Home appliances make your life easier. Before, when you had to do the dishes by hand, many were reluctant. Nowadays, the dishwasher washes our plates, our glasses, our cutlery. It’s practical: you load the dirty dishes, put the dishwashing tablets, press the start button and a few times later, your plates, glasses and cutlery are sparkling clean again. If only it weren’t for that nasty smell! What is the cause and how to avoid this smell? You don’t have to invest in expensive cleaners right away. Here are 9 tips to fight odors in your dishwasher.
Why does your dishwasher smell bad?
The advantage with a dishwasher is that you simply put dishes, glasses, cutlery and pots in it after eating and you don’t have to do anything more. Even heavily soiled parts are no longer a problem for modern devices. However, some food scraps sit in your dishwasher and are not washed away during cleaning. These cause deposits and over time begin to smell. Especially in the sieve, in the cutlery basket and on the drawers, they can accumulate and possibly even rot. Food residue and grease also often accumulate in the pipes, joints and outer frame of the dishwasher. If they are not removed then the dishwasher will start to smell.
Eliminate bad odors in the dishwasher
In order to control unpleasant odors, you can use deodorizing tablets intended specifically for dishwashers. But they don’t really address the root cause of the problem. To eliminate odors, you must:
1 – Clean your dishwasher regularly
Cleaning your dishwasher comes down to taking care of each individual part. For example, clean the baskets at least once a month. Let the dishwasher run empty every 2-3 months. Clean seals and spray arms if necessary. You can use special machine cleaners as well as citric acid and vinegar cleaners for cleaning.
2 – Use lemon for cleaning
To eliminate bad odors from the dishwasher, just put the zest of a lemon in the cutlery basket. First peel a lemon and use its skin to scrub the inside of your dishwasher. Place the remaining lemon zest in the cutlery basket and pour the juice over the bottom. After a cycle with a normal load, the machine should be thoroughly cleaned and the unpleasant smell should be gone.
3 – Clean with vinegar
It’s well known that vinegar isn’t just for salads. It is an essential part of home maintenance. So you can also use it to clean your dishwasher and get rid of unpleasant smells. To do this, simply pour half a cup of vinegar into the bottom of your dishwasher, then run the wash cycle as normal. This will also remove all repositories. Practical advice: do not use vinegar essence or other products with an acid content of more than 5%. These can damage your dishwasher and your dishes.
4 – Use baking soda to neutralize
If an unpleasant odor is coming from your dishwasher, baking soda can also have a neutralizing effect. Sprinkle two tablespoons on the floor of your machine. Warning: vinegar and baking soda do not mix well. So follow these two tips separately.
5 – Remove large pieces of food
A very simple solution to avoid bad odors caused by food deposits is to remove them when they are too coarse before placing your dishes in the machine. However, you do not need to automatically rinse all the dishes first. It is advisable to rinse plastic cans and containers that are covered in tomato sauce, ketchup or leftover carrots, as these leave unsightly discolorations on the plastic.
6 – Do not always choose the same washing program
It is also important not to select the energy saving program every time. Run the machine at a higher temperature from time to time. At 70 degrees Celsius, bacteria and germs, which are also responsible for an unpleasant odor, are eliminated.
7 – Leave the door of your dishwasher open
Especially in summer, when it is very hot in the kitchen, germs and bacteria multiply quickly on dirty plates, pots and cutlery. For this reason, the door should be opened and left open after the dishwasher’s wash cycle has finished. This allows heat to escape and prevents bacteria from forming and multiplying.
8 – Run your machine regularly
Unpleasant odors appear especially when the dishwasher is not used often. In families, the problem rarely arises, but if you are just one or two people at home, it may happen that you wait several days before running your machine. So run it more frequently. Appliances are now so efficient that they don’t waste so much water and energy. In addition, you can choose between different programs and adapt the rinsing cycle to your requirements.
9 – Call the manufacturer’s customer service
Despite all your attempts, your dishwasher continues to give off a foul odor? You may need to contact the manufacturer’s customer service. In this case, he must help you, because the problem can be with the device itself. For example a bad connection: the waste water pipe is badly connected or it is bent, like bent and residual water can accumulate and odors can appear.