Comments on: How To Clean A Dishwasher In 3 Easy Steps

By: Connie Foster

Connie Foster — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 19:21:01 +0000

In reply to Sandra L. Wendorf. Who mentioned bleach? She said vinegar!

By: Al Seaver

Al Seaver — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 15:22:18 +0000

In reply to Christy Morrill. Depending upon how quickly the rust and/or hard water deposits appear, You might want to try running the empty machine with a dose of Lime-A-Way. Start the machine with the Lime_A Way in it, and after a minute, crack the door open to let the Lime_A_Way work for a few minutes, then close and start the machine and let it run to the end. If you have a machine with really bad deposits and O̳N̳L̳Y̳ if your machine has a plastic tank, you could also do what I used to use to clean them, Muriatic acid, but do be careful as it is just what it says it is, acid, and it will do damage to you if you get it on you. It will also absolutely turn the inside of a stainless steel tub a nice shade of bnown if you try using in in one of those (don't ask). If you only have rust stains that you wish to remove, a wet sponge and Barkeepers Friend will quiclly remove it with a little elbow grease.

By: Al Seaver

Al Seaver — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 14:50:08 +0000

At the risk of repeating myself, always turn on any heat boosters on the dishwashers. The water comning from you water heater, if properly set, is at a maximum of 120 degrees, and even less once it has traveled through the plumbing to the dishwasher, and the heat booster settings (sani wash/rinse or whatever) will heat the water to 140-145 degrees, which will greatly improve the dissolving of pods or tablets. Additionally, despite what some silly manufacturers stated on their dishwashers years ago, you absolutely should give the dishes a quick pre-rinse before putting them in the machine. They are called dishwashers, not garbage disposals. Want to keep oils and grease from building up down in the places that you can’t see? In addition to the added heat from the machines boosters, try putting just two(2) d͟r͟o͟p͟s͟ of dawn dish detergent in the soap cups. Dawn is extremely good at removing greases and oils, which, if left to accumilate, will not only slow the water flow through the machine, but will also trap food debris, thus causing odors. Finally, when cleaning the spray bar and you find bit of debris plugging any of the holes, after you poke the debris out of the holes, you need to run weter back through those holes to bacwash the debris out or it will just go right back to plugging the holes once the machine is run. New machines are particularly prone to this issue as , in the name of efficiency, manufacturers have made those spray bar holes much smaller that they were in older machines. A litrtle p.s. Should someone get carried away with the Dawn detergent and create the dreaded suds monster in the machine, simply crack the door open and pour a small amount of liquid fabric softener into the machine, close the door, and hit the run button. The suds will disappear in mere seconds. This also works if someone gets heavy handed with laundry soap in your washing machine. Back when I used to repair/refurbish dishwashers, I alway said that a dishwashers worst enemy was its owner. All too many of the machines I worked on had easily repairable issues that were cause by people using them incorrectly.

By: Christy Morrill

Christy Morrill — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 13:24:29 +0000

I love reading the updated tips . I was reading some of this to my mom. We also live in an area with hard water. Luckily we’ve never had to deal with the gross rusty water.When I worked at an older store location people said they had get water softeners. These were also folks that lived in older parts of our city with older sewer pipes.

By: Kate cook

Kate cook — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 12:25:35 +0000

My dishwasher has a filter at the bottom that has to be cleaned periodically because it gets disgustingly dirty and slimy. The arms that distribute water also have to be removed and cleaned. Things get stuck in the little holes. When they’re clogged the dishes come out dirty. My method is:

Remove and clean the filter. It comes apart.
Remove and clean the twirling arms. I do this one at a time so I remember which one goes on top.
Clean the gasket well. We’ve had to replace our gasket when water started leaking out. It’s an easy DIY.
Put a bowl with CLR in the top shelf and run a full cycle.

I never use bleach because we have a septic tank and it ruins the bacterial action. Also our dw has a stainless interior so no vinegar. CLR works great. We use the pods that are safe for septic tanks. No problems with them. My husband leaves the mason jars that I make yogurt in, and other things, unrinsed and they never come out clean so I don’t buy into the idea that you don’t have to rinse things pretty well. I gave up on refilling the rinse compartment. It seems unnecessary.

By: Katy Watson

Katy Watson — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 09:13:55 +0000

Our plumber said not to use the pods because they actually cause a lot of trouble. The plastic the liquid is wrapped in doesn’t always dissolve all the way and can cause major problems. He recommends Cascade liquid gel.

By: Wendy Rhodes

Wendy Rhodes — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 06:35:07 +0000

I have hard water where I live and use my dishwasher 1. maybe 2 times a week (I cook a lot LOL) I have discovered that a combination of Cascade Complete pods and Lemi Shine dishwasher booster powder gets the job done. So long as there are no large food pieces, rice, pasta or grease, everything gets thrown in the dishwasher. I do not rinse anything. I always use the heated water setting and turn on the kitchen faucet first to get the hot water flowing quicker. The heated water setting gets the water a lot hotter than what comes out of the tap, so I think that helps too.