ew...ew...ew...ewwwwww!

[fairfarmhand]

I cleaned out my dishwasher this morning. It was SO nasty. I had no idea.

 

 

Hopefully this gets rid of the sludge it's been slinging on my glassware.

 

(BTW, don't look at yours, I mean really look at it, until you have about an hour and some rubber gloves. It was revolting. And to thoroughly examine it, you have to remove the bottom rack, get on your hands and knees and pretty much crawl inside it. )

[Lolly]

We are supposed to clean our dishwashers? :svengo: I thought they cleaned themselves when they washed the dishes...

[Mommy22alyns]

Yeah, a good cleaning would not go amiss. We had to clean ours when I noticed this horrible smell coming from it while it was running. :ack2:

[fairfarmhand]

We are supposed to clean our dishwashers? :svengo: I thought they cleaned themselves when they washed the dishes...

 

 

don't look....(especially the crack right below the door inside of the dw,)

[AmyontheFarm]

The kids kept getting sick, strep, flu, etc. I finally took to washing dishes by hand with a bleach rinse or using disposible. Everyone got better, went back to using the dishwasher and the kids started getting sick again. I tore that baby apart. It was disgusting. Don't do it pregnant! After that everyone stayed healthy for a long time, hmmm, second kid on antibiotics, might be time to do it again.

[chepyl]

Does running a vinegar cycle not help? Mine looks clean, I don't want to look closer ;)

[fairfarmhand]

Does running a vinegar cycle not help? Mine looks clean, I don't want to look closer ;)

nope. There's still some gunk that must be scrubbed by hand. Look at the aforementioned crack. Also I have a little vent filter thing in the door of the dishwasher. I took a butter knife and gently pried it off....It was full of GOBS of hard water deposits. I had to use the knife tip to scoop it out of there.

[kwickimom]

I almost puked when I cleaned mine. The goo looked something like brains :ack2: :ack2: :ack2:

[fairfarmhand]

I almost puked when I cleaned mine. The goo looked something like brains :ack2: :ack2: :ack2:

 

yup. I was ready to do the same. It was beyond icky.

[justLisa]

Oh I know it is barfy. Mine has 2 filter things in the bottom and it really made me start pre-rinsing better LOL

[Mergath]

I have just found a new appreciation for having to wash everything by hand. Blech.

[LaxMom]

YES!!! We just discovered the revolting funk, too! I started polling my friends to see if cleaning one's dishwasher with a toothbrush is some housekeeping thing I've missed the memo on for 40+ years. Yeah, evidently it is!

 

And "brains" is pretty accurate. Grey, splotchy... Yurg.

[gardenmom5]

I cleaned out my dishwasher this morning. It was SO nasty. I had no idea.

 

 

Hopefully this gets rid of the sludge it's been slinging on my glassware.

 

(BTW, don't look at yours, I mean really look at it, until you have about an hour and some rubber gloves. It was revolting. And to thoroughly examine it, you have to remove the bottom rack, get on your hands and knees and pretty much crawl inside it. )

 

 

I did that. lots cheaper than paying someone. it works better afterwards too.

[sewingmama]

Oh geez - another thing I have to clean :glare:

 

I never thought of this. Luckily our dishwasher has just been replaced so it's brand new - I should clean it while its not too gross I guess.

 

But we live in a rental - and used the previous dishwasher. I was washing my dishes in someone elses goo if they didn't know to clean it either :ack2:

[fraidycat]

Now I've found another reason that I take the bottom rack out of the dishwasher, set it on a towel on the counter, and use it as a drying rack for my Hand-Washed/rinsed dishes. One less appliance to clean. :laugh:

[Mom-ninja.]

I have just found a new appreciation for having to wash everything by hand. Blech.

 

 

Yep. I have no desire for a dishwasher. My mom keeps trying to buy me one. Every birthday and Christmas for the last 4 years she has asked if she can buy me one. I tell her no.

