How to clean your dishwasher

When my husband and I bought our house, we also inherited a dishwasher and we could not have been happier. The rental we lived in for many years before finally buying did not have one and it was a constant dishwashing battle in our house. To say that we hate hand washing dishes is a dramatic understatement. 

So we were officially homeowning adults with adult things like appliances and yard maintenance. 
We knew we had to clean and maintain everything, but cleaning the thing that cleans your dishes? Seriously? 

It wasn’t until we started seeing black spots and mildew when I realized that it made sense. I mean, I clean my shower and it cleans me, so why would a dishwasher be any different? 

There are all natural ways to keep your dishwasher clean as well as the heavy duty “get this mess out of my dishwasher” cleaning method.
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Before you start with either method, you will want to remove the food trap in the bottom of the washer and scrub it clean with a dish brush. Remove any debris you may find down in there too. My trap simply twists and pulls out. If yours does not come out that easily, consult your manual.

Did you know your spray arms can come off and get cleaned too? Some spray arms actually open and can be cleaned inside. Others may need their little spray holes cleaned out from time to time. 

Getting Started

The All Natural Method: 

1. When your dishwasher is completely empty, sprinkle baking soda around the washer floor. 
2. Fill two dishwasher safe cups with white distilled vinegar and place one in the top rack and one in the bottom rack. 
3. If your dishwasher has a soak and/or heavy duty setting, set it to that washing type and off you go!
4. Once the cycle is complete, run another without the baking soda and vinegar to clean out any remnants before cleaning dishes.

The method I used in these blog photos 

The “Get-This-Mess-Out-Of-My-Dishwasher-Now” Method:

1. Get your hands on the ol’ reliable, full-throttle bleach. 
2. Fill two dishwasher safe cups with a half water/half bleach mixture. 
3. Pour the first cup around the bottom of the dishwasher. 
4. Leave the second cup on the top rack and set your dishwasher for the heavy and/or soak setting. 
5. Once the cycle is done, set for another full cycle to rinse out any remaining bleach before washing any dishes. ​

If you want to use a brush to scrub off any remaining residue after the first wash cycle, go for it! I did not for these photos so you could see what just the cleaning method itself would do. 

The all natural method is great for regular maintenance and upkeep. 
With a house of two adults and two kids, it is very rare that I see an empty dishwasher. The bleach method is usually my go-to cleaning cycle whenever that legendary “empty dishwasher” comes around, which is usually as often as Bigfoot is spotted.