Chemistry

701 readers

7 users here now

founded 3 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Aluminum turns black in the dishwasher (mander.xyz)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I put an aluminum wok lid in the dishwasher and it came out with black marks on it. I’ve also seen other aluminum cookware come out with some kind of white powder specs on it.

So apparently aluminum is dishwasher unsafe. But obviously it’s not the water that’s the problem. It must be the detergent. So the question is, what can a lazy motherfucker like myself do? Why don’t I see aluminum-safe dishwasher detergents on the shelf?

Possibly related: Bailey’s creme liquor turns black underneath an aluminum cap. Is that a chemical reaction or spoilage, or something else?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

https://www.marthastewart.com/7976833/how-clean-blackened-aluminum-pan

Short answer is it's a combination of the detergent and the water that causes tarnish. I have aluminum pans that I use for baking, and they don't do this in my dishwasher, so it's either that the detergent you use is particularly alkaline, or that your water is "hard water", having more minerals in it than usual.