Safety Reminder!

[Buy A Paper Doll]

We've had a scary night here at Milo and Lily's house.

I was in the back bedroom hanging out with the birds, when hubby noticed the smell of something burning. It was the dishwasher. A plastic lid had fallen down off the rack in the dishwasher, and was sitting on the heating element. The lid was in pieces; the fumes were TERRIBLE.

Fortunately someone was home to notice it, secure the birds and dog in a room away from the fumes, and air out the house. But I normally don't run the dishwasher in the evenings. Normally I turn it on when I'm leaving for work in the mornings. I don't want to think about what would have happened to the birds if no one had been home. :x:x:x

I won't be running the dishwasher when no one is home ever again.

[Flapjack]

That happened at my house once before I had birds. I did have a cat, though.
The whole downstairs filled with terrible smoke and fumes. It was just before I got home :x
Now, plastic is well secured in the top tray.
My only fear is that someone else, not as careful as I, will start the dishwasher.:(
Glad everyone is ok.

[HaleBoppPeachyluv]

That's a great reminder and I'm sooo glad your fids and animals are okay.

[LauraO]

Jennifer: Thanks for sharing this! It happened to us a couple of months back when one of the parakeet dishes feel onto one of the heating elements. Of course, I've gotten so paranoid lately, I get too nervous to leave anything but hte heater on when I leave, and even that I turn down as low as possible.

[Buy A Paper Doll]

I wanted to add, there's an option on my dishwasher to run it with out the heated drying cycle. That means the dishes just air dry with no heat after they're washed. But it also means that I don't have the risk of plastic lids melting on the heating element while they're drying.

I think I'm going to go with this option.

[lemonypickett]

Thanks for the warning Jennifer.. I never even thought of that. You may have saved lives by your post!

Eddie and I thank you.

[linda040899]

Thanks for sharing this, Jennifer! Basic assumption is that whatever has started will finish in the expected fashion.

However, electrical appliances scare me! I've learned (thankfully not with appliances) from the experiences shared by others and I have no desire to tempt fate. Like Laura, only the heat is on when I leave home for even a short period of time.

[Pips mom]

I wanted to add, there's an option on my dishwasher to run it with out the heated drying cycle. That means the dishes just air dry with no heat after they're washed. But it also means that I don't have the risk of plastic lids melting on the heating element while they're drying.

I think I'm going to go with this option.

I was just going to suggest this, as the same type of thing happened here not too long ago. A big plastic spoon had fallen down on the heating element, and my boyfriend had started the dishwasher before he left for work, so no one was home! I came in from work to this smell in the house, but luckily the smell wasn't very strong.....just a weird smell that I couldn't quite place! So after sniffing around a bit, I found it was coming from the dishwasher, opened it up and saw the plastic spoon there on the bottom. All I really had to do is open a window or two for a little while to air it out. I was lucky.....for some reason the smell really wasn't bad....it didn't smell good, but it wasn't strong at all, so we had already come up with the idea of not running the drying feature and letting them air dry......saves you money too! At least if no one is going to be home while it's running!
It's a good idea though to let everyone know about this problem that could happen! It's something people wouldn't even think about until it happens to them!

[Bella]

I have heard one too many horror stories about homes being set on fire by faulty appliances. I will not run anything when we are out or when we are asleep.

Glad the story ended well!