Ask:
Do you wash your dowels? I'm having trouble with my dowels staining the inside of new ribbon that I'm curling, so I've washed them in the dishwasher. Now I'm wondering if they'll be safe to curl fresh ribbon on...even the ones before that I had set aside that looked completely clean to curl white with stained them green on the inside of the curl.
Answer:
Hello?? Anyone????
Answer:
I don't know about washing them, but the BEST way to keep them clean is to cover them with foil while you are baking the ribbon. Just take a sheet of foil and lay it over the top. the reason your ribbon and dowels are becoming stained is from drips in your oven. You can also wash your ribbon in the washer or scrub it in the sink with dishsoap to get the spots off of them. They shouldn't uncurl.
The green is from another ribbon bleeding onto the dowel. Not sure how to fix that problem.
If all else fails, get some new dowels, they are pretty cheap.
Answer:
I hand washed my dowels. You might try baking the dowels in the oven without any ribbon on them first. Or lightly sand the dowels then hand wash them. I haven't had any staining problems.
Answer:
My ribbon itself isn't getting dirty...the oven is clean so there aren't any drips staining the outside of the ribbon...it's the dowels that are staining the insides of my ribbon. Even when the dowels LOOK clean, they still stain my ribbon on the inside.
I did wash them in the dishwasher...we'll see how that works. They still look stained, but I would think they won't fade onto the ribbon now. I'm going to test one and see.