Cleaning the smelly dishwasher?

[eleny]

I clean the filters religiously and the dishwasher cleans and drys the dishes very well. I also keep our disposal clean with ice cubes and baking soda or lemons or those little lemons drops-ins they sell at the store. That's because the dishwasher hooks up to the disposal as usual.

Tonight I read that you can put vinegar or bleach in the dishwasher and run a long washing cycle. Heloise says to use a gallon of vinegar. Someone else advised a cup of bleach. I just dunno and figured to ask all you folks.

It's a Bosch with stainless interior and I don't think the line is clogged. I also wipe the dishes of grease and bits as well as soak the pots if they have gunk in them before they go into the dishwasher. The most I've ever cleaned out of the filters is some grease.

How do you keep your dishwasher kissing sweet? Ours has a soapy halitosis.

[The empressof all]

1. Dishwashers have filters?

Whoa boy...I'm in trouble then. I've never cleaned a dishwasher in my life. I wipe around the inside edges every once in a while and check there's no hunk of junk laying around the bottom but I just assumed that the dishwashing detergent kept it clean. I'm not even that great at scraping the grease off and I've never ever noticed an odor in there.

If you do clean it I wouldn't use bleach. I think it would be too harsh. Baking soda works for me down the disposal so you may want to try that in the machine as well.

[eleny]

2. Thanks. The bleach idea sounded too harsh to me, too

Yet another idea I found on the net was to run 2 packets of unsweetened lemon kool aid through a cycle.

I looked under the sink and saw that the d/w hose isn't hugging the underside of the counter because the sink is in the way. The disposal is on one side of the sink and the dishwasher is on the other. No choice on the location, so they couldn't both be on the same side of the sink. Anyhow, there has to be water sitting in that hose and draining back to the d/w. Hubby will get under there and tack the hose up somewhere and that should help. Meantime, I'm going to keep hunting for some sort of regular cleaning method to keep things sweeter.

Lucky you not having to deal with the stinkies!

[SoCalDem]

24. Did a mousie crawl under it and croak??

My friend had an "odor" in her refrig..turned out to be a dead mouse UNDER the refrig...

[mike_c]

3. I'm just as shocked as you are-- I don't have any idea where to look...

...for a filter on my dishwasher!

[japple]

4. And where would one look to locate the filter in a

dishwasher? I would think the chlorine in the detergent would keep everything clean.

[eleny]

8. The filter sits in the floor of the d/w

In my machine it's there in plain sight. I just unscrew it and lift it out. Then there's another cylinder filter that's like a collar around the one that gets unscrewed. They can both be lifted out and rinsed at the sink. Maybe other machines don't have filters to deal with.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. I think filters are more common in Euro brands

A contractor told me that they handle food bits differently than American brands (it has to do with assumption of a food disposal present in the sink, as I recall) but don't quote me.


I'd use vinegar in mine for a big stink, but baking soda for routine cleaning seems to do the trick.

[eleny]

14. Thanks Gormy!

I always have a box of baking soda around. :D

[Warpy]

5. Thanks, you guys!

I'm grateful for the reminder of why a dishwasher will NOT be in the plans when I upgrade my kitchen.

Oh, I'll include an area and hookup next to the sink just in case somebody who comes after me wants to put up with the hassle and water waste, but I'd rather have the storage and not have to wash all my dishes twice.

And now I find out they get bad breath, too.

[eleny]

12. Appliances can have their drawbacks

But I don't think all dishwashers are absolutely a waste of water. Our water bill did not go up. I think that what's important is to get a dishwasher that's the right capacity. We're two people and I think I got the right size for us. I make sure that the dishwasher is full so I run it every 2 or at the most every 3 days. The bad breath problem may be cured by adjusting the position of the hose. No biggee.

I think you're on the right track to consider future needs when you upgrade. Maybe even just having the right size cabinet next to your sink that can be removed for an easy dishwasher install. As I get older with my hands becoming more sensitive with arthritis, I wouldn't consider buying a home if I could't install a d/w. A few years ago I wouldn't have even thought about it. But things can happens so fast. This is one convenience that's helped me a lot.

[Warpy]

16. My arthritis is one reason I'd NEVER have a dishwasher

That once a day dishwashing session with hot soapy water is pure heaven.

[eleny]

17. Hot water therapy!

I'm glad you get that relief.

[politicat]

19. Ours uses less water than doing by hand.

I actually checked this when Mr. P and I were arguing about it one summer. (We were on water restriction.) When he does the dishes, it takes about 14 gallons of water total. When I do them (and get them clean, not surface smeared) it took about 22. Also, towels and time.

When the dishwasher did them to both our satisfactions (no pre-rinsing, just a spatula scrape with the veggie stuff going to compost) it takes 11 gallons. In terms of power, it takes about the same amount, since we don't use the dry cycle and the DW has an electric water heater, while the sink uses the household gas fired hot water. And the 10 minutes versus the 40 to wash, dry and put away is worth it.

And I have very dry skin on my hands. The washing makes it worse, and sometimes it makes me cry if they crack and bleed.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

21. The new ones are so energy/water efficient.

Heck, even my 10 year old machine uses less water than doing them by hand.

Also, it would have to be an old, old dishwasher where the dishes had to be pre-cleaned. I do like you; scrape off the food in the compost bin & shove them in the dishwasher. Also, I don't run it until I couldn't get another teaspoon in there. I can just imagine the pain of doing dishes everyday by hand or letting them pile up & up & up. This way the dirties are out of sight until I have a full load.

[eleny]

23. "the dirties are out of sight"

That's the best part. Well, maybe behind unloading the d/w of all the shiny, clean stuff!

[eleny]

22. Cracked and bleeding hands

My hands can get so alligatory it's unreal. If I let the lotion go for a day they revert back quickly. Being in Florida for over a month was like a vacation for my skin. I feel your pain.

[NMDemDist2]

6. vinegar or Tang (the "breakfast drink")

dishwashers build up soap scum like your shower does. with the stainless you'll be pretty safe with whatever you choose to use, but i'd start with a gallon of vinegar (or if you have the manual for the DW whatever it says the capacity is)

Once a month should do it. also lemon juice but i'd be cautious with that for fear of pitting the stainless. what does Bosch suggest?

here's an interesting home repair forum on that problem

Should be water there...but if your drain hose is not installed so it loops
above the highest possible water level in sink before it comes back down
into the disposer/p-trap connector, you could be getting too much or even
drain water from the sink or disposer back into the dishwasher. Some
locales require a vacuum break installed between the d/w and drain
connection to prevent this. Also, if you only run it once a week or so,
the water there will sour just as it would if you left a sink full of dirty
dishwater for a week. Dishwashers and washing machines need to be run often
to prevent the residual water from stinking.
I've never heard of vinegar being a cure for your problem but it is great
for keeping the inside stainless spotfree and your glasses spotfree. Even
helps if you also have a water softener.
http://www.homerepairforums.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3346

[eleny]

9. Bosch doesn't suggest anything except cleaning the filters

I think I'm getting water running back into the d/w. I do run it more than once a week. probably every other day. But still, it's gotten smelly. Since the hose does take a dip on the way to the disposal connection, hubby is going to tack it so it loses the dip. We have those plastic ties. So he can loosley affix the hose to something down there and it will be held in a fairly straight line from the d/w to the disposal. If all fails I'll call the service. We did take the service contract which includes a visit from the service company every year. But I won't wait till August. I'll just call them next week if we can't get rid of the problem.

Thanks!

[Bjornsdotter]

7. I use bleach

Mine has a stainless steel inside also and the bleach works great.

Cheers

[lavenderdiva]

10. when my mother died, her dishwasher looked like she had been

washing the shovels in there-- and smelled like it too! I had to clean up the house to sell, and didn't want to buy a new dishwasher; this one worked fine, it looked bad and stunk. Like you, I didn't know what to do, but I read something that Heloise had written where she recommended putting dry Lemonade mix crystals in where you normally put the soap, and run the dishwasher like normal. So off to the store I went, and got the house brand of Lemonade mix, and tried it. It worked beautifully! Completely cleaned the inside of the dishwasher, and it smelled great- like lemons! It was a great trick, and cheap too-- :hi:

[eleny]

13. I read something about using koolaid unsweetened lemonade!

They suggested using 2 packets. Between lemonade crystals and adjusting the position of the hose, this might be an easy fix. Thanks!

[eleny]

15. One more product - "Dishwasher Magic"

Here's a product that disinfects a d/w. http://www.ironout.com/brands/Dishwashermagic.aspx

"Dishwasher Magic - Removes mineral build-up and disinfects your dishwasher - Kills e-coli & salmonella bacteria"


It's got a very strong vinegar concentrate in it. Someone posted about it elsewhere saying that it has a 50% vinegar concentration. Maybe that's why Heloise suggests using a whole gallon of household vinegar. You need that much to do the job.

[Stinky The Clown]

18. Your problem is the hose. I'm certain of it.

If the hose does not have a loop that is above the point where it connects to the disposer, the waste water from the disposer will run back down to the dishwasher and sit there .,..... and stink. Get an appropriate clip (plastic is good) to go around the hose and allow you to secrew the clip to the frame of the cabinet of the underside of the counter. Once you install that and the hose is above the connection point, your stink issue should be gone.

**My** stinky issues are more permanent. :)

[eleny]

20. Thanks, Husb - I agree

I've made a temporary fix to get rid of the dip in the hose. I used some yellow cloth tape from Ace to secure the hose in three places to the underside of the sink.

The sink sits in the way between the disposal and the dishwasher. The hose isn't now higher than the connection to the disposal. But it's almost even. I might get some drain back. So I'm going to be sure to run some clean water through the disposal as the d/w is draining until I make the permanent fix.

I've got to empty out the cabinet there under the sink and determine if the hose is long enough to clip up into a place behind the sink. It'll have to take a trip behind the sink and return forward to the disposal. If it works it'll be fine. If not, I'll call the service and let them do it. They should have done this when I had Sears install it. They can bring me a new, longer hose. }(