I've been putting scuba gear in the dishwasher for years.
However that's nice stainless or heavy chrome to be seawater
proof. I suspect ordinary steel will come out brown with oxide.

Try it on something old and tatty.

nigelH

I've done it before, the parts came up ok, but  the dishwasher smelt
of oil for weeks. I reckon a 2nd hand machine is a good  idea, but
with engine cleaner rather than 3 in 1 dishwashing   tablets. I would
be curious to know how that works.

Hi All,

Our Dishwashers (I will not mention the brand) can often be seen in
garages and the like for cleaning components.

1)  Dishwasher only push (very soft) hot water about
2) The chemicals that you put in do damage !
3) You are unlikely to Bugger up a dishwasher (especialy an all
stainless one ) with vehicle parts, unless,small bits (ball
bearings)etc are not catered for properly.
4) Service the dishwasher regularly and it will last a life time !
5) Dishwasher used in the motor trade tend to last longer than in the
home because they get a regular cleaner through them.
6) The dishwashers in the home are sadly neglected.
7) REMEMBER there is a chamber full of SALT, leave the lid off and you
will do damage to your parts.
8) REMEMBER there is a chamber full of Sylicate crystels, don,t chuck
heavy things into the tub ,PLACE them in the tub.
9) careful choice of powder/tablets used will be OK,there are several
non toxic "detergents " on the market.
10) Preferably do not use rinse aid,it leaves a "finish" on items that
can cause probs on matting surfaces.
11) The problem with after smells are the waste pipe and out flow.
If the out flow is into the sink U bend you will not clear the system
properly and accumilations occur in the waste pipe and leave a smell.
This holds good for domestic machiens as well, that why you see all
the different anti smell things on the supermarket shelves, these
would be unnessesary if the machines were plumbed in properly.
The parts used in a dishwasher are impervious to smell/absorbsion

Hope this helps

John

Following advice on here, I did get hold of a 2nd hand d/w from
freecycle.org and plumbed it into my garage. I can confirm it does clean
alloy stuff very well, and leaves a brown residue on steel parts. Overall,
very impressed although it does smell quite bad and I wouldn't want to put
the household crocks in it for a few weeks.

Thanks