How I Deep Clean My Dishwasher

I’m not going to lie to y’all, “how I deep clean my dishwasher” is one of the weirder things for me to post. But I recently learned something to become a better adult (and also simplify my life a bit), and I feel pretty confident that a lot of y’all of may not know this either….

In fact, I asked y’all on Instagram about this and 74% of y’all responded to my poll and said you had no idea what I was talking about when I referred to my dishwasher filter! And if you’re not cleaning out your filter, are you REALLY cleaning out your dishwasher? (Answer: NO)

Turns out you are supposed to clean your dishwasher filter every 1-2 months! I sure as heck didn’t know this. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever cleaned a dishwasher filter in my life. A dishwasher cleans things, so why would I clean it– why doesn’t it clean itself?! Silly, I know, and made me feel like Nick Miller from New Girl when he says that he’s never cleaned his towel (lol)

When we lived in our apartment, we had SO many issues with our dishwasher. Looking back now, if I had cleaned out the filter (which was probably loaded with stuff from previous owners) things would have been a lot easier. Our dishwasher in our house now is only a year old, but recently, dishes just have not been coming out clean. There will be grit left on the “clean” dishes or some very small food particles. To be fair, we are not the best at rinsing off our dishes, we normally just scrape big food pieces into the trash or compost. But once I cleaned our dishwasher filter, it’s cleaning things like new.

So today I’m going to share how I ~*now~*~ clean my dishwasher that have made my dishes actually come out clean, helped my dishwasher drain easier, and made my dishwasher smell a HECK of a lot better.

Clean the dishwasher filter

So this step is going to vary by your dishwasher brand (I have a Whirlpool), but it should be fairly similar if you have a different brand or model. You’re going to want to locate the filter on the bottom of your dishwasher. You should ultimately refer to your owners manual.

Mine has directions on the filter that say to twist it counterclockwise and then I pull it out. This is the upper filter. (Look at the nasty stuff in it from only a week!)

The bottom filter is the flat one and could just pop out.

Rinse both filters out in your sink (be sure not to use any abrasive sponges so that you don’t tear the filter). Once both are free of debris, you can pop the bottom filter back in and then the top one and twist it clockwise back into place.

Wipe out with vinegar

Next step is going to cleaning around the door. Mine will grow mold around it if I don’t clean it regularly! I like this cleaning vinegar because it smells like eucalyptus. Don’t use any kind of dish soap to clean inside your dishwasher or else you’ll have a kitchen overflowing with bubbles!

Descale from mineral build up

Affresh is the dishwasher cleaner recommended by the big dishwasher companies, so it is what I use! Run it empty without any dishes and just put the tab in the detergent tray and run a normal cycle.

Run empty with vinegar

Next to deodorize, you’re going to want to get a large measuring cup, fill it with about 2 cups of white vinegar and place the full cup on the bottom rack of the dishwasher. Then, run the dishwasher on a hot cycle with the dry turned off. This should help to kill any mold growing in your dishwasher.

 

Your dishwasher should now be good as new!