Has anyone had any experience washing classic fortiflex feed buckets in the dishwasher? Does any one know if this is an issue? I love a clean bucket and find the hose and scrub method tiresome and ineffective especially for gross beet pulp buckets. If the foriflex is not dishwasher safe has anyone come across and that are? And an extension, any in stall feeders that are dishwasher safe?
I would not use the heated drying cycle if you do. The heat element in most dishwashers will melt the bucket.
I feed mash to my senior and the 3 gallon bucket I use looks pretty nasty after I dump the mash. I just wash the bucket with really hot water before using it at each meal. No soap. It comes clean with one swish of a dish brush and a quick rinse. The trick is to not let the left-over food get hard and crusty. 
That’d wind up being an entire dishwasher load for one item, iirc fortiflex buckets were pretty big.
Could you fill a manure bucket with water and dunk feed buckets in there to soak, making it easier to scrub, until you find a better way?
To clean stuff water is usually your friend! After feeding anything that leaves a residue fill the bucket with water and let it soak, overnight if need be. It’s OK to use a soap or detergent product if you need to but often just letting the water do its work will take care of the problem. This might mean a second set of feed buckets. You feed in set One while set Two is soaking and then you swap them out. This might not mean a total end to scrubbing but will make scrub time easier and shorter.
G.
[h=2]Feed buckets in dishwasher[/h] Try it and let us know what happens.
What G said.
I find I never have to hose/scrub if I follow this simple tactic after feeding – dip the bucket in water (usually a water bucket as I am walking by from feeding), swirl around and dump the rest of the residue in their grain (this catches all supplements/medicine coating the bucket too), and then dump upside down either in a wash-stall or, near grain room. For multiple buckets, just stack them a few inches apart and then stack the next bucket on top of those two). I ran a barn with this method for years and never had an issue… I would dump the horse’s grain, dip their bucket in a bit of their water, swirl, and then dump the rest of the water into their grain… Took maybe an extra five seconds per horse, but totally worth it… and boarders really loved that there was that “extra mile” going to get all the supplements out.
It really takes no extra time if you factor in how much work it takes to scrub 20+ buckets. My method was to grain, rinse, set them upside down and then go pick a few stalls or fill up waters – leaving enough time for the buckets to dry so I could stack them for setting up grain again.
Even with the mashes - it still works great. The gunk accumulation is from letting the feed-stuff dry out without any rinsing. Rinse after every dump and put upside down to let dry.
I don’t think I’d try a dishwasher; only because I don’t think they are dishwasher safe, and I also wouldn’t want a melted bucket lol!
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That seems like a huge waste of water/ electricity etc to run a dishwasher for what is probably 2 horse buckets that will fit.
I worked for a vet for years where everyday, every feed tub and bucket was scrubbed. Hot water, dawn soap, a pot scrubber and some elbow grease. Rinse and done. This was a 24 stall barn and I was the only worker so it is really quite feasible to do.
Unfortunately, a dishwasher isn’t going to be able to remove that ring of tacky beet pulp “slime” that accumulates inside your fortiflex bucket. Ask me how I know. :lol:
Here’s what I learned about dealing with beet pulp “slime”: if you have a bucket with accumulated slime the only way to remove it is a sponge with a scrubbie side, soapy (preferably hot) water, and elbow grease. For daily cleaning just use water and a round headed toilet bowl brush, or a stiff grooming brush.
