WTF?! If the idea of spilling a few drops of water on your brand-new PC hardware is scary, YouTuber and PC enthusiast der8aeur's latest video will probably terrify you. In the video, der8aeur revealed his method for cleaning gunk off of his hardware between extreme overclocking sessions: sticking the components in the dishwasher.

If you're a PC enthusiast, there's one bit of knowledge you probably hold in pretty high regard: don't get your expensive hardware wet, ever. It's age-old wisdom that's been passed down from PC builder to PC builder for years, and for the most part, it's pretty solid advice.

However, YouTuber and overclocking enthusiast der8auer is turning that classic warning on its head. On Sunday, the content creator published a 13-minute video dubbed "The Dishwasher Debate," in which he discusses a somewhat controversial concept: washing precious PC parts in the dishwasher.

As it turns out, not only is treating your motherboard or video card like a plate or spoon relatively harmless, but it can also be the best cleaning method in specific circumstances. In der8aeur's case, he coated his motherboard and video card in Vaseline to prevent condensation from building up while using liquid nitrogen for extreme overclocking purposes.

If you've used Vaseline (or other similar materials) before, you're undoubtedly aware of how difficult it is to get the stuff off of even a completely flat or smooth surface. That difficulty presumably increases quite a bit when the jelly-like material is applied to something with as many cracks and crevices as a piece of PC hardware.

For der8aeur, using a dishwasher is simply the easiest way to clean the gunk off of his components between overclocking sessions. Apparently, there's no risk of damaging your PC hardware with water if it isn't plugged in.

"We could soak this [video card] completely in water, it would survive," der8aeur explains. "It's not a problem, as long [as] nothing is turned on, as long as [it's] not connected to power, the dishwasher is not a problem."

"We could soak this [video card] completely in water, it would survive," der8aeur explains. "It's not a problem, as long [as] nothing is turned on, as long as [it's] not connected to power, the dishwasher is not a problem."

However, he does advise anyone who wants to try this method of hardware cleaning to remove all "unnecessary components" (such as heatsinks), remove the motherboard's battery, and protect the CPU socket with its dedicated cover. Furthermore, when you place your hardware in the dishwasher, you shouldn't add soap or other cleaning chemicals; water is all that you need.

After putting a motherboard, a stick of RAM, and his video card into the dishwasher, der8aeur turned the machine on for about an hour. After noticing that some Vaseline was still on his components, he put them back in for a few more runs (he ran the dishwasher for roughly five hours in total).

Sure enough, after pulling the components back out, they were seemingly free of any Vaseline residue. Better yet, they were all completely functional after he left them to dry overnight.

While we certainly wouldn't advise our readers to try the "dishwasher method" at home, it does appear to be reasonably safe if done correctly. Furthermore, if you try it, you may end up with a pretty funny story to tell your gaming buddies afterward.