your dishwasher’s lowest temperature will, online gurus claim, leave your Wellies sparkling clean. Scrape excess mud off first and remove loose fabric insoles and place the boots on their side on the top rack.

Does it work? Unable to get the fabric insoles, I laid my boots, top to toe, on their sides on the top rack, popped in a detergent tablet, pressed the economy wash button and crossed my fingers.

Thirty minutes later, opening the machine to billows of steam, I half expected the hot drying cycle to have warped the rubber — but it hadn’t.

In fact, the boots were beautifully clean on the outside, but extremely damp inside — so wet, in fact, I had to stand them upright in the airing cupboard for 24 hours before I could wear them.

Verdict: It worked well — but there’s something revolting about putting dirty boots in the dishwasher. So once the boots had been washed, I ran the empty dishwasher on its hottest wash cycle to give it a thorough clean. But running the machine twice and waiting at least 24 hours for your boots to dry is time-consuming. Much easier to scrub them under the outside tap with a broom!

2/5

DEEP-CLEAN KEYBOARDS

Who'd have thought placing a computer keyboard in the dishwasher would be an ingenious way of cleaning it?

Claim: This is a popular online tip. Place your grubby computer keyboard, key side down, on the top rack of your otherwise empty dishwasher and run the machine on a warm wash without detergent. Allow the clean keyboard to dry out for at least two days before plugging it back into your computer. Some geeks recommend dismantling the keyboard first to remove any sensitive circuits, others suggest avoiding the heated drying cycle.

Does it work? I’ve not heard one keyboard manufacturer recommend this method. But I decide to take a gung-ho approach and follow the advice of someone online who claimed he’d worked in a computer repair shop where it was a standard practice.

I was convinced it would ruin my keyboard. Indeed, a torrent of water flooded from inside the keyboard when I lifted it out — although beautifully clean, the keyboard was waterlogged. I had to drain it for an hour before it went into the airing cupboard to dry out completely.

Although the dishwasher technique might occasionally be successful, the circuits in the keyboard are very sensitive

Two days later, reassured the keyboard was now bone-dry, I plugged it into my laptop, expecting an explosion, but nothing at all — it worked. Perfectly. In fact, it now functions even better than before.

Verdict: There’s no denying this is potentially risky. Gonzalo Fernandes, a certified Apple Mac technician at Apply Bay in Mychett, Surrey, warns that although the dishwasher technique might occasionally be successful, the circuits in the keyboard are very sensitive, so submerging them in water is likely to ruin it for good.

4/5

SCRUB THE TATTIES

Claim: Fruit and veg can apparently come up a treat in the dishwasher. So, if you like to make jams and chutneys or are catering for a large group of family or friends, save on scrubbing time and run them through a rinse cycle instead. Especially effective with root vegetables, apples and pears.

Does it work? I had a big family get-together to cater for at the weekend, so this tip was going to save me lots of time — if it worked. With fish pie for 15 on the menu, I filled the top rack of the dishwasher with large potatoes I’d bought from our local farm shop. These particular spuds taste delicious, but come covered in a fine layer of soil which is a pain to deal with by hand. At the back of the rack I placed some Bramley apples for apple crumble and, leeks, celery and carrots.

A quick rinse later and the potatoes, apples and carrots were beautifully clean and ready to peel and chop. Unfortunately, some of the soil from the spuds had dropped onto the celery and leeks and they were now grubbier than when they went in.

Fruit and veg can apparently come up a treat in the dishwasher. A quick rinse later and the potatoes, apples and carrots were beautifully clean and ready to peel and chop

Verdict: A clever way to rinse fruit and veg — just be careful how you position everything.

4/5

BLITZ BASEBALL CAPS

Claim: Baseball caps are notoriously difficult to wash successfully in a rotating washing machine, but it’s claimed they spruce up nicely and keep their shape after a spell in the dishwasher. Just pop your cap — the right way up — on the top shelf of an empty dishwasher, add a dishwasher tablet and set the machine for a warm wash with no drying time.

Baseball caps are notoriously difficult to wash successfully in a rotating washing machine

Does it work? I’ve tried putting a baseball cap in the washing machine before and it came out horribly misshapen, having leaked colour onto the rest of my washing.

On this occasion, I added a dishwasher tablet, shut the door and waited, removing the cap just before the drying cycle started, as excessive heat would make it shrink. Once the machine finished, the cap appeared to have kept its shape, but was sodden. Once dry, the cap looked a little faded perhaps, but was very clean and in remarkably good shape. I was thrilled — until my son tried to put it on. Unfortunately it had shrunk slightly, and was now really uncomfortable to wear.

Verdict: Works well — but be prepared for a tight fit.

3/5

PERK UP FLOWERS

Claim: Online experts say you can remove dust and grime from silk flowers in a trice by putting them through a quick, detergent-free rinse in the dishwasher.

Does it work? I’m not a great fake flower fan, so had to buy a rather old, dusty-looking pink and beige bunch for this experiment. I spread out the bouquet on its side on the top rack of the dishwasher and set it to rinse, with no heated dry cycle at the end.

Ten minutes later, the wet bunch looked bedraggled and very sorry for itself. Some of the small flower heads had come loose from their stems, and the leaves looked rather frayed and floppy.

Online experts say you can remove dust and grime from silk flowers in a trice by putting them through a quick, detergent-free rinse in the dishwasher

After a good shake outdoors, I arranged them in a glass vase to dry, and they seemed to perk up. The next day, fully dry, they definitely looked cleaner, but the leaves had dripped green dye onto my work surface.

Verdict: Not recommended. Rinsing might loosen adhesive and wash away some of the stiffening agent and dyes used in the flowers and leaves.

0/5

TRANSFORM TOYS

Claim: Toy manufacturers say you can remove sticky finger prints, mud and general grime from plastic toys by putting them through the dishwasher.

Does it work? I had a whole box of grubby toys in the garage which desperately needed a wash. The tricky thing with putting toys in the dishwasher is that many are small and have removable parts or long dangly bits which can get caught up in the machinery or filter. The best way to address this was to contain smaller items in mesh bags, the kind you use for washing delicates in the washing machine.

One dishwasher tablet and warm wash later almost everything looked sparkling. The only things that didn’t do so well were the squeezy bath toys, which lost their painted-on eyes and remained full of slimy smelly mildew.

Thanks to the combination of dishwasher detergent and a hot drying cycle Barbie also sadly lost her lustre — and is now sporting a permanent, very bad hair day. Let’s hope nobody notices, eh?

Verdict: A really good way to clean grubby plastic toys — apart from those with electrical parts, batteries and nylon hair.

4/5

LIGHT UP LAMPS

Glass lampshades can be placed in the top rack of a dishwasher on a warm glass or crystal wash

Claim: Glass lampshades and wall sconces can be placed in the top rack of a dishwasher on a warm glass or crystal wash to thoroughly remove dust, cobwebs and grime.

Does it work? I’m always putting off cleaning the glass shades on our various light fittings, so this sounded like the perfect solution.

After unclipping and unscrewing everything, I secured the shades in the top rack, and nervously ran the glass and crystal wash. Just one breakage could mean I’d have to buy a whole new ceiling light.

I needn’t have worried however — everything emerged in one piece and as clean as a whistle.

Verdict: A fast way to clean robust, frosted glass shades, but follow the dishwasher handbook rules for glassware — don’t put antique glass, fine, clear glass or anything with etched, hand-painted or gold leaf detail in the machine.