A Way to Get Rid of Dirt and Bad Smell from the Dishwasher

If you don't give your dishwasher a thorough cleaning periodically, you risk it becoming a cluster of bacteria, fungi and unpleasant odors. You can also significantly shorten its lifespan this way. Periodic cleaning will also certainly save you from many repairs in the future.

You will need:

• Warm water;
• White distilled vinegar;
• Baking soda;
• An optional toothbrush or toothpick;
• To get into the tiniest cracks and crevices, you'll need to remove the racks, cutlery holders and filter (some filters simply unscrew, but others require tools to unscrew them). Remove them and place them in a mixture of warm water and 1 cup of white distilled vinegar. Leave them to soak for at least 30 minutes

Now check for any lingering dirt that might be hiding inside. Wipe down the spray system and side walls, especially in the corners at the top and bottom. Check the dishwasher's filter and dispenser and look into all the small holes and crevices where water flows out. If you see food particles or other debris in such small crevices, use a toothbrush and/or toothpick to clean them.

Put all the elements of the dishwasher back: strainer, drawers, cutlery containers. Fill a dishwasher-safe bowl with one cup of white vinegar and place it on the top drawer of the dishwasher. Set the dishwasher to run on the very hot water cycle and turn it on. The drying option will be unnecessary. The vinegar will break up any remaining food bits, grease, soap scum, residue and any other residual dirt.

Once the first cycle is complete, remove the bowl and scoop one cup of baking soda on the bottom of the dishwasher. Run it on a short cycle. The baking soda will remove stains and refresh the dishwasher.

How to clean a dishwasher on one wash cycle? If you don't want to run two cycles, you can pour baking soda into the dishwasher's cube container already for the first wash cycle. And finish washing the dishwasher on that.

Happy cleaning!