would you keep pots and pans that were in a flood?

[Anonymous]

I've posted on other threads. We had flooding here in Brooklyn. My in-laws have the first-floor apt. We're throwing away anything fabric, wood, or electronic. What about metal pots and pans? I was thinking to wash them in pine sol or something, then wash them in the hottest cycle in the dishwasher, may be a few cycles. Compared to all the big appliances, these are little. But it would probably be a few hundred dollars to replace a kitchen-full of dishes/pots/etc. What do you think?

[Anonymous]

No. Seems gross. For a few hundred dollars (or a future holiday gift or otherwise), I'd get a new set. No scientific offerings here, just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

Of course you should keep them. Don't you make pasta? That's salt water.

[Anonymous]

I should specify these are all metal pots and pans.

[Anonymous]

Yes, definitely. Just wash the hell out of them. Sorry for your ordeal!

[Anonymous]

Yes I'd keep them, they are not cheap!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course you should keep them. Don't you make pasta? That's salt water.

It isn't just salt water. They tested the flood waters. Some had sewage in it.

[Anonymous]

I dont know...my first thought was to wash and bleach them but maybe just invest in new ones if you can?

Side note- hope you and your family are okay after the storm!

[Anonymous]

Ok, then.

So your pot falls in a used toilet...do you wash it out really really really good, and then use it again? Do you tell your friends coming over for dinner about the pot? But, now it's clean? Yuck.

[Anonymous]

I would wash them well, and boil water for a while in them to sanitize.

More ideas here:

http://floodcleanup.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/tips-to-clean-up-after-a-flood/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course you should keep them. Don't you make pasta? That's salt water.

It isn't just salt water. They tested the flood waters. Some had sewage in it.

But it's metal. You can disinfect metal. You can wash it, you can heat it to 400+ degrees. Nothing lives in that kind of heat. Honestly, it is such a complete waste to throw out metal just because it has touched flood waters.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I would never consider throwing away a perfectly fine metal pot just because it was in a flood. You wash it. It's not impregnated with poison.

My, we really live in a disposable society. I'll stop the preaching there.

[Anonymous]

I would wash them with bleach and keep them. So sorry to hear about the flooding there, hope you're all doing okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: It isn't just salt water. They tested the flood waters. Some had sewage in it.

Haha. I'm the OP. Tell this to my 83y.o. FIL who says we can just wash all the "wet" clothes and pillows.
After a lot of arguments and trying to convince him to throw stuff away, I've just started bagging up things behind his back.
We have much bigger issues than pots and pans, but I just wanted to think about something little for a minute.

Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, then.

So your pot falls in a used toilet...do you wash it out really really really good, and then use it again? Do you tell your friends coming over for dinner about the pot? But, now it's clean? Yuck.

Well, if my HAND touched the inside of a used toilet..or my HAND touched some poop (it happens if you are changing a diaper) would I throw it out?

No. And guess what? I wouldn't even soak it in a bleach solution or boil it 10 minutes to sterilze.

I would wash the hand well. Then I would continue to use the hand. I would shake hands with friends coming ove to dinner and I would never tell them that the hand they were shaking, the hand that touched the food they were eating... had once touched feces.