Australia's Science Forum

Hi all

We have an ordinary household dishwasher. It does not hold most lab glassware securely. Just wondering if anyone has bought an additional basket eg something made for glasses, and if so does it work well?
Kathryn

The only thing I have bought is the test tube baskets. They work really well. I make do with the rack in the dishwasher, although the newer ones have shorter spikes than the old ones, but so far I haven't had anything break.

Were did you get them Merilyn ? I've also got a domestic dishwasher and the Cutlery basket in mine doesn't hold enough test tubes .

Our ones came from Haines but I've seen them elsewhere. Attached is a screen shot from Haines website. Buy the big ones, as pictured, I've had the smaller ones but never used them. With folding down some of the spikes in my dishwasher, I can fit four in the bottom rack, that's if you've got a washer that you can fold down, otherwise, you may only fit in two.

Oops, just saw they now have one bigger than this, but not sure how it would fit in to a domestic dishwasher.

Best thing I bought was the dishwasher test tube rack (from Haines I think, but others also stock it). It's expensive but has paid for itself several times over. I can fit so much more into the dishwasher, including the baskets Merilyn is talking about, which are also brilliant for things like petri dishes, small plastic funnels, lids, etc - things that can't normally go into the dishwasher. Highly recommended!

Does that rack fit comfortably into a domestic dishwasher? I've looked at them before but couldn't work out if it was the right size.

yes we had a number of them different sizes, and never had a problem fitting them in any model or make of dishwasher.

Does that test tube rack work for things like measuring cylinders, conical flasks, beakers etc? I am finding that the spikes on my dishwasher are so short that most things wobble around hitting each other. I do already have one of the test tube baskets.

Yes it works really well for most glassware - but it doesn't take the 100ml measuring cylinders. Trust me, it's a great investment, so much more useful than the rack used in kitchen dishwashers, I don't know why I even keep the one that came with the washer! Actually, I have put that on top of the dishwasher and use it as an extra drying rack for ice cream tubs and dissecting trays, so it still has a purpose.

I learnt a good trick from some colleagues in Queensland schools.
Bundle 5 or 6 test tubes together with a rubber band and only use one dishwasher spike to hold all of them. It works a treat!!

Genius!