To never have cleaned my dishwasher

Bugger must do the hob extractor filter. DH does like to fry food.

Our dishwasher, there's only two of us so takes two days to fill. Pans washed by hand. The filter at the bottom is never greasy. Fish bones not scraped off the plate are a bugger to remove. I've never found it smelly or gunked up.

We don't have limescale I wonder if that makes a difference

I clean mine on the first of every month and top up the salt and rinse aid at the same time. I do the washing machine, tumble dryer, water softener, water filter and clean the kitchen bins on the same day. Whole thing takes about 15 mins max using a steam cleaner.

I think it’s more to do with the number of cycles because if we have been away for 2 weeks it is longer and shorter if we have had a lot of times when it is on twice a day rather than once.

I use soda crystals in every wash - we have hard water. Calgon is just soda crystals in a tablet.

Washing machines and dishwashers have to be put through a service wash every so often. Do you have a dryer? You have to clear the fluff from the filter and clean the vent. It helps it run more efficiently as well as preventing a fire hazard.

I run a dishwasher cleaner product through the machine every 3 months, and feel pretty virtuous doing that much!

Well I took the filter out of ours and it was a bit gungy but not too bad. The spray arms were fine. Now running a cleaning cycle. Oh and I did the seals and around the door and the edge where it opens which wasn’t dirty at all.

And the extractor fan filter is soaking in hot soapy water.

I’m on a roll.

@Pavementworrier - good news that yours was ok.

I’ll get mine too then. I’m still fairly new to the dishwasher party, only having one for 2 years. I run the machine care program monthly and the products are not cheap. I rinse filter every couple of weeks but it’s never gungy. I live in a hard water area so I just want to look after my dw.

I was always taught to clean my filters and put a cleaner through monthly. It kept my last dishwasher going for 8yrs

I mean we clean ours when the dishes aren’t coming out clean. Probably around once a quarter.

Yes of course. Wipe down all the edges which don’t get wet during the cycle. Wipe around the rubber seal. Run a cleaning cycle regularly with special dishwasher cleaner. Take out the filters every day and clean. Take out the spray arms every week and clean. All this will be in the user manual which you can download

Im a very laid back person with an untidy house... however when I had a dishwasher before I was cleaning it every week and washing the filter daily! It's not because I'm ott it's because I've got a huge problem with cutlery or glasses not being spotless (growing up with a mum who was crap at washing up will do that, as soon as I was old enough I scrubbed every mug before making a cup of tea). If I didn't have specific dishwasher cleaner I used white vinegar. Now we don't have a dishwasher I spend my whole life washing up (ditto husband and oldest son) and my glasses sparkle

Me neither!

I do clean the dishwasher though. The water is very hard where I live, and it tells me when it needs cleaning by leaving gritty bits of limescale on stuff it's washed. I'd say this is around every 6-8 weeks, but I live on my own so the dishwasher gets used less than it would for a family, probably only every 3 days or so.

I don't do the filter very often, but I am meticulous about scraping plates etc.

I barely remember to collect the peas that end up at the bottom

DH and I both have protein shakes in the morning for breakfast and they've got chia/raspberry/blueberry seeds in. We have to rinse the blender jug and glasses we use out in the sink first as they completely blocked the filters on the dishwasher. Any seeds stick like glue.

I bung one of those cleaning solution things in once a quarter, clean the filter when I refill the salt and give a couple of squirts vinegar after unloading so that nasties don’t build up between washes. That’s about it. I should clean the filter more regularly but I don’t.

The washing machine gets a few squirts (after every wash) in the drawer and the drum to combat build up.

Have loved reading this thread! 😄

Reminded me of staying at my Dad’s house and doing some cleaning as he wasn’t able. I was cleaning the cooker and did the extraction fan. Took the metal filters down to wash (they were filthy) and removed the paper filters. To my Dad’s total shock. He had no idea they had replaceable filters or that the metal filters were removable and needed cleaning. He was very suspicious of me taking it all apart, cleaning it and buying replacement filters. Extractor fan was put in with the kitchen so at least 16 years prior.

I do run cleaning cycles on the dishwasher and washing machine regularly but don’t do the filter very often. Was just thinking I should put in the calendar monthly to do the extraction fan filter and the dishwasher and washing machine cleaning cycles.

Are you sure you’re clicking the filter back in place fully? I had a similar issue for months but realised after that I hadn’t been turning the filter clockwise after replacing it to tighten it.

Ha you've explained it better