Dishwashers are fairly competent at cleaning plates, pots and silverware, but that is not all that can get dirty. Frequently there are napkins, placemats and bibs with considerable amounts of food on them. Those usually go through a separate cleaning channel. They wait a few days or even a week until they go into the laundry while the stains turn permanent. The small fraction of stains that does dissolve in the laundry may contain an excessive amount of dye or fat that easily defeat the laundry detergent.

I suggest a dishwasher with a small, built in laundry compartment. Throw in the napkins with the plates and knives and get them all cleaned the same day. Cotton is fairly resistant to aggressive cleaning agents and in this application it doesn’t have to come out cloudy, fluffy, soft like a PJ. There may be a problems with food getting caught in the folds. To avoid this the dishwasher water needs some good filtering or has to be used first for the fabric and then for the dishes.
-- kbecker, Apr 02 2004

I throw my baseball caps into the dishwasher and it doesn't wreck them so... (+)
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 03 2004


I'm having trouble coming up with something that would work well by just tossing the napkins in. Maybe throw them in one of those mesh laundry bags used for delicates?

If it's limited to napkins, maybe some sort of a clamshell plastic grid or frame could hold the napkin flat in a form rigid enough that it could be put in the standard dishwasher rack like a plate. There'd be some problem with cleaning the bits of the napkin that are being gripped by the plastic. It might also be too light to stay in the rack when hit by the water pressure.
-- half, Apr 03 2004



random, halfbakery