How do I clean inside my dishwasher??? Yuck!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Call it nesting, if you will, but I have noticed just how grungy some of the seams are in my dishwasher. It just looks like there is food trapped in different grooves. I've gone at it with a butter knife but that was tedious. I know there has to be something else I can do. Is there a way to run the dishwasher empty and have it be miraculously restored? Like, could I put vinegar in the soap dispenser?

Nothing is coming clean anymore but that is most likely b/c I ran out of my Cascade so I am using the Seventh Generation stuff. I forgot just how ineffective that stuff is.

Any advice? Thanks!!!

Beth

[bubbaray]

The Queen of Clean recommends Tang -- the powdered "orange" drink. I've tried it. It worked for me.

You know, I've tried, really TRIED to like 7G stuff and frankly, it d/n get clothes clean nor dishes. I still use Electrosol and it works the best. With the "natural" dishwasher detergents, I used to have to run the DW twice, which wasn't exactly good for the environment either.


HTH

Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[Piglet]

My friend and I were just talking about this. She spoke to a dishwasher repairman and he told her to pour a gallon (yes, a gallon) of vinegar into the bottom of the dishwasher and run it. Don't use detergent. He suggested doing this 2 times in a row. She did it and it not only cleaned the dishwasher, it unclogged the upper arm that was not working (hence the repairman).

ETA: Vinegar is acetic acid and Tang is citric acid, so the results should be very similar. We have used Glisten as well and it is citric acid (just like Tang).

Marina

Mommy to
DS1 A 07/14/01
DS2 K 03/10/05
DD1 A 05/08/07

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http://b3.lilypie.com/UqL2m6.png
http://b1.lilypie.com/O20wm6.png

[niccig]

I need to do this. I'll try the vinegar. If that doesn't work, then the tang.

[MelissaTC]

I use the Jet Dry brand dishwasher cleaner. It is a little bottle that you put in the cutlery basket upside down. You run an empty dishwasher with it on your hot setting. It always comes out clean and smelling quite nice, actually. I buy it at Target but I bet it is sold in the grocery store.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I saw that on TV one day and that's what got the wheels turning. Since I have vinegar I'll try that 1st. After that I'll try this then the Tang (it doesn't leave things sticky? my dishwasher sucks and I have fears that it wouldn't actually rinse it away well).

Thank you for the great ideas!

Beth

[kellyotn]

Tang is basically citric acid, which is a great cleaner. It is what my repair guy recommended. It removed a light layer of hard water build up on my glasses in one washing. It also made the dishwasher sparkle.

There is a citric acid product called "Glisten" that is made for dishwashers. But, he said Tang works just as well and is much easier to find.

[feierabend35]

I use CLR according to the directions on the bottle. We have VERY hard water (and no water softener) and it works miracles.

[kochh2]

i second... or third.. Tang... we've used it for years!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Or just when you want to clean the dishwasher and run the dishwasher empty?

Beth

[kellyotn]

I used the Tang first on an empty washer when we moved in. It was just kinda grody. I used about half a container (maybe 3/4 cup?). I wasn't completely happy with the results, so I repeated once and it was clean.

We lived with "very hard water" for a couple months. It caused a white coating on the glasses and silverware immediately. I could tell after the very first load that we had hard water. After we had a softener installed (money well spent) I ran the dished through a Tang load to clean them. It worked shockingly well. The glasses looked brand spanking new.

CLR didn't really do much for our dishes/dishwasher, which surprised me because it seemed to work miracles elsewhere!

[happy2bamom]

Our repairman told us to use vinegar every other month. Once the washer is empty, run a cycle with it empty. Once the washer fills with water, add the vinegar (our guy said one cup). Which is for maintenance. Also to really get into the seams, I use a steam cleaner (Scunci steamer). It reallys gets into all of the tough spots. HTH

[ha98ed14]

If you use the gallon of vinegar, you pur it into the bottom of the maching, right? If you use the Tang method, where do you put it? In the soap holder or just pour it into the bottom of the machine? How much Tang should you use? TIA!

[niccig]

I bought the Jet Dry cleaner at the grocery store. It was $3 a bottle with the club card. My machine is pretty grotty, so I'll use this cleaner then try the maintenance of vinegar or tang.

[bubbaray]

I used a packet of Tang and just poured it in the bottom of the machine and turned it on the normal cycle.

HTH

Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[Piglet]

So all this talk of cleaning the dishwasher inspired me to give it a try. We have very hard water here and our dishwasher has always looked dingy. I ran the gallon of vinegar through the wash and WOW - the inside sparkles. It looks brand new. Now if only this stupid dishwasher would actually clean my dishes... we just bought a new one today, but at least our old one will go out in style, LOL!

Marina

Mommy to
DS1 A 07/14/01
DS2 K 03/10/05
DD1 A 05/08/07

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http://b3.lilypie.com/UqL2m6.png
http://b1.lilypie.com/O20wm6.png

[Bens Momma]

Just wanted to add a plug for Ecover dishwashing detergent while we're on the subject. It comes in prepackaged tablets or powder. It was on sale at our local Giant so I gave the tablets a try. It got rid of the white film or etching on all our glasses. DH has been raving about how clean everything looks! Just thought I'd share, now I'm off to try the vinegar trick;) !

[niccig]

I did the Jet Dry cleaner. It looks great too. I'm going to do the vinegar every other month as maintenance cleaning - it's pretty easy to, just put it in and turn it on - no scrubbing. I like that kind of cleaning.