To never have cleaned my dishwasher

@bloodredfeaturewall

We had a corner jacuzzi bath in our previous house. Adult family member wanted to use it - no problem, but please don't put any bubble bath in.

They did. Also epic (I had a very clean bathroom though!)

we just run a hot long cycle with a descaler tablet every couple of months or so.

especially if you tend to use shorter cycles you need to do that.

my friend did that as ran out of dw tablets.
the foam was epic. like the magic porridge pot.

Just do what my Mum did. We were staying in a rented property for a big party. It was usually run as a hotel so it was very well equipped. We loaded up the -ginormous- dishwasher after a big meal and my Mum offered put it on (tbf, I'm not sure she had ever used a dishwasher - they certainly didn't feature in my childhood).

What she actually did was squirt about half a bottle of Fairy Liquid liberally over all the plates, then put it on a very hot wash.

It was EPIC.

@Baconking - I did the dishwasher yesterday plus the extractor fan filter and the washing machine is currently on a cleaning cycle with soda crystals in. I do that fairly regularly anyway.

Avoid putting too much potato into the dishwasher. I don't like rinsing things too much as I may as well just wash them up. But the pan the potatoes are mashed in needs soaking and a quick rinse before going in.

This thread reminded me it was time to do ours especially after its heavy use over Christmas, so did it yesterday. Someone upthread mentioned the gunge that collects on the runners. I happened to notice this one day, had never looked before and certainly hadn’t cleaned the runners but I do these now too.

We’ve also paid to have an engineer look at our DW when it was leaving gritty residue on everything so I’m much more conscious about keeping it clean, though not hugely regularly.

I did and was surprised at how little was in the filter after years of not cleaning it.

My DH said that it clogged up a few years ago so it must have been removed once before and then promptly forgotten about. I always scrap off sauces or debris from plates into the compost bin and there's practically nothing left to get trapped in the dishwasher filter.

Our old DW stopped heating , the repairsman said due to no salt we have a very hard water area ) . Apparently it randomly flushed out the salt container so if I topped it up I had no clue if it would last a month or 24 hours

Current one has a warning light but I check the levels every 1-2 weeks anyway.

I did ask DH as he loaded the DW this morning if he was dazzled , he said "Well I know you cleaned it last night......."
Peasant .

OMG....I wasn't. It's clicked in now, will report back.

I'm not great at cleaning, but with the dishwasher I do regularly empty the filter, and also chuck a cleaning pod in with the normal cycle every couple of weeks.

The dishwasher repair man advised it to stop grease blocking the pipes.

It is much cheaper to buy 2 cleaning pods for £1 than to call out the repair man regularly.

I have the answer to this. You need a second filter. Available from eBay or online spares suppliers for about £10 if that.

When you do the cleaning programme using Aldi or Lidl dishwasher cleaner, rather than that overpriced Finish nonsense, take out the dirty filter and install your new clean filter.

Then run the cleaning cycle with the yucked up filter in the dishwasher so it's cleaned without having to put in any effort yourself.

God, wish I had one of those shops near me!

I'm doing mine now😇

Finish cleaner is very expensive in supermarkets, it's one of those things that B&M sell for £1.99. I generally get a couple when I go in.

I have found out our filter isn't the replaceable kind, almost like a bagless vacuum, dh has been cleaning it all of this time! 🫣

I have never cleaned the filter in 10 years nor can I find it when I had a look!. I did buy some cleaner though and thought £5.50 was bit steep !

I will say, in defence of my fellow slatterns, that I have rarely ( and not in the last five years) done a maintenance cleaning wash in my washing machine. I'm in a hard water area. I've moved my machine at least three times and it has lasted at least 20 years.

I ran some bleach through the washing machine after reading this thread. As recommended by Hotpoint. I rarely use bleach so didn’t feel too bad about the environmental effects….

Do you wash your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher?! 😜

I had a family member who did this, by the way! She said the dishwasher was just to “sanitise” the dishes. 🤣 rest her batshit soul ❤️

I do clean the filter now and again. I never run a high temperature cleaning programme and never use salt or Calgon but we are in a soft water area and it's totally unnecessary.

I can’t believe there are people here who have never cleaned their filters. Are your dishes not coming out covered in dried up sludge?

I do mine every time it stops cleaning as effectively, ie when things aren’t squeaky clean. I do a dishwasher cleaning cycle occasionally.

No, but I did but some cleaner! 😁

Never done ours. Life’s too short.

Anyone else clean their dishwasher and washing machines yesterday after reading this thread 🙋‍♀️.

I do clean them but probably quarterly