How to Fix a Smelly Dishwasher

Is your dishwasher smelly, dirty, and in need of a good clean? We're here to help! In this guide, we're going to show you how to clean your dishwasher step-by-step, helping you get rid of bad dishwasher smells and keep your appliance working optimally for longer.

Like all appliances, dishwashers will start to smell and become dirty if they aren't regularly cleaned. This is because substances like detergent residue, large food particles and limescale can build up inside your dishwasher, causing bad odours.

If you live in a hard water area, limescale can be particularly harmful on your appliance. This is because limescale deposits can build up on your dishwasher's heating element, which is the part that heats the water in your machine, causing the heater to fail over time.

Let's take a look! To learn how to clean your dishwasher and fix bad dishwasher smells, you can either watch our video tutorial below or follow our written step-by-step guide beneath.

The best way to keep your dishwasher clean and odour free, whilst also tackling limescale in the process, is to use a 2-in-1 cleaner that both descales and sanitises your appliance. Fortunately, our very own eSpares washing machine and dishwasher cleaner is super easy to use and gets the job done! One sachet of this powerful powder will remove limescale, detergent and grease from the internal parts of your dishwasher. This will flush out any bacteria living inside your machine and keep it smelling fresh.

Before using a cleaner and descaler in your appliance, you should first make sure you clean your dishwasher's filter. This is because the filter is designed to catch things like food debris, broken shards of glass, and pieces of broken crockery before they make their way into the internal parts of your appliance and damage them. As such, the filter can get dirty and clogged quickly.

If you don't know how to clean your dishwasher's filter, don't worry; it's super easy. First, you just need to simply open your dishwasher and remove the lower basket...

You will then be able to see the filter at the base of the dishwasher. To clean it, simply remove the filter from your dishwasher and clear away any food particles or debris. Then rinse the filter thoroughly under the tap before fitting it back into the base of your dishwasher. It is recommended to clean the filter like this roughly once a week to avoid it getting clogged and working inefficiently.

With the filter clean, you can go ahead and use the eSpares dishwasher cleaner and descaler to clean your appliance! Just make sure that, when using the cleaner, your dishwasher is empty and you don't use any detergents at the same time.

To use the cleaner, simply pour half a sachet into the detergent dispenser and close it like you would with a normal dishwasher tablet. Then just pour the other half of the sachet into the base of the dishwasher.

Once you've done this, run a cycle at 60 degrees without a pre-wash. You should notice the difference right away with a single clean! We recommend using this cleaner once a month for continuous results. However, if you live in a hard water area and your appliance hasn't been descaled in the past six months, we recommend using the cleaner once a week for the first month before switching to standard monthly cleans.

To give your dishwasher an extra thorough clean, we also recommend using the eSpares dishwasher cleaner to clean your dishwasher's door and door seals. To do this, take another sachet and dissolve it in warm water inside a spray bottle. Then just spray the solution onto the door and the door seals to clean them!

And there you have it, how to clean your dishwasher and get rid of bad dishwasher smells! With this advice, you'll be able to keep your appliance in great shape and cleaning your dishes properly for many cycles to come.

On top of keeping your dishwasher hygienic, cleaning it regularly is also a great way to save energy, as it will improve your appliance's efficiency... and this is just one of many energy-saving methods worth following! Head over to our article on dishwasher energy saving tips to discover plenty more ways you can cut costs and save energy with your dishwasher whilst getting the best results.

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