Cleaning a Dishwasher: All you Need to Know

A dishwasher is a very useful home appliance, keeping it clean will help it perform its job in a smooth and correct way, while keeping your dishwasher dirty can undermine its performance and make it not clean your dishes properly.

To keep your dishwasher doing a good job you must clean it every month, to prevent bad smells and the concentration of dirt, detergent and other materials that get in the way of a good cleaning.

Cleaning a dishwasher is not a difficult task, whether you use a special cleaning product or just vinegar or baking soda, keeping your dishwasher clean and sparkling is something that canbe done easily just by taking a couple of hours of our time every 30 days or so.

You can adjust the cleaning periods according to your own particular needs, depending on how much dirt and odors your dishwasher builds up, but never let it go more than six months uncleaned.

Get ready to deep clean your dishwasher

To ensure you’re doing it the right way, if you’re a beginner and/or you have some questions about it, we will explain in simple steps what you need to take into account when cleaning your dishwasher. 

First you’ll need: 

1. Rubber Gloves: you’ll want to protect your hands from all the materials you’re going to possibly touch.
2. White vinegar: you’ll need one cup. This will help all the grease, dirt, remaining food, detergent and other materials come off more easily and will neutralize the odor.
3. Baking Soda: While you should never mix white vinegar and baking soda together, you can enjoy their benefits using one after the other. Gather one cup of baking soda, that extra help will end any smell that may have persisted..
4. OR if you prefer you can use a dishwasher cleaner: this will also be explained later on.
5. A cloth.

To begin cleaning your dishwasher check the drain: 

Before getting into the details on how to use vinegar, baking soda or dishwasher first you have to check the drain at the bottom of your dishwasher. 

For this, remove the bottom rack so you can have easy access to it and with sink water, clean all the leftover debris or food that may be there. 

Those materials can get in the way of your future cleaning cycles and damage your dishwasher. If you do this often you’ll save some time and money in the future.

How to use vinegar to clean a dishwasher

Now, after the filter is clean, place a dishwasher safe cup with vinegar on the top rack of your dishwasher and run a hot water cycle. Try not to use the hot water for as long as the cycle lasts, it’s important for the water to be as hot as possible for a througrough cleaning.

Now… let’s finish cleaning the diswasher with baking soda

After this cycle if you notice some odor, you think your dishwasher is not clean enough or you want to give it that extra touch of cleanliness, pour on the bottom of your machine one cup of baking soda and run a short hot water cycle. 

When this cycle is over you should have a clean interior with a pleasant smell.

If you just happen to have a dishwasher cleaner just do this:

To use a dishwasher cleaner, after checking the drain, place one tablet in the detergent tray; if it’s too dirty you can place one at the bottom as well. Run a normal wash cycle. You can do this with or without dishes.

After you’re finished using the supplies mentioned above it’s time to check the edges and sealers of the dishwasher machine and make sure you clean all the dirt that the water can’t reach with a damp cloth. 

And now it’s time to clean the filter… 

You can use warm water and soap and clean the filter with a brush or sponge to remove the accumulated debris 

Cleaning your dishwasher Spray arms

These spray arms also need a little bit of cleaning from time to time, you can use warm water and a toothbrush or toothpick to remove any particles that may have built up inside the little holes.

Now that you have a clean dishwasher let’s keep it like that for a while by following these practical tips:

• After every load, clean the bottom of the dishwasher to remove any debris or food.
• Take the outside of the dishwasher into account and clean and polish it as much as you need with a special product for your dishwasher material such as stainless steel.
• Before you use your dishwasher run your garbage disposal, if you don’t do this often it could obstruct your draining.
• Don’t overstuff your dishwasher, this can prevent the water from reaching certain spots and won’t clean your dishes efficiently. 

Keeping a dishwasher in good conditions is essential, following these easy steps you can improve its functioning, avoid bad smells and ensure your dishes are cleaned efficiently. It only takes less than 2 hours and the results are so comforting and refreshing. 

A professional, helping hand

Sometimes all things in our home need an extra care and it’s easy to lose track of these details, when it gets hard to keep up with all the deep cleaning and home details, because you’re tired, busy or just rather focus on other things other than performing easy but tedious and cumulative tasks, it’s good to have some help! 

In JH 360 Cleaning we are at your disposal to be that extra hand that helps you keep your spaces shiny and comfortable, consult our home cleaning service.