How often should you clean the dishwasher?
Rinse the filter at the bottom once a month, and run a hot empty cycle with a cleaner every one to three months. Wipe the door seal whenever you think of it.
The filter is the whole story
Most people have never taken it out. It sits under the bottom spray arm, twists out, and holds everything the machine washed off: labels, seeds, bits of rice. That is where the smell lives, and a blocked filter makes the machine wash dirty water around your plates.
The monthly five minutes
- Twist out the filter, rinse it under hot water, brush it with an old toothbrush, put it back.
- Wipe the rubber door seal, especially the bottom corners.
- Check the spray arm holes and poke out any that are blocked.
- Look at the drain area under the filter for glass or bones.
The hot empty cycle
Every one to three months, hottest programme, empty machine, with a dishwasher cleaner or a cup of white vinegar in a bowl on the top rack. It clears grease from the pipes, which is what the filter cannot reach.
Cloudy glasses are a different problem
That is usually limescale or too little rinse aid, not dirt. Check the salt and rinse aid, and set the water hardness the machine asks for, which almost nobody does when they install it. If the cloudiness does not wipe off, it is etching and it is permanent.
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