> wrote in message
...
> Does anybody have an opinion of whether it is OK to put bakelite in the
> dishwasher? I have an antique coffee pot that I use as my everyday coffee
> maker, and it has a bakelite handle. Will the detergent take the shine
> off the bakelite or otherwise harm it?
>
> --
> ...I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...
>
> - The Who

A dishwasher will never touch my bakelite. Warm water and mild dish soap
will keep the bakelite pretty for many years to come. Bakelite will hold up
to extreme heat, think black part of light fixtures...but they certainly
don't hold the shine that a well cared for bakelite handle does. Over time
the heat and harsh detergents from the dishwasher will remove the sheen,
lossen connective pieces and cause the bakelite to become brittle.

Bakelite lovers learn to identify bakelite by smell, feel, don't go for the
damaging and inaccurate scubbing bubbles test, or worse the hot pin test. I
couldn't begin to tell you how many bakelite pieces I've passed by because
someone tested them with bubbles and lucite pieces that someone melted with
a hot pin test.

Jessica