Can I Tovel a used plastic popsicle mold?

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 12:26 pm

I don’t think tevila can make things kosher after having been used for trief, it would need kashering which I’m not sure can br done to plastic. Best ask your LOR

NB some people do tovel new plastic dishes etc

Last edited by s1 on Tue, Oct 05 2021, 12:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Mint

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 12:47 pm

s1 wrote:

Isn’t there a Halacha about al tosif ?
I hope they don’t make a bracha

amother

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 12:52 pm

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

Toiveling things does not make it kosher

Kashering certain items will make them kosher but plastic cannot be kashered. Only metal.

**Thanks all! I wanted to buy a popsicle mold that’s not sold in stores anymore but on eBay, but it is used and I had a small feeling I couldn’t buy it.

Oh well. Ty for all the useful information!

amother

Carnation

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 12:54 pm

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

Toiveling things does not make it kosher

Kashering certain items will make them kosher but plastic cannot be kashered. Only metal.

https://oukosher.org/passover/.....ver/:
As a rule, materials such as metal, wood, stone, natural rubber, and fabric can be kashered[/b]. [/I]

Please don't impose your non-halachic based stringencies on other people.

zaq

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 12:57 pm

amother [ Mint ] wrote:

Isn’t there a Halacha about al tosif ?
I hope they don’t make a bracha

Most communities don't toivel plastic. Those that do hold tevilah without a bracha. The preferred way is to toivel something that requires a bracha first and then toivel the plastic.

amother

Mimosa

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 12:58 pm

amother [ Mint ] wrote:

Isn’t there a Halacha about al tosif ?
I hope they don’t make a bracha

This has nothing to do with ba'al tosif (which, like many other things, isn't a bumper sticker philosophy, but has actual halachic parameters).

The reason that some do toivel plastic is because the original requirement of tevilla was on materials that can be melted down and reused (also something to do with being mekabel tuma, but I dktn recall). So glass and metal, yes. Ceramics and earthenware, no. Had plastic exited and been used the way it is now at the time of chazal, it would have been included with glass and metal. This is how a newly married friend whose husband has this minhag explained it to me, so I'm heard it third hand. I didn't ask, but I'd very much assume there's no bracha.

Growing up, my family toiveled china because it's glazed with a glass layer. We did so l'chumra without a bracha. Dh's family does NOT toivel china at all.

These are all interpretations of halacha and how it's applied based on the words in the Torah commandment. It's not ba'al tosif because no one is saying, ' hmm...I think I'll start toiveling my flower pots and negel vasser cup because wouldn't that be so nice, and in the spirit of tevilla'

amother

Mimosa

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 1:00 pm

amother [ Carnation ] wrote:

https://oukosher.org/passover/articles/kashering-for-passover/:
As a rule, materials such as metal, wood, stone, natural rubber, and fabric can be kashered[/b]. [/I]

Please don't impose your non-halachic based stringencies on other people.

She didn't say anything that contradicted what you posted. Tevilla alone doesn't kasher something. You can't take a trief spoon, dip it in a mikvah, and use it. There's an ownership problem, and either minimal cleansing or ha'galah required.

And even according to your link, plastic is not listed as something that can be kashered.

sky

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 1:01 pm

amother [ Mint ] wrote:

Isn’t there a Halacha about al tosif ?
I hope they don’t make a bracha

Some yekkes toivel plastic without a bracha.
It’s a huge hassle

I was told that items that are only used for cold don’t need kashering. I was told this about plastic cookie cutters I bought used.

But I think plastic iced mold maybe is a question for rav bec
- Ices liquid can be hot
- holds contents more then 24 hrs
- some plastic ices molds are a porous material

amother

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 1:15 pm

sky wrote:

Thanks. I’ll ask my LOR.

amother

Bluebell

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 1:17 pm

There's a common misconception, and I think that's where op was coming from, that toveling dishes or utensils in a mikvah makes them kosher. That's not the case. If we buy new dishes or pots made of metal or glass that were never used before we have to dip them in a keilim mikvah and make a bracha. Some people also dip china and plastic but without a bracha. A new knife, a new pot, a new glass measuring cup or bowl have to be toveled. Dishes that were used with non-kosher foods can't be kashered in a mikvah. The mikvah won't turn a non-kosher pot into a kosher one. There are ways to kasher certain items such as hagala and libun (these involve different types of heat) but that has nothing to do with a mikvah. Plastic cannot be kashered but metal and certain other things can.

amother

Carnation

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 3:19 pm

amother [ Mimosa ] wrote:

I wasn't addressing tevilah at all, which doesn't kasher and has to be done AFTER kashering if someone acquired a tref utensil from a nonjew (but not if someone trefed up their own utensil). I was addressing kashering specifically. Amother asserted that plastic can't be kashered, "only metal" and said it as if that's the be-all and end-all. That's absolutely not true. For one thing some opinions hold that certain plastics CAN be kashered, though most disagree. For another thing, if OP is confusing tevilah and kashering, she's probably also unaware of the range of materials that can and cannot be kashered, and amother "onlymetal" is misleading her. Suppose OP finds a secondhand marble candy slab or agate bowl? Amother "onlymetal" would have her believe she can't kasher it, but she can.

amother

Butterscotch

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 3:31 pm

amother [ Mint ] wrote:

Isn’t there a Halacha about al tosif ?
I hope they don’t make a bracha

You only make a Brocha on glass and metal but some Rabbanim hold you should Toivel other materials like porcelain, lucite, non-disposable plastic..

challahchallah

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 6:37 pm

Whether or not kashering plastic is allowed is for sure an area of differing opinions. The CRC, for instance, holds that it’s ok. OP, I’d ask your rabbi this question to see what you hold.

https://sites.google.com/view/kashrushalacha/דרך-קצרה/kashering

Edit: link isn’t working, but if you copy and paste the address it works.