dishwasher magnets
getting clean. and dirty.
dishwasher magnets made from scrabble tiles are all over the internet- but why buy one when it's more fun to make it? naturally, i wasn't going to destroy our scrabble set to get the letters, but you can buy them on ebay, or etsy in every variety of color. i planned to do it at some point, but during a recent trip to the brooklyn flea i came face to face with some. the green ones were picked up at dan's parent's house (he couldn't remember what they came from), and then 20 stalls over from him i found the cream ones. since i had enough for 2, i made 2.
- 10 lettered tiles that spell "clean" and "dirty"
- magna-tac glue
- magnetic strip
the original plan was to glue the letters together with magna-tac, because it's easier to control, and then hot glue the letters to the magnet, because i thought it would be more secure. but the hot glue gun decided to act a fool all day, so i scrapped it entirely and only used the magna-tac. worked great.
- flatten out the magnetic strip by placing some heavy books on it while it's uncoiled.
- lay out the letters in order.
- to help prevent glueing the letters to the table, work on a sheet of wax paper. glue the first two letters together, making sure that they line up along the bottom edge. let the glue dry for about 10-15 minutes.
- continue to glue on letters, lining up the bottom edge and letting the glue dry before adding the next one.
- glue the bottom edge of "clean" to the bottom edge of "dirty". let dry for an hour.
- cut the magnetic strip slightly shorter than the tiles. center the magnet on the reverse side of the tiles, and glue in place. cover the surface of the magnet with a strip of clean wax paper, and place heavy books on top. let magnet dry completely overnight.
- slap it on your dishwasher and prepare to answer the age old question, "are they clean, or dirty?"
