In spring of 2010 I decided to do a test to see how well Bakelite held up in a dishwasher. If you want to preserve your Bakelite, best to wash by hand.
Previously, when figuring out whether Bakelite was dishwasher safe or not, I had to rely on my own anecdotal evidence, far from scientific. Finding that less than satisfying, I decided to perform my own test to see just how well Bakelite held up in the dishwasher.
The test was simple; I attached two Bakelite handle halves to the dishwasher rack with zip ties, one on the top rack, and one on the bottom. In our household, we do about a load of dishes each day, so it is safe to say that the number of washes is about equal to the number of days in the dishwasher, within a few percent.
After two months, or 60 washes, I began to notice a little bit of fading and dulling of the shine on the Bakelite. Below is what the handles look like after six months, or 180 washes. The darker/shinier handle is the unwashed (new) comparison.
Clearly, the Bakelite has suffered as a result of washing in the dishwasher. There was no difference between the top rack and bottom rack; both suffered equally.
I can now say with great confidence that you should refrain from putting your cookware with Bakelite parts into the dishwasher.
You also need to check the copper bottoms on the RevereWare pots. When I put the pots in the dishwasher, the bottoms come out all shiny copper colored, just like brand new, pretty nice, BUT what is happening is the copper is being eaten away. I now have pots with most of the copper gone and stainless steel is showing.