Dishwasher safe? Microwave safe? KitchenMax reads the markings, so you don't have to guess

Photograph the underside of any pan, container, mug or lunch box and KitchenMax reads the stamped, embossed or printed markings, explains them in plain words — dishwasher, microwave, oven, freezer, food safe, which plastic — and sorts the item into the dishwasher program it belongs in alongside everything else in your cupboard.

It's free to use: 30 scans in your first month and 5 a month after that, supported by ads. KitchenMax Premium raises that to 40 scans a day, with no ads, for $2.99 a month.

Coming sooniPhone app

How it works

• Scan. Take a photo of the markings — or several, when a container's base and lid carry different ones. KitchenMax reads the standard safety symbols, the resin code and any printed text next to them, and recognises well-known products whose care instructions the manufacturer has published.
• Understand. Every reading is shown as its symbol with a plain-language explanation: what "top rack only" really means, why the three-arrow triangle with a 5 in it is good news and a 7 is a question mark, how hot an oven-safe dish can actually go.
• Sort. Save the item to your cupboard and KitchenMax groups it with everything that wants the same dishwasher program — intensive, normal, glass and delicate, top rack only, and the hand-wash pile — using the program names your own dishwasher brand uses.

What you get

• A cupboard that remembers every item's safety markings, with Microwave OK, Oven OK, Freezer OK and Not food safe filters, saved to your account so a new phone picks up where the old one left off.
• A reheat check for any item — microwave, oven or freezer at a glance, with a safety tip for its material — and your own microwave wattage and oven limit taken into account.
• A complete kitchenware symbol guide: dishwasher, microwave, oven, freezer, food-safe, stovetop and every plastic resin code, with what each one means.
• KitchenMax is an Android app, coming to Google Play as soon as it clears Google's testing programme. This website has the symbol reference and everything to know before you install it.

Accuracy, honestly

KitchenMax uses AI to read markings, and AI makes mistakes — a worn stamp or an unusual symbol can be misread. Every reading shows you the marks it found so you can check them against the item, and you can correct any reading. When a marking is unclear or missing, KitchenMax says so instead of guessing, and a photo where nothing can be read doesn't use up a scan. When the manufacturer and the app disagree, trust the manufacturer.

Learn the symbols yourself

Kitchenware markings are a small vocabulary: plates under water drops for the dishwasher, wavy lines for the microwave, a snowflake for the freezer, a glass and fork for food contact, and a triangle of arrows with a number for the plastic. The symbol guide explains every one of them.