You would think the inside of your dishwasher would be clean, right? After all, it cleans dishes every day with dish-washing detergent. But dishwashers use high temperature water and salts (found in dish-washing detergents)… and guess what thrives in that environment? Mold and fungi! There was a study that found 62% of dishwashers harbor this lovely fungi- yuck! (source). Luckily, vinegar is an acid that kills 82% of molds (source). Aren’t you just loving vinegar right now? It does everything from removing hard water stains to cleaning toilets and showers, to freshening your laundry. Cheers to vinegar!
What You Need to Clean A Dishwasher
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- Vinegar
- Baking Soda (Another mold killer!)
- Toothbrush (Not your own!)
- Liquid Measuring Cup– Make sure it’s dishwasher safe
How to Clean A Dishwasher
First thing’s first, empty your dishwasher.
I always start by dipping a toothbrush in vinegar and scrubbing around the door and rubber seal- it’s disgusting, so beware. Then, I run it through a rinse cycle just to rinse away the gunk that gets loosened.
After the rinse cycle is complete, pour vinegar into a 2 cup glass measuring cup and put it on the top shelf. Run your dishwasher through a normal wash cycle.
Once that is done, sprinkle 1 cup of baking soda on the bottom of the dishwasher and run it through a quick wash/short cycle.
Your dishwasher is now clean! It is recommended that you do this once a month, but honestly I do it every 3 months or so.
*BONUS*
Can anyone tell me what this stuff is in my dishwasher? (*Warning- gross!)
It’s this orange-y, slime-y grossness that builds up in my dishwasher. I’ve entered every search term I can think of in Google, but have found nothing. I have tried using the lemon kool-aid trick, and that did nothing for it. I wash it off as it builds up, but I’d like to know what it is. Do you know? Please tell me if you do!
***UPDATE*** I love when my readers send me links to articles that can answer these tough questions. Turns out this orange slime is biofilm caused by the bacteria Serratia marcescens. Yuck!
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We have EXTREMELY hard water from our well. My husband researched my dishwasher and found that running a quick cycle using citric acid crystals, filling both detergent cups as full as possible and NO heated dry… cleans this. I usually only need to wipe around the seals afterward.
Do you think the vinegar & baking soda cleanse is strong enough to cut through a really bad hard water residue?
The orangey-slim is caused by Serratia marcescens, a bacteria that has what’s called an “adhesive cell matrix,” which means it thrives as a colony and sticks together, so it appears as pink or orange slime plaguing your toilet, tub, and dishwasher.
These bacteria love fatty residue — so the grease that gets into your dishwasher and food substances left behind help it thrive. It’s generally not harmful, but immune-compromised people and kids can be susceptible to infections, so don’t ignore it. It needs scouring and disinfecting, but don’t use bleach, as it can damage your dishwasher.
If your dishwasher DOES NOT have a stainless steel interior you can do a bleach wash by adding 1 cup of bleach to the bottom of the dishwasher then running a full wash cycle. Do NOT do this step if your dishwasher has a stainless steel interior. Bleach can and will permanently damage and discolor stainless steel!
If your dishwasher has stainless steel then you will need to do a vinegar/baking soda cleanse every few days to retard the growth of this bacteria.
Hope this helps. 🙂
Thanks for the information. I have completely cleaned my dishwasher before, however, it’s been a while. I have that orange slime buildup which I don’t remember ever being to this degree. It is in the water arms and absolutely in everything. I can do my best to get little brushes in there but I know I won’t get it all. It’s just disgusting. Any suggestions to totally rid the washer of it? Im using liquid Cascade and Finish fr washng dishes. Is this part of the problem? Would you recommend something else after I get it clean?
Thank you for the dishwasher cleaning instructions. I did exactly that, yesterday afternoon and no more sediment on the walls of my appliance. Will do it a few times a year!
Much gratitude!
I am looking to make dishwasher tabs, do you have a recipe?
It’s a bacteria, we get it in the bathroom / shower room, basically it thrives in damp environments which is probably why the dishwasher gets it. It cleans off easy enough though
It might be a form of yeast:
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/children-is-fungus-lurking-in-your-dishwasher-070313#2
It’s a form of mildew. I used a toothbrush along with Thieves cleaner,from Young Living, and it came right off. I don’t use bleach anymore since it’s so harmful to breathe and doesn’t kill as many germs as the Thieves cleaner.
It is the bacteria serratia
/www.dsmh2o.com/tag/dishwasher-film/
I have that in my dishwasher and I have always believed it to be grease and cheese buildup. We go through a fair amount of pasta and Mac and cheese at our house. I just scrub it with dawn dish soap every month or so. It is gross.
A couple weeks ago I went in with diluted bleach. I typically avoid using bleach because it’s SO strong, but I was desperate. It actually seemed to do a pretty good job, and it hasn’t built back up… yet. Hoping that might have fixed the problem, because you are so right… it’s gross.
I know this is an old post, but I’d be willing to bet it’s serratia. It forms a biofilm especially in places where it’s damp and there is grease or another food supply. If you scrub it really well and then let it soak in some bleach you can probably get rid of it. It can be really difficult to remove completely because if you don’t get it all it can come back. 🙁
Thanks for your insight Sarah! I will definitely look into this and see if I can’t get it to stop coming back over and over again.
Does the vinegar not remove the serratia?
I have that orange slime in my dishwasher. It didn’t appear until I started using these: Finish Gelpacs Dishwasher Detergent, Orange Scent. I’m going to try your cleaning method and see if it will help.
That’s very similar to what we’ve got going on. It’s only in the dishwasher. The coloring and distribution look the same. My younger son has a tendency to take cups and bowls into the back yard, scoop dirt, and leave them out there. I think the problem started when I washed some of these items. I was pretty successful getting it cleaned by using bleach.
Try looking up iron bacteria. That leaves an orange slime on things at my house
Wow, that iron bacteria does kinda look like what I’ve got going on, but this slime isn’t sticky as described on wikipedia ( 🙂 ), and it’s ONLY happening in the dishwasher, not in my sinks, toilets, showers, etc. Not sure if the iron bacteria can just infest one area or not. Thanks for the information. I’ll keep researching the iron bacteria further.
It looks like food , pasta sauce, maybe? Pasta sauce is difficult to get off anything. Thanks for all the awesome cleaning tips.
Thank you for the useful tips & tricks. very helping article 🙂
You are so welcome! Enjoy your day!