Max Hauser wrote:
"Jerry Avins" in :
Jim Yanik wrote:
I find that automatic dishwasher detergent is good for soaking
crusted stuff in; it really attacks organics. ...

Many dishwasher detergents contain grit. The chemicals are powerful, but
rubbing Teflon with it would be ill advised unless it was tested first

Hi Jerry, Jim Yanik's point may have been the same one I offer on this
subject..

Cleaning nonstick surfaces is not about scrubbing, but loosening the
residues chemically. Then they'll either float off, or come off with a wipe
from a sponge. Various cleaning agents that loosen organic material are
good for this, they will soften or saponify the food residues. (Avoiding
abrasion is fundamental to nonstick coatings. When PTFE or "Teflon"
coatings first appeared, they were described like highly inert waxes, to be
handled accordingly. Commercial pan coatings have since gotten tougher.
Look in a restaurant supplier with a display room and you'll see arrays of
inexpensive nonstick fry pans of identical size going up in durability, and
price.)

Conventional powdered dishwasher detergent is based mostly or entirely on
TSP (trisodium phosphate) which softens organic matter, just like ammonia
and other alkalies (that attack aluminum more aggressively). It's excellent
for soaking food deposits, not just on Teflon, I use it all the time. (TSP
also is sold in bulk as an all-purpose cleaner concentrate.) That's the
relevance of dishwasher detergent to nonstick coatings, as far as I know.

The relevance must depend on location, then. Phosphate detergents are
not allowed in many locations, including, I think, all of New Jersey.
Both Cascade and All sold there include grit that appears to be fine
sand, as one can see when some is dissolved in a transparent glass.

Finally there's a "seasoning" ritual for nonstick coatings, analogous to
(but briefer and lighter than) for cast iron. This maintains the like-new
stick resistance. After cleaning and drying, you rub with a tiny bit of oil
and heat a bit then rub off the exces. (More or less.) It has to do with
filling micro-pores if I remember. But go by instructions that the
manufacturers give, not my offhand memory. (Do NOT ask for advice about
that subtle point on an online forum like these. Experience shows you will
get even more heartfelt misinformation than drivers get from passers-by when
their car is stuck in mud.)

Good point!

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
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