Thanks to my new friend, Pinterest I have also recently discovered that you can clean your dishwasher, and not only that, but you SHOULD give your dishwasher a good cleaning every few months or so for optimal results! I have been pretty frustrated with the dishwasher at the house we're renting. It's not a low quality dishwasher, but I couldn't figure out why it wasn't cleaning well.
Sidenote: I have recently switched detergents from Cascade (never thought I'd ever use something else) to the Melaleuca brand Diamond Brite. This is NOT a sale's pitch, but if you've never tried it, let me know...it's AMAZING and I'll never use anything else, well as long as I live here in Idaho Falls where Melaleuca is headquartered anyway! It's a plant-based formula with the same enzymes that are in food- makes sense in order for the food waste to break down to have the correct enzymes. The first time I used it I felt like I'd gotten brand-new silverware and glasses (previously covered with a "film" of calcium deposits from about 8 years of use!!!)
Back to the dishwasher- After changing detergents I was 80% happy. The other 20% was due to the fact that there were always "crumbs" blown up into my glasses. I had tried wiping out the inside and the sides of the washer before, but still couldn't figure out where the little buggers were coming from!
This is what my basin looked like BEFORE:
Ewwww...that yellow/orange is non other than gross bacteria growth, and even though you can't really see it in the picture there was a thin film of this across the entire bottom! DISGUSTING. Yeah, lets stick our dishes in this filthy machine and expect them to come out clean!!!
How to clean the dishwasher:
1) Take out the bottom rack of your washer and inspect the gasket area, making sure there are no large chunks of food, lost silverware or dishes, or other particles that need to be removed.
2) With the bottom rack still removed, fill a dishwasher safe measuring cup with vinegar and place in the middle of the top rack right-side up. When the dishwasher runs the water will go into the cup, overflowing the vinegar and spreading it throughout the machine. Run a normal cycle on the highest heat with the dishwasher empty, other than the cup filled with vinegar.
3)Once the cycle is done, sprinkle the bottom of the basin with about 1 cup of baking soda and run another cycle with high heat. This can be a light cycle.
4) If you had mildew or bacteria in the bottom of the machine (like I did) next sprinkle in 1 cup of bleach into the bottom of the washer (do NOT do this if you have a stainless steel interior). Then run another light cycle with high heat. Once this cycle is done your dishwasher should be spic and span and looking more like this!!!
BEFORE: AFTER:
REMARKABLE!!!!
AND, after my washer has been run several times since I cleaned it there is NO TRACE of any mildew/bacteria in the basin anymore!!!! Happy Cleaning!!!
