How to Clean Your Dishwasher with a Steam Cleaner

The dishwasher is for cleaning your dishes, but how do you clean a dishwasher? Is there a dishwasher washer you’ve overlooked somewhere the help you know how to clean a dishwasher?

Did you know that a dishwasher filter holds food particles and needs to be clean? Not only that, but soap scum and spray arms can build up, causing a smelly dishwasher as well. When you start to notice a food residue, you know that it’s time to clean the inside of your dishwasher. Don’t wait until you start smelling unpleasant odors!

When your dishwasher itself isn’t very clean, it doesn’t do as great of a job sterilizing, cleansing, washing, and rinsing your dinnerware. You need to clean your dishwasher periodically, maybe once a year at least, in order to keep it running like the beautiful, wonderful machine that it is.

I recently received a Dupray ONE Plus Steam Cleaner and accessory kit to test out and review here on the blog, and to give one away to my readers (giveaway entry at the end). I have never used a steam cleaner before and over the last two months have been trying it out on various appliances, fixtures, and materials in the hopes of figuring out the very best use of this awesome machine.

One of the best uses so far has been on cleaning the dishwasher!

Our dishwasher was getting super gross. I guess after more than 18 months of living here and never cleaning it, it makes sense that it would be so gross.

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How to Clean Dishwasher

I poured some tap water into my Dupray ONE Plus Steam Cleaner, waited about 10 minutes for it to heat up, and then tackled my nasty dishwasher.

I steamed the outside door first because it looked like this:

The greatest benefit though came when I steamed in the hinge area inside the dishwasher. There was a lot of nasty orange-colored gunk and black flecks shooting off from the corners (sorry I skipped the pictures for you).

I loved how the machine made it easy to clean the parts I couldn’t see well, and I didn’t  have to scrub with a little finger in a nook anywhere. I didn’t have to do any scrubbing.

After I blasted away all the gunk, I wiped it all out with some paper towels. I then soaked up all the standing water that has been collecting at the bottom of the dishwasher as well, grabbing any little bits of plastic or whatever that was down there too.

It now looked a lot better, but I knew there were still some residue stains and hard water and I needed to run a cleansing cycle.

I grabbed my big jug of vinegar, and poured 2 cups of vinegar into the bottom of the dishwasher and ran a water-saving cycle. Halfway through the cycle, I stopped it, and let it just sit for 10 minutes, and then I turned it back on (I set a timer).

Once it was done my dishwasher looked fabulous! Certainly not perfect, and I still don’t really care for this dishwasher (gotta love apartment living), but it’s clean and doing a better job keeping my dishes clean and sanitary.

How do I clean the dishwasher exterior?

I like to use a clean microfiber cloth and soap with hot water. The outside of the dishwasher door may actually need to be cleaned in other ways, depending on what is on it. Some kitchen appliances need fingerprints cleaned while others have smudges.

If the front is stainless steel, you can clean it with a stainless steel cleaner. You can also use hot soapy water to wipe down the front of a first dishwasher. if you really need to scrub, an old toothbrush and some rubber gloves can do the trick.

What causes bad odors in a dishwasher?

Leftover food from plates gets stuck to the bottom of the machine. Over time, this turns into a breeding ground for germs, smells, and more. The dishwasher drain can also become clogged with food and particles and the dishwasher’s filter can become clogged with food as well.

You do need to check the removable filter and clean it if you notice a smell coming from your dirty dishwasher. Get rid of the food waste and any remaining bits of food that you might see. This should also help rid of any lingering odors as well. Food debris is the biggest reason that your dishwasher smells.

For more tips on how to clean just about everything, check out these other popular kitchen cleaning tutorials!

• How to clean oven with baking soda
• How to clean microwave
• How to clean and deodorize garbage disposal
• How to remove fridge odor and smells
• How to clean stove drip pans
• How to clean globe faucet handles
• How to clean copper bottom pot with vinegar and salt
• How to clean copper pot with ketchup
• How to remove scratches from dinnerware
• How to clean a Le Creuset dutch oven
• How to clean stainless steel pans

GIVEAWAY!! {ENDED}

One of my lucky readers will win a brand new Dupray One Plus Steam Cleaner!

Dupray sells high-quality, European-made residential and commercial steam cleaners to parents around the world. Dupray is a family-owned business, proud that their machines offer a chemical-free way to clean your home. The machines use only tap water

The Dupray One Plus Steam Cleaner can be used to clean the entire house, from floor to ceiling – couches, windows, kitchens, cars, whatever task you have, it can do it. They have over 300 videos that shows what their machines can do! Here’s a great overview of the specific machine up for grabs:

I love how quickly it heats up, and that you can refill it while it’s being used, although I have never had to refill it while in use because it holds a lot of water. One of the best features of the steam cleaners is that it not only cleans, but that it sanitizes and deodorizes as it does so!

The machine is fairly small and a light 15 lbs, and doesn’t have to be emptied between uses.

The Dupray One Plus Steam Cleaner currently retails at $849, which is a lot. But, if you calculate how much money you spend on cleaning products in a year, this type of purchase actually makes a lot of sense, especially considering these steam cleaners last for over 15 years. In addition, the company plants one tree for every steam cleaner sold, and regularly donate to animal charities.