[edelweiss]

Yuck!! Yeah, I am so not cleaning my dishwashers (2) out. That sounds disgusting!! Is there someone I can hire to do that regularly? I'm not sure who I should call for that. :confused1:

[fraidycat]

Yuck!! Yeah, I am so not cleaning my dishwashers (2) out. That sounds disgusting!! Is there someone I can hire to do that regularly? I'm not sure who I should call for that. :confused1:

 

The 12 and 9 year olds when they misbehave? :boxing_smiley: :cursing: Clean the dishwasher!!!

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Ew!!! I've been afraid of this, but nothing in our dishwasher seems like it's meant to come off :confused1: The arm apparatus on our old one could be unscrewed and twisted apart, but I almost broke the new one trying to do it! Now I feel compelled to go and look :leaving:

 

Someone once told me that her husband had to take the drum out of her relatively new washing machine to fix something, and when he did, the whole outer side of the drum was covered in mold :svengo: She said basically, that's what we're washing our clothes in every time we wash them. I've been afraid of my washer ever since! I'm dying to have someone get that drum out just so I can look, but I don't think DH will accommodate that particular paranoia. I must know, though!!!

[edelweiss]

The 12 and 9 year olds when they misbehave? :boxing_smiley: :cursing: Clean the dishwasher!!!

 

 

Wow! That is really mean!

 

 

(And I like the way you think! :laugh: )

[BetterthanIdeserve]

I've started pre-rinsing a lot more myself. I also put about a 1/2 cup of vinegar in the bottom once a week. That seems to be helping clear the sprayers from mineral deposits.

[jeninok]

So wait, mine doesn't work well at all, and we have been Hand washing. What exactly are you all cleaning inside there? I just scrubbed half my kitchen and cleaned out the fridge. Maybe I should tackle this!

[fraidycat]

Wow! That is really mean!

 

 

(And I like the way you think! :laugh: )

 

:laugh:

[Desert Rat]

It is gross! I clean mine on the 1st of every month since I got a new dishwasher 5 months ago. And I don't use a rinse aid. Just vinegar.

[Pippen]

There's a product called Dishwasher Magic (found in the dishwashing soap section) that does a good job cleaning the dishwasher. I use a half cup of vinegar with every load but this does a deeper cleaning.

[Tracy in Ky]

I didn't know I was supposed to clean my dishwasher! :scared:

[fairfarmhand]

So wait, mine doesn't work well at all, and we have been Hand washing. What exactly are you all cleaning inside there? I just scrubbed half my kitchen and cleaned out the fridge. Maybe I should tackle this!

Okay to clean a dw, here's what I did.

 

You'll need vinegar, a pair of rubber gloves, lots of paper towels, a butter knife, a couple scrub brushes large and small, and a bunch of white vinegar.

 

Open the door and remove any trays, silverware junk, etc. on the door of the dw. (my dw has a silverware rack in the door) Then I removed the bottom rack and set it on the floor. (ds4 thought it was a great train and spent the morning rolling it through the kitchen)

 

Now get down on your hands and knees and stick your head in the dw and look around. In mine, even thought I regularly have run Dishwasher Magic and Vinegar through the thing, the crack immediately below the open door was filled with gunk. I used the gloves to scoop that mess out, and scrubbed it really well with brushes. I tossed it in the trash, because I didn't want anymore grossness in the dishwasher. Next, I took off the bottom sprayer. I twisted a small plastic thing in the center of the arm and it lifted right off. Then I found a series of filters underneath it. I doused these with vinegar and gently scrubbed them out. They were covered with a whitish hard water film.

 

Next, I had this vent/filter thingy in the door of the dw. I gently pried it open with the knife and WHOA!!!! gobs of nasty grey/white sludge in there. So I used the knife to scoop out all that mess. I took the vent filter thing and soaked it in vinegar in the sink and scrubbed it with a toothbrush.

 

I examined the sprayer arms and made sure nothing was clogged. I used a toothpick to gouge out the holes that were clogged.

 

I reassembled the dishwasher after I felt that it was as clean as I could get it. Then I dumped more vinegar in the dw. I turned it on its hottest wash setting and let it fill. Then I opened the dishwasher and let it soak for about an hour. Then I ran a complete cycle with no dishes to rinse all the gunk out.

