Over time, food residue, grease, and soap scum can prevent your dishwasher from cleaning your dishes properly. Luckily, with this 3-step process that you can easily clean your dishwasher.
We’ll start by quickly explaining how this method works, and then we’ll explain the simple 3-step process in detail. We also offer a few bonus tips for keeping your dishwasher working in tip-top shape!
Why It Works
This cleaning process relies on a few popular cleaning ingredients: white vinegar and baking soda. White vinegar helps to remove grime, dissolve mineral deposits, and sanitize your dishwasher. And using baking soda helps to remove lingering odors and scrub away stuck-on food bits, residues, and stains.
Using this method leaves your dishwasher squeaky clean, smelling fresh, and it solves any drainage issues. Here’s how it’s done!
How To Clean Your Dishwasher
To deep clean your dishwasher, remove any foreign material you can find from the drain. Place a bowl full of white vinegar on the top rack and run a complete wash cycle on the hottest setting. Then sprinkle a handful of baking soda across the bottom of your dishwasher and run for a short hot-water cycle.
Keep reading for the full breakdown of how to clean your dishwasher top to bottom!
1. Inspect The Drain
Before you start cleaning your dishwasher, it’s a good idea to quickly check the area around the drain. Remove the bottom rack for easier access, then feel the area around the drain.
Remove any foreign material you find to prevent it from blocking the drain. (You’d be surprised at what repairmen often find down there—bones, crab shells, glass shards, bits of plastic, etc.)
This is also a good opportunity to inspect the holes in the spray arm. If they look grimy, dip an old toothbrush into some vinegar and use it to scrub any food particles out the spray holes. Replace the bottom rack when you’re done.
2. Vinegar Wash
Set a small dishwasher-safe bowl on the top rack of your empty dishwasher, then fill it with white vinegar. Close your dishwasher and run a complete wash cycle on the hottest setting.
3. Baking Soda Wash
Once the first wash cycle is finished, sprinkle a handful of baking soda into the bottom of your dishwasher. Run it through another quick wash cycle using the hottest water setting.
Optional Step – Bleach Wash
If you’ve been struggling with mold and/or mildew in your dishwasher, adding a final bleach wash to the cleaning process should take care of it. To do a bleach wash, add 1 cup of bleach to the bottom of the dishwasher and run a full wash cycle.
(Note: Do NOT do this step if your dishwasher has a stainless steel interior. Bleach can permanently damage and discolor stainless steel.)
Repeat the steps outlined above every 3 months or so to keep your dishwasher clean and working effectively!
5 Bonus Dishwasher Tips
- Run your garbage disposal to clear it out before starting a load of dishes. Dishwashers usually drain into the same pipe as your sink, so that drain must be clear.
- Before starting a load of dishes, run hot water through your sink faucet until it feels hot to the touch. Your dishwasher will perform better if the wash cycle starts with hot water.
- Set your water heater high enough to ensure that the water can clean your dishes effectively. Your water heater should be set to around 120°F (50°C.) Cooler water won’t clean effectively, and hotter water could scald someone accidentally!
- Running only full loads of dishes helps to conserve water and energy, but don’t overfill your dishwasher. Dishwashers work by spraying water over the dishes, so the water needs to be able to get to the dishes in order to clean them.
- You can rinse dirty dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, but don’t over-rinse your dishes. Dishwasher detergent requires a certain amount of gunk and grime to work right. Otherwise, the detergent can foam up during the cycle, which isn’t good for your dishwasher.
