In this article, you are going to learn how to clean your dishwasher. Here are a few cool ideas on how to clean your dishwasher, and I’m not talking about your kids. The dishwasher like all other appliances in your house requires regular maintenance If you want it to continue working at peak efficiency. Here are the basic steps to cleaning your dishwasher, and at the bottom, we have a few extra tips.
Step Number One
Every dishwasher has a trap, if you didn’t know this then it is definitely time to clean yours. Look on the lower part of your dishwasher, there’s going to be a removable piece and this is called the trap. If it’s been a long time or you have never cleaned it before you’re going to see bits of food and other gross build up. Put enough soapy hot water in your sink that will completely submerge the trap and allow it to sit for about 20 minutes. Now all you have to do is rinse it off and put it back in the dishwasher.
Step Number Two
It’s now time to grab that awesome all-natural household cleaner white vinegar. take 1 cup and pour it into the bottom of an empty dishwasher. Now run a complete cleaning cycle.
Step Number Three
Your dishwasher probably has a unique odor to it, this is due to food and other debris being caught up in the trap for the most part. Food also finds Its way into other nooks and crannies throughout the dishwasher. Get rid of this stink, sprinkle 1 cup of baking soda on the bottom of the dishwasher end leave it for the night. the next morning, run one more cleaning cycle.
Step Number Four
The final step to a super clean dishwasher involves a little bit of elbow grease. Grab an old toothbrush and gently scrub any stained areas. if the stains are especially hard to remove I recommend using Bar Keepers Friend.
Beyond How To Clean Your Dishwasher | Extra Dishwasher Cleaning Tips
Tip number one
You probably never thought of it before, but you can use Kool-Aid to remove the stains from your dishwasher. The lime deposits or iron buildup don’t stand a chance against the citric acid in lemon Kool-Aid. Simply just run a regular wash cycle, and you’re done.
If the stain still won’t come off, I recommend picking up the bottle Bar Keepers Friend. This amazing product is great for glass stove tops, cleaning stainless steel, copper, and ceramic.
Tip Number Two On How To Clean Your Dishwasher
Want to learn how to make your own homemade dishwasher tabs? It’s a lot easier than you think and you probably have most of the ingredients already. Go here to get the directions. Okay so the rest of these tips aren’t necessarily about cleaning your dishwasher, but they are a boat using your dishwasher to clean other everyday household items.
Tip Number Three
When using your dishwasher to clean pots, pans, and casserole dishes that have a burnt on crusty buildup, it’s a good idea to pretreat these items with a little bit of dishwashing soap before placing in the dishwasher. Typically there’s no need to scrub, just smear the soap on to the Crusty areas.
Tip Number Four
When you’re unloading your dishwasher it’s always a good idea to start with the utensils holder or the bottom rack. The reason for this is if you start with the top rack you are likely going to have water that has pooled on to those dishes spill onto the bottom rack or utensils rack.
Tip Number Five
I like to run my hot water 4 about 30 seconds before starting my dishwasher. the reason for this is I want my dishes to be hit with hot water right from the start, not cold water. so I’m not [wasting water] I will typically fill My plant watering container, or if I have a few dishes to do in the sink I will fill the sink.
Tip Number Six
If you have little kids and you want to clean their water-resistant toys or flip-flops, Right after disinfecting your dishwasher is a great time to do this. You know that the dishwasher is super clean, so disinfecting your kid’s toys now is perfect.
Tip Number Seven
I like to run one separate load of sponges and other cleaning scrubbers using the dishwasher. I will put everything on the top rack, insert one of my homemade cleaning tabs, and half a cup of white vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher. I run this on a normal cleaning cycle and it gets rid of that smell of bacteria that builds up on your sponges.
Tip Number Eight
Have you ever tried to wash a baseball cap in the clothes washer? The rim of the cap gets all bent out of shape, and it’s basically destroyed. I found a great way to clean baseball caps well maintaining their shape is to put it on the top rack of the dishwasher, turn off the heat dry setting and only use cold water. Remove the baseball cap after the rinse cycle and allow it to air-dry.
When you are done cleaning the dishwasher, try this quick homeowner tutorial on how to re-light your hot water tank.
