This Is Why You Should Put Aluminum Foil in Your Dishwasher

TikTok takes what we thought we knew about cooking and cleaning and absolutely shatters our beliefs. Remember that TikTok mac and cheese recipe? It transformed the way I’ll make Kraft mac forever! For the cleaning fans out there, get ready—the viral video below is about to change the way you load your dishwasher for good.

Should I really put foil in the dishwasher?

Dishwashers are supposed to make our lives easier, but that’s not always the case. Cutlery, especially, can be tricky. If your silverware comes out of the dishwasher looking dirty and dull, don’t start shopping for a new machine yet. Aluminum foil might be all you need to clear up scratches and grimy silverware stains, which is great news.

Next time you’re loading your dishwasher, take a second to rip off a piece of aluminum foil and crumple it up into a ball. Toss it into a compartment in your cutlery basket and run a cleaning cycle like usual. You’ll get shiny silverware every time!

How does this hack work?

The aluminum foil stays trapped in the cutlery basket, so it’s not scrubbing your silverware clean. Instead, the explanation is how the foil ball interacts with the chemicals in your dishwasher tablets.

The reaction is a sort of oxidization process, similar to the trick used to polish silver. In that case, aluminum foil lines a container and tarnished silver soaks in water and powdered detergent. The chemicals in the detergent interact with the metal in the foil, according to Reader’s Digest. This process, known as an ion exchange, oxidizes the tarnish and leaves your silverware looking as good as new.

Don’t miss this TikTok about how to clean a dishwasher filter!