Want to repair dishwasher silverware tray - need plastic material

How big are the holes? Dollar stores sell a synthetic rubber sheet as an anti slip liner which is in the form of a mesh.

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Hi...

How about a chunk cut out of a regular old style drying rack? I'm thinking of the ones that you put on the counter top to let freshly rinsed hand washed dishes drip and dry in.

Another might be a piece cut out of a kids bicycle carrier?

And finally, if you have more time on your hands that dollars, how about a piece of plain plastic. Cut it to shape, marked off a nice grid on it, and start drilling out 1/4 inch holes.

Take care.

Ken

I suppose suggesting using a drill sort of keeps it OT in this ng. But, I think cutting a piece to fit out of the lid of a margarine/sour cream tub with a pair of scissors and using a 1/4" leather punch with a wooden mallet would Do The Job.

Jonesy

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My local big-box hardware store has sheets of plastic with round holes that you use to cover your roofing gutters, to cause leaves to go right over while allowing rainwater to go thru the holes. Around $2.00 for a sheet about 8' by 24'. That should be plenty to cover the bottom of the silverware tray, and it can be cut with sharp sissors or a utility knife.

H. R. (Bob) Hofmann

well i dont use my dish washer as a dish washer a use it as a snack holder in my 18 year old house

Maybe consider a stainless steel woven mesh similar to this:

SS wire mesh should standup well in a dish washer environment. I agree that a 0.25 inch grid would be way better than the 0.1 inch shown at the above link.

If you look at the McMaster website:

search for their product # 9322T51 for picture and idea about a wire mesh with four holes per inch.

- mkaras

You should use care on the selection of the type of plastic selected. Many plastics are not going to standup in the high temperatures inside a dish washer. Also some types of plastics may be non-foodgrade and could end up leaching nasty chemicals and residues onto your dishes and eating utensils.

- mkaras

Hey everybody, thanks for the suggestions. One of them made me think about using the plastic tops of various round containers (like from a coffee can) and cutting holes into it with an X-acto knife. Won't be pretty, but it will work.

Thanks again! Bee

Hi...

One more thought comes to mind...

If you do go that route, then you might consider taking samples of the plastic you're going to use and running them through a wash and dry before you invest your labor cutting them first.

Wash a piece (coffee can lid, for example) on the bottom rack (hottest area) in the hottest wash cycle you'll ever use, and with heated drying turned on. Make sure that the heat and water pressure don't destroy it before you invest your time into cutting or drilling it.

Take care.

Ken

Most of the answers to date sound pretty elaborate. Too elaborate. The answer is needlepoint canvas. Get it at any knitting or yarn shop. They have an off-white fiber-based canvas (no good for you), but they also have exactly what you describe - tough white plastic mesh. Available in small pieces and a variety of mesh sizes. Somewhat flexible, easy to cut, etc.

Bill

This is a usual rip-off replacement item... the requirement for a "mesh" is a fallacy, for years I've used various materials (mostly from food grade "tupperware" type stufff) without any mesh.. just open the door of the machine when it's rinsing--> water flying everywhere, rarely, if ever do I find any "gunk" on the bottom of the tray.