The ultimate guide to deeply cleaning your dishwasher.
Everyone loves to use the appliances but nobody likes to clean them. Mostly we do not know how to clean dishwasher? It is recommended that deeply clean every appliance every six months. In this article, I gonna explain to you all the possible ways to clean the dishwasher may be it with vinegar, baking soda, or other methods. It makes your dishwasher brand new and increases the life of your dishwasher. Let us know how to clean dishwasher?
What you need
You need many things to clean the dishwasher. First of all, gather these all.
- Warm Water
- Toothpicks
- Toothbrush
- Distilled white vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Microfibre cloth or any soft cotton cloth
- Rubber gloves
Remove the filter, utensil holder, and racks
The very first way to know how to clean dishwasher is to clean the dishwasher very nicely remove the filter, utensil holder, and dishwasher racks. By removing these you can clean the hard-to-reach places too. Now take the warm water and add a cup of vinegar and soak these all. Some filters may not remove and you can simply twist them off. Many require tools to take off. Leave these all to soak in warm water and vinegar mixture for at least half an hour.
Clean all the debris
The next step in how to clean dishwasher is to clean the spray arms and the side walls. Cleean is very nice on the top and bottom corners. Look for all the tiny holes and slots inside the filter and dispenser where water sprays out. If you see any food particles or something that lodged these holes, use a toothbrush or toothpick to clean them nicely. Look for all the possible places that are dirty and clean them.
Run the dishwasher with vinegar on the hot water cycle
Take a dishwasher-safe bowl and fill it with one cup of vinegar and place it at the bottom of the dishwasher. Please note that the dishwasher must be empty. Now run the dishwasher on the hot water cycle. The vinegar will soften any remaining food, soap scum, residue, and grease. This step is very important as it helps in removing the stains and smells too. Step by step we are getting to know how to clean dishwasher?
Run wash cycle with baking soda
Wait for the first cycle with vinegar to complete. After that start another wash cycle using baking soda. To do so, sprinkle a cup of soda on the bottom of the dishwasher. Start a wash cycle and it will remove the tough stains and odor. It makes your dishwasher freshen. It results in a bright, sparkling, and smell-free dishwasher.
Now clean the dishwasher from outside
Take a cleaner especially recommended for your dishwasher and use it to clean its surface. It is good to know what material is used for your dishwasher surface. For example, if its surface is made up of stainless steel then take a cleaner that is especially for it.
Steps to make DIY cleaner
You can also create a DIY cleaner at home.
- Take dish soap, water, and white vinegar.
- Mix them very well. The mixture is ready.
- It is a DIY dishwasher cleaning mixture safe for all types of dishwashers.
- Take a microfibre cloth and dip it into the mixture and squeeze the excessive mixture.
- Use this cloth to clean the surface of your dishwasher.
- Repeat it two to three times for a brand-new look.
Clean the rack, filter, and utensil holder
We soak the rack, filter, and utensil holder at the start. Now take a brush and clean them nicely and wipe out the excessive water.
Why do the cleaning?
Reason Number 1
Once you clean your dishwasher you will automatically realize the benefits of doing the cleaning. It will increase the life of the dishwasher and it looks brand new. Your dishwasher starts smelling amazingly nice. All the pores or holes that spray the water will function properly and clean the utensils very well. Overall its performance will increase. It is necessary to do a deep clean after every six months.
Reason Number 2
Infact your dishwasher has automatically cleaning system. Do it every month. It will kill most of the bacteria. If your dishwasher does not have a sanitizing option, stock up on Affresh. Affresh is a foaming tablet that helps in removing residue and helps in the maintenance of the dishwasher.
How to clean the dishwasher with dishwasher cleaner?
If the baking soda and vinegar don’t do their job very well then use the dishwasher cleaner designed especially for the dishwasher.
Affresh dishwasher cleaner
It is specially designed to remove the limescale(hard) and mineral build-up. You can use it when a normal load is running.
- Clear the filter
The first step is to clean the filter for any food debris. If possible remove the filter and clean it very well and clean the pores. It is important to check whether your dishwasher filter is removable or not.
- Place the cleaner tablet
If you are running your dishwasher without utensils, then try to add one tablet to the detergent tray and one at the bottom of the dishwasher.
If you are using utensils, then use one tablet and place it at the bottom of the dishwasher. use the normal dishwasher detergent in the tray.
- Run Cycle
Now the next step is to run the wash cycle no with utensils or without utensils.
Clean with lemon juice
If you use lemon water to clean the dishwasher, then it results are wonderful. To do so, Take a cup of lemon juice and keep it into the top rack of the dishwasher and start a normal cycle. It will remove the hard spots and iron buildup.
Clean with rubbing alcohol
Another way to clean the dishwasher is to use rubbing alcohol and clean the exterior of the dishwasher. Take a micro fiber cloth and clean the doors. If the buttons are made of plastic, avoid rubbing them.
How frequently does a dishwasher need to be cleaned?
If you know how to clean dishwasher? then its important to know How frequently a dishwasher is to be cleaned. It is depend on the number of wash cycles you run, daily or alternate days. If you run the dishwasher daily, then these are the helping points.
- Daily: Remove every visible residue of the food from inside the filter and from the dishwasher’s bottom.
- Weekly: Clean the edges of the door and gasket to remove the debris. Remove the filter and clean it firmly.
- Monthly: It is advised to clean the interior very well with a cleaning cycle.
- Clean the exterior, edges, and spots.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Daily: To remove the visible food particles and stains.
Weekly: To remove the door’s edges and gasket to remove the debris and clean the filter.
Monthly: Give a deep clean for the interior of the dishwasher.
- Preheat the water.
- Clean excessive food residue daily.
- Load the dishes properly.
- Use the recommended dishwasher cleaner only.
- Use the hotter cycle.
- Install the water softener.
The dishwasher is very hygienic to use. It kills most of the germs and bacteria. It uses hot water to clean the utensils. So it kills the germs too.
Yes, It senses the soil in the utensils. It senses how dirty the dish is, and according to that it sprays the detergent and water to clean it properly.
Vinegar, baking soda, lemon, and dishwasher cleaner are used to clean the dishwasher. Many times sea salt is also used with vinegar to clean the dishwasher.
It is never a safe way to clean the dishwasher by combining vinegar and bleach. It will ruin your dishwasher.
It is not safe to mix baking soda and bleach because of their chemical reaction. It creates hazardous gas and spoils the dishwasher.
Conclusion
Cleaning the dishwasher is very important to increase its efficiency and life. Follow these steps to clean it and know how to clean dishwasher?
- Remove the filter, utensil holder, and racks and soak in warm and vinegar mixture.
- Clean all the debris from the dishwasher.
- Run the dishwasher with vinegar on a hot cycle wash.
- Run another wash cycle with baking soda.
- Clean the dishwasher from the outside.
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