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You are here: Home / Cleaning Tips / How To Clean A Dishwasher

How To Clean A Dishwasher

Cleaning Tips

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Learn How To Clean A Dishwasher easily and effectively. This method deep cleans and it's very cost effective!

If you haven’t cleaned your dishwasher in a while or ever and have no idea of the best way to go about it then this information if fairly handy to have. The dishwasher in our house is not new. Not sure how old it is but it was in a bad way when we moved in and it got to the point that it was actually leaving my dishes dirtier after a cycle than before the cycle started… Gross right!?! I thought it was old and broken and needed replacing. Turns out that this dinosaur hasn’t been cleaned in probably as long as it’s existed. I was actually disgusting to see how gross it all was. But I’m so glad I cleaned it because now this bad boys has resurrected and is back to it’s former glory and actually doing it’s job. My dishes are now sparkling and I love how easy and frugal it is to deep clean your dishwasher with these simple steps!

What You Will Need
1 Cup White Vinegar
1 Cup Baking Soda
Dishwasher Safe Mug
Gloves
Dishwasher Salts


How To Clean A Dishwasher


1. Check and clean your drain. Wear gloves because it can get pretty gross in there if you haven’t checked it for a long time or ever. Specially if like me, you are renting.
2. Place one cup of white vinegar into a dishwasher safe cup or container and place on the top rack sitting upright. I used a dishwasher safe measuring cup.
3. Turn dishwasher on and let the dishwasher run through one full cycle with only the vinegar in it. I do a long cycle.
4. Remove cup from dishwasher with the water that’s in it and throw the water out.
5. Sprinkle one cup of baking soda all over the bottom of the dishwasher and run another entire cycle.
6. Done! Your dishwasher should be smelling fabulous and looking fantastic, shiny and new!
7. Place rinse aid in the Rinse Aid section of the dishwasher to help keep your dishwasher clean.

I was amazed at the difference. It’s so clean now and seriously took away all the yucky white buildup from the soap and hard water that we have here in Brussels. I’ve done two rounds of the above steps but for most dishwashers I think one cycle is enough. Do it every few months to keep your dishwasher nice and clean and working to its full potential.

Enjoy your nice clean dishwasher!

Do you have any other tips of hacks to keep your dishwasher clean? Let me know in comments! 🙂

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Comments

  1. Chelsea @ Life With My Littles says

    November 4, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    I should definitely do this today! We are renting, too, and I haven’t done it since we moved in 7 months ago! Yikes! Thanks for the tips!!!

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      November 4, 2015 at 9:08 pm

      DO IT Chelsea!! Haha. You will love your dishwasher plus you never know how the previous people cared for it. I know they recommend not to but I always quickly rinse off my plates and cutlery before putting it in the dishwasher. I think it’s gross to have food getting washed around in your dishwasher as it doesn’t always get cleaned out of the dishwasher. That’s just me though, I’m funny about these sorts of things 😛 haha

      Reply
      • Nancy says

        September 5, 2016 at 3:14 pm

        What are dishwasher salts?

        Reply
        • Pastels & Macarons says

          September 8, 2016 at 7:48 pm

          Hi Nancy, they are special salts that are used in Europe and places where the water is hard. They help to eliminate the white residue buildup that is left in your kettle and other kitchen items when heating water. So water that runs through your kittle, dishwasher, coffee machine can get this terrible build up. Hope that answers your question.

          Reply
          • Karen Easterling says

            April 10, 2017 at 12:06 am

            HI, The DW salts in the U.S. is called “LemmeShine”. I learned about this product when we moved to a hard water area and it’s an amazing product.

  2. Julie says

    November 8, 2015 at 10:20 am

    I give my dishwasher a clean once a month with nothing in it but baking soda, I will try adding the vinegar run first next time, see if it improves it. At the moment it’s ok but I like to think there is no yucky build up in the pipes!

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      November 9, 2015 at 9:40 pm

      Julie, let me know how it goes for you because I honestly find it works wonders for my dishwasher! I also like to think my pipes and everything are clean. I’m actually running the second cycle (baking soda) right now as I type this. She was needing a good old clean again! haha.

      Reply
      • Patricia lawhorn says

        August 19, 2018 at 7:14 pm

        Will it take all the old food buildup out too

        Reply
        • Pastels & Macarons says

          September 17, 2018 at 4:41 pm

          Yes it should unless you have huge chunks of food, in which case you need to take out the filter section and clean that before you run the cycles through your machine. I always scrape off food and even give a very quick rinse so no food pieces end up in my machine. Hope that helps.

          Reply
  3. Sarah @ Pretty Simple Ideas says

    November 10, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never cleaned a dishwasher, nor knew it had to be! Fortunately, I live in apartments now so I think the building takes care of it but will keep this in mind when I buy a house soon!

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      November 15, 2015 at 12:51 am

      Haha. Well now you know the method. It’s good they clean it for you 🙂 Certainly a good tip to keep in mind when you have your own place. I try and clean mine every month now! I’ve become obsessed! haha

      Reply
  4. Jessica says

    November 10, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    I always rinse my dishes, too. Hoe can they get clean if the dishwasher has food in it? or is dirty?

    Reply
  5. Beverly says

    November 11, 2015 at 11:44 pm

    I am sad to say that I haven’t done this. Mine is rather new, but I want to keep it that way. thanks for the tip.
    Thanks for sharing at Turn It Up Tuesday,
    Bev

    Reply
  6. Hil says

    November 12, 2015 at 2:19 am

    I have never done this! I really need to. I don’t like icky things though so I don’t want to clean the gunk out of the bottom.

    Now I guess I have to!

    Thanks for linking up at Turn It Up Tuesdays!

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      November 15, 2015 at 12:54 am

      Haha. Yep, it’s gross but well worth it. Better in the bin than on your dishes! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Tiffany says

    November 12, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    I’m adding this to my to-do list for this weekend! I get so frustrated with our dishwasher when it doesn’t work properly. Sounds like it might be an operator error. Ooops! :0) Thanks for sharing with us at the Merry Monday Link Party. Hope to see you again on Sunday!

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      November 15, 2015 at 12:54 am

      Your welcome Tiffany and I highly recommend you give it a try. You will love the results! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Kate says

    November 17, 2015 at 2:23 am

    Thank you for this! I’ve been needing to clean my dishwashe, definitely trying this method!

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      November 23, 2015 at 9:17 am

      You’re welcome Kate! Hope it works for you as well as it works for me! Happy cleaning!! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Sam @ Raggedy Bits says

    February 27, 2016 at 8:41 am

    This is a job for me to do tomorrow!! Thank you for the great tip Maria! 🙂

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      February 27, 2016 at 9:44 pm

      You’re welcome Sam! Hope you did it, it leaves you dishwasher so clean and fresh!

      Reply
  10. Autumn says

    March 18, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    Baking Soda or powder?

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      April 3, 2016 at 12:12 am

      Baking Soda.

      Reply
  11. Lindy says

    March 19, 2016 at 3:01 pm

    Great idea and recipe for cleaning the DW but I’m wondering what “dishwasher salts” is? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard the term before so could be something I’m missing?

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      April 2, 2016 at 11:50 pm

      Hi Lindy,

      I too have never heard of them. There is a compartment in your dishwasher that you place these tablets (that’s how I but them) which are salt specially made for dishwashers to help to break down calcium buildup which is this white stuff that can build up in your dishwasher and in the pipes. It helps to keep your machine running better, cleaner and clear pipes. Hope that helps.

      Reply
      • Barb says

        August 24, 2016 at 3:33 am

        I’m American and I’ve never heard of ‘salts’ either. I’ve had lots of different dishwashers over the years, and none of them ever had a spot for anything other than the detergent and a rinse agent. Do you have a third little compartment, or are we just talking about different words for the same product? Either way, my latest rental has been leaving a horrible white film on my plastic wares and glasses, so I’m going to give this a shot right now.

        Reply
        • Pastels & Macarons says

          November 13, 2016 at 9:50 am

          Barb I am so sorry I did not reply to this post! It somehow got lost among all the other comment and I have been running so behind on replying to everyone! Yes, these salts are for certain washing machines. It must be a European thing. There is a compartment in my dishwasher at the base of the dishwasher inside of the dishwasher. It has a screw lid which you unscrew and full with these salt tablets. It makes a huge difference to my dishwasher. Give the rinse aid and my method a try and see how it goes. hope if you tried it it has worked for you! Would love to know how you went. 🙂

          Reply
          • Barb Larson says

            November 13, 2016 at 7:16 pm

            That’s fine, you probably have other things in your life than answering my question, :). What I have done, is looked further into the ‘salt’ thing and European water, and I live in an area that also has hard water, the norm in Western Europe. Anyways, European dishwashers are made with a part not found in American machines, an ion-izer I believe it was, and the salts help those work.

            That said, what I’ve found works for me is to cut way, way down on the amt of powered soap I use, and I did switch from gel to powder. I now fill the little compartment only about half full and find it washes the dishes quite well, with no more nasty film. Every couple of loads I add either some vinegar or some baking soda to the bottom just before I start, but I’m not convinced either really makes a difference. Still, it makes me feel good to do it!

          • Pastels & Macarons says

            November 13, 2016 at 9:13 pm

            Haha, I have many things going on in my life but this blog is very important to me. I just had a HUGE list of comments that I needed to go through and answer! I won’t let it get this out of hand again! 🙂 Glad you worked something out that works for you. I’m from Australia and we don’t have these compartments in our dishwashers back home either. I add vinegar and baking soda into my loads also and makes me feel better also! haha. The salts do help here with the hard water. I will be sharing a new post in late December/Early January about more ways to help with dealing with hard water that may help. 🙂 Once again sorry for such late reply, promise next time it won’t take so long! 🙂

  12. Patty says

    March 19, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    Thank you for the great idea! A nice simple weekend to do!

    Reply
  13. Claire says

    October 23, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    My dishwasher isn’t cleaning very well at the moment, so I’m going to try these tips tomorrow. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Pastels & Macarons says

      October 24, 2016 at 7:54 pm

      Let me know how you go Claire, I found this to be so incredibly helpful and I do this frequently when my dishwasher is not working well.

      Reply

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welcome, i'm maria

Hi there! Welcome to Pastels & Macarons! Most of the time you'll find me creating, caring for my two toddler boys, socializing or dreaming of my next project! I'm definitely a creative type and I love sharing it all with you right here. Join me as I share crafts, DIYs, recipes, home inspiration, travel stories and fun printables for you and your kids!

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