The term spülmaschinenfest means "dishwasher safe"; a similar term with the same meaning would be spülmaschinengeeignet which translates as "suitable for dishwasher use".
However, blindly trusting such a statement can lead to disastrous results. Dishwashers became widely available around 1960, but unlike today's models they primarily used hot water to clean items. Since then, the required water temperature has been dramatically reduced by using various chemical additives. However, these are far too aggressive for older "dishwasher-safe" marked items, causing everything from simple colour fading to complete greying of the glaze.
© 2004-2026 C.S.Marshall, all rights reserved