Most people rarely even consider cleaning their dishwashers. The common assumption is that since the dishwasher is used to clean dishes, it will also clean itself as its washing dishes. However, the reality is that your unit can accumulate food debris and other deposits over time. As such, it’s important to learn a few dishwasher maintenance tips.

Dishwasher Maintenance 

This article points out the significance of cleaning your dishwasher. Read on for some handy tips on keeping your dishwasher in tip-top condition so that you won’t have to worry about repairing or replacing your dishwasher.

Wash Regularly

One of the best ways to prevent your dishwasher from building up excess food and debris is to run it regularly. Running your dishwasher frequently helps to reduce the number of times you’ll need to clean it thoroughly throughout the year and also helps to prevent debris from settling and accumulating in the bottom of the appliance. This is an efficiency tip that you should look into for other appliances such as your freezer and more.

Empty the Dishwasher

In order to ensure your dishwasher is clean, it helps to run it through a full cycle before emptying all the dishes in the appliance. Doing so allows you to have easy access to the entire appliance so you’re able to perform necessary maintenance correctly.

Inspect and Clean the Spinning Arms

A typical dishwasher works by spraying water from its spinning arms onto the dishes. When the spinning arms aren’t rotating as they should or there’s a build-up covering the holes in them, your appliance won’t clean the dishes properly. Use a toothpick or small piece of wire to clean out any debris that has collected inside the holes and check that the arms are spinning correctly.

Clean the Edges and Exterior

In most cases, those strange dishwasher smells may be coming from outside rather than inside the appliance itself The edges around the door, for example, can end up with pieces of food debris and spills as they’re rarely washed during a regular cycle.

With a damp cloth and regular household cleaner, you should be able to wipe up such areas and wash off the exterior door as well as the buttons of the appliance.

Other parts you should clean include:

  • The detergent dispenser
  • The gasket
  • The flatware basket
  • Under or inside the door

Unclog and Clear the Drain

Your dishwasher has a drain at the very bottom where food debris and other spills are likely to end up. You don’t want to leave these obstacles near the drain as they’ll eventually create a clog. A clogged dishwasher drain leads to a less efficient appliance that will have a harder time cleaning dishes. Be sure to clean out around the dishwasher drain to ensure dirty water is exiting the appliance so that your dishes are well cleaned.

Bottom Line

Dishwasher maintenance is all about ensuring your appliance is clean so that it works optimally. It goes without saying that giving your dishwasher some TLC will go a long way in ensuring your device provides you with super clean dishes each time you run it. Worst comes to worst, you can reach out to professionals who can help you with issues with your dishwasher that you can’t solve yourself.

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