When your dishwasher is starting to smell, your whole house pays the price. As soon as you start to notice a funky smell, it’s best to act as quickly as possible. If you don’t, it’s only going to get worse every day, and soon enough your kitchen is going to be filled with unpleasant odours. Don’t worry, though – cleaning out your dishwasher is simpler than you might think! Continue reading as we break down how to get rid of smells coming from a dirty dishwasher and prevent unwanted smells from coming back in the future.
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Why Does My Dishwasher Smell Bad?
If there’s a nasty smell coming from your dishwasher, there is only one culprit: food build-up.
Over time, particles of food that are washed off your dishes begin to accumulate and collect. This could be in the filter of your dishwasher, or else there could be food lodging in small corners and crevices throughout the machine. Little bits of debris may not matter all that much at once, but once they build up the effects will be noticeable. Not only will the function of your dishwasher be negatively impacted, with dishes not getting cleaned properly due to a clogged-up filter, but the odours will start to become noticeable.
Unpleasant smells could be coming from the machine when you open it, or could even be transmitted to the dishes themselves during the cycle. Many dishwashers have plastic insides, which are porous and can absorb dirt, food, and mildew. This makes them retain unwanted smells far more than a stainless steel dishwasher will. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to eliminate the odours and even to prevent build-up from occurring in the first place.
How to Clean a Smelly Dishwasher
Lots of people dread the idea of cleaning out their dishwashers. Maybe this is because they are grossed out by the idea of old food building up, or maybe it’s because the process seems extremely tedious. Fortunately, the cleaning process is a lot simpler than you might assume.
Step 1
To start, you’re going to need some vinegar and baking soda. Remove the waste filter and tray at the bottom of your dishwasher, as this is likely where build-up is taking place.
Clean out the filter, throw any debris into the rubbish, and wash both the filter and tray under warm water. If you add some soap to the hot water in your sink, you can soak both these parts for around 15 minutes for a deeper clean.
Step 2
Once the filter is back in place, you can move on to the next steps. Deodorising your dishwasher comes next, and here’s where the vinegar and baking soda comes into play.
Pour one cup of white vinegar into the bottom of the empty dishwasher. Start up a deep cleaning cycle and allow it to run without any dishes. The vinegar will break down all the food debris caught in the machine and effectively deodorise it from the inside.
Step 3
For an extra strength clean, pour out baking soda over the bottom of the machine and leave it overnight. In the morning, run another cycle, and the smell will be fresher than ever!
Long-Term Prevention
Cleaning out your dishwasher is relatively easy. Do you know what’s even easier? Keeping your dishwasher from ever getting so dirty with old food build-up that it starts to smell! It’s a lot nicer to not have to handle those unpleasant odours, too. Rather than handling the effects of significant build-up, it is better to implement regular cleaning habits into your routine.
The best way to make this happen is to regularly clean out your filter, which will be a very quick process when there isn’t too much food clogging it up. Be sure to thoroughly rinse your dishes before putting them into the dishwasher as well, as this will leave fewer pieces of food to get stuck in the machine’s filter. Mark a regular date (even once a month!) to run an empty cycle with vinegar, and you’ll prevent foul odours from ever getting the chance to develop.
Contact Cleantastic for Commercial Cleaning Services
Quick tips and tricks will only get you so far. Sometimes, the cleaning tasks at hand are simply too big to fit into your schedule – or, perhaps you just want to enjoy the results that can only come from a professional, expert cleaner! With Cleantastic, commercial cleaning services are more affordable than ever. Contact our team to get a comprehensive quote for your cleaning needs, and let’s get your home or business looking sparkling clean.
