I never knew how dirty the dishwasher was

[Chris S Anderson]

So I noticed that there was some gunk around the plastic filter when I opened the dishwasher and started to remove it with my fingers and a spoon. There wasn't much, but I wanted to be thorough. There was a spot blocked by the mount of the spinning blades, so I just removed the whole plastic filter. @!!@!@!@ There was an inch of gunk caked to the underside of it. Gross. I don't know if it was mold or food or just a nice slurry of both. I took the whole thing out and then removed the back filter, which is paper thin, and found the same thing.

I've only lived in this condo for 1.5 years, and I never bothered to check it before, but now I'm going to check it every 6 months.

I cleaned everything with bleach, and now I am running a short cycle with bleach. After that, one more cleaning with a sponge and bleach and then I'll run a regular cycle.

Merry Christmas,

Chris
:eek:

[Al Willits]

Many cases its soap, make sure you run the hot water till it actually gets hot before you start the dishwasher, also maybe try a bit less soap or a different brand, and occasionally run a couple of cups of white cider vinegar though a cycle at high temp setting and no dishes, then a short cycle with just water to rinse the dishwasher.

Hard water doesn't help either.

Al...you probably don't want to get to far into your washer either...:D

[Lee Schierer]

Check your hot water temp. If it isn't close to 140 F then you will have problems with soap accumulation, particularly with powered soaps. Grease will also accumulate at lower temps.