Even when your dishwasher is designed for cleaning purposes, it does not clean itself from all the grease, soap scum, and food particles.
Just like your other kitchen tools, your dishwasher needs maintenance and cleaning. Every time you load the door with dirty dishes, you left it with fingerprints and residues. All of this affects not only the appearance, but, when time passes, the residues give off an odor that is the result of bacteria. Bacteria tend to prosper in warm, moist, and dark places. As we believe you don’t want this, here’s an easy-to-follow guide to maintaining a clean dishwasher—a guide that you’ll have to follow just once a month.
Let’s start with the door
To clean fingerprints, wipe the outside of your dishwasher’s door with warm water. You can also use a homemade cleaning solution: mix 1/4 cup of baking soda with 1 quart of water.
Open the dishwasher door; clean its top and sides. Whit the same cloth you’re using (dipped in soapy water or your special solution), and scrub around the door. Remember the importance of digging into the grooves of the rubber seal and any other crevices, including the hinges. When you deem everything is clean enough, wipe away any cleaning solution left behind with a clean, wet sponge. Then wipe it dry with a soft cloth.
Time to get the tub clean
The first step is kind of… well, gross, but it’s also necessary: take a handful of paper towels to grab all the debris from the dishwasher’s base. The drain tends to cumulate a great amount of debris. Remove it.
Now it’s the perfect time to run a full cycle. The dishwasher has to be completely empty except for a dishwasher-safe cup of plain white vinegar on the top rack.
Remember to choose the hottest water possible, this has a disinfecting purpose. When the cycle ends, wipe out the inside of the dishwasher with paper towels or a clean, dry cloth.
If you have run out of vinegar, a good alternative is to put a packet of unsweetened lemonade mix in the soap cup or sprinkle a cupful of baking soda on the bottom of the tub.
Accessories
Now that you’ve cleaned all the essential parts, take out the racks and utensil holders. Your objective is to take out any stuck-on food particles and any present debris. You can use a brush to remove clogs.
Dishwasher Cleaning: Rust Stains
Rust stains are an awful thing to have on your kitchen utensils. This kind of stain can appear depending on your water source and your pipes’ state.
To remove them, you can use commercial products. The process is very easy: place the commercial product into the soap dispenser cup and sprinkle some freely on the bottom. Then, run the empty dishwasher through a complete cleaning cycle. As in one of the previous processes, wipe out the inside of the dishwasher with paper towels or a clean, dry cloth.
Now that you know these tips for cleaning your dishwasher, you might have thought of your personal process to clean that utensil. Please, share it with us!