 

My dishwasher smells cleaner than it has in a long time, and I am hoping that it will work better.

 

There's a product called Dishwasher Magic (found in the dishwashing soap section) that does a good job cleaning the dishwasher. I use a half cup of vinegar with every load but this does a deeper cleaning.

 

I've done both of these, and I still had tons of gunk in the dishwasher. Especially the mess below the door. Even using these two precautions, you may want to check the dishwasher, because you don't want your dishes washed in THAT!

 

Perhaps it is because our water is SOOO hard...I don't know. But that was the nastiest chore I've tackled in a long time.

 

 

Today, I am sore from all that, because I spent hours scrubbing the oven too. I spent most of my day crawled inside my dishwasher and stove.

[jeninok]

I figured out how to fully take mine apart last night. That was Nasty!!!!!

 

The good news is that I ran a load of dishes afterwards and they actually came out clean. I wish I would have thought to try this months ago.

 

What is that sticky grey sludge??

[fairfarmhand]

I think that sludge is a combination of hard water and soap scum.

 

SOOOO GROSSSS!!!

[Kim in Appalachia]

My dishwasher has this problem. I also think it 's the hard water. I scrape out the junk once a week, but I can't get to the stuff inside the front panel. At the bottom of the front panel/door there are holes or slats. They are full of gunk. I tried to scrape it but I can't. And I can't get the door off. We are getting a new dishwasher next week! (this one is somewhere between 15 and 20 years old!) I hope it doesn't have holes in the door. That's a horrible design. It is gross. Don't get me started on the wash machine.......I try to run bleach through it 2x a month, but it doesn't really help.

[Kathryn]

This thread confuses me. My 8yo dishwasher doesn't smell. I looked all in it. I don't see anything. I've never cleaned it. We do pre-clean/scrub all our dishes. They go in *looking* clean, but having been scrubbed with just a yucky brush and water, so not actually clean. The dishwasher just sanitizes I guess.

[fairfarmhand]

This thread confuses me. My 8yo dishwasher doesn't smell. I looked all in it. I don't see anything. I've never cleaned it. We do pre-clean/scrub all our dishes. They go in *looking* clean, but having been scrubbed with just a yucky brush and water, so not actually clean. The dishwasher just sanitizes I guess.

 

I'd bet that this is why you're not having many problems. Also, do you have hard water? Our water is AWFUL!

[Nakia]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!

 

I cleaned my dishwasher for the first time ever today. I almost died.

 

Thanks a lot. ;)

[LaxMom]

Ok, first I have to tell you that this thread has made me positively giddy. Nothing like finding out you're not the crackpot loser who completely missed the part about scrubbing the brains out from under the dishwasher door. It's quite liberating.

 

And I thought you would appreciate this: yesterday, I opened the (clean) dishwasher to get a butter knife and there, hanging out of the end hole of the upper rack whirligig thing... A piece of grass. Grass! Whaaaaaaaat???

 

I blame the evil, sock stealing gnomes. They're leaving brains and grass in there. I just know it.

[fairfarmhand]

Ok, first I have to tell you that this thread has made me positively giddy. Nothing like finding out you're not the crackpot loser who completely missed the part about scrubbing the brains out from under the dishwasher door. It's quite liberating.

 

And I thought you would appreciate this: yesterday, I opened the (clean) dishwasher to get a butter knife and there, hanging out of the end hole of the upper rack whirligig thing... A piece of grass. Grass! Whaaaaaaaat???

 

I blame the evil, sock stealing gnomes. They're leaving brains and grass in there. I just know it.

 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

don't look....(especially the crack right below the door inside of the dw,)

 

Yeah, thanks so much. I just cleaned this area this morning because of this post, and I nearly gagged! So gross! :ack2:

[KungFuPanda]

Ok, I looked. It's clean in there? What gives. My DW is two years old and cheap. It is one of those 'energy efficient' models that runs FOREVER if that matters.