Westmark Vegetable Spiral Slicer

I've been using my Westmark Spiromat for about a week now and love it. I'm thinking about buying more for gifts. It works great. I've used it for spirolizing carrots, beets, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, unripe pears and apples. I've made stir fry meals with the veggie noodles and it tastes great. I've used the apple, pear, and veggy noodles in raw salads and it is just delicious. Using the Westmark Spiromat is a very fun way to add more veggies and fruits in your diet while cutting out gluten and reducing calories. The Westmark Spiromat is made extremely well. It is sturdy and works great. The suction cups hold securely on my granite counter tops. The blades slice easily, even when spirolizing hard sweet potatoes. To use it, I place a plate on the front of the Spiromat to catch the noodles. Cut both ends of the fruit or veggie flat so it can be held firmly by the spikes and round blade holder. Place one hand on the top of the red plastic blade housing, on the front of the Spiromat, and turn the hand crank while applying pressure towards the blade. It's really easy and fun. The noodles can get really long, so I recommend breaking them with your fingers or cutting the noodles with kitchen scissors to make them shorter. I usually use my fingers to break the noodles into shorter pieces. There are three blades included with the Spiromat. One blade spirolizes spaghetti width pasta. Another blade spirolizes a slightly wider flat noodle. The last blade spirolizes wider ribbons. The blades lock tightly into the body of the Spiromat so they don't fall out when not in use. To clean the blades of the Spiromat, I use a clean old toothbrush that I run through the dishwasher. The bristles of the toothbrush work perfectly to clean the blades and blade housing. I rinse the Spiromat blades and base with cold water first to remove any solids (cold water helps to prevent the veggie and fruit starches from sticking on the plastic and blades). Then, I use warm soapy water with a sponge or similar cleaning tool to clean up any stains left by the fruit or veggies. Once I'm done cleaning it, it looks like new. It only takes about a minute to clean. Even though it is dishwasher safe, I prefer to hand wash the Spiromat. Type of Plastic Used (BPA or No BPA): People have been asking about the type of plastic that is used to manufacture the Westmark Spiromat, so I will provide you with some information regarding the type of plastic. This is what I found out: On the bottom of the Westmark Spiromat you will see two little stickers. One sticker has the image of a number "7" in a triangle. The other sticker image is of a "wine glass and a fork." The number "7" denotes the type of plastic that is used. Number "7" plastic is the strongest type of ABS plastic and is usually dishwasher safe (There is a dishwasher safe icon on the box). It can have BPA in it, but it may not. The only way to determine if Number "7" plastic contains BPA is to contact the manufacturer (if the manufacturer has not indicated "BPA Free" on the box). The "wine glass and fork" symbol indicates this plastic is safe for food and drink use and storage. Since the manufacturer did not indicate BPA Free plastic on the Westmark Spiromat box, it would be helpful if the manufacturer would answer the question here, on this Amazon listing, regarding the BPA content (or lack thereof) in the number "7"plastic used in their Westmark Spiromat. Please note: BPA is being replaced by BPS. Some tests have now indicated that BPS can cause similar problems with the human endocrine system as BPA. Also, the Westmark Spiromat is not used to store food, only to process it and your veggies will have very little and brief contact with the plastic surface on the Westmark Spiromat. So, I would think that BPA leaching from the Westmark Spiromat should be very minimal, if at all. Bottom Line: I love the design and I love using the Westmark Spiromat. I hope and expect to get many years of good use and good health out of utilizing this well designed and engineered high quality German made kitchen tool.