Can I put my electric toothbrush in the dishwasher?

March 7, 2004 10:56 AM

Can I put my electric toothbrush in the dishwasher? The bristle is detachable from the powered handle, and the threads collect gunk that I would just as soon power-wash away. The handle seems watertight -- the bristlehead moves via magnets, and the charging element is behind plastic.
posted by blueshammer to Technology (5 answers total)

Brand/model?
posted by scarabic at 11:05 AM on March 7, 2004

Response by poster: It's the basic Sonicare. My concerns would be, you know, is it less waterproof than it looks? Will the high temperatures damage the magnets? etc.
posted by blueshammer at 12:08 PM on March 7, 2004

I soak our Sonicares in Listerine (or whatever off-brand Listerine-type I can find) and have been doing so monthly for a few years. No problem so far.

I <3 my Sonicare.
posted by Tacodog at 12:47 PM on March 7, 2004

I can't locate anything on their site (I presume you have tried, too). I have one of those myself and I probably wouldn't chance it without word from them that it's dishwasher-safe. It seems like it would be, but then, as you say, the temperature...

There are over 200 Epinions reviews of it and a few people mention putting the bristle piece in the dishwasher, but none mention the base. I guess all we can do is wait to hear from someone who's tried it.

The bristle piece should be fine in the dishwasher, anyway, and as that's the female end of the threaded connection, it's the harder to clean. I'd clean the base manually if'n I wert thou.
posted by scarabic at 2:41 PM on March 7, 2004

Just clean the thing with a toothbrush.
posted by Goofyy at 6:38 AM on March 8, 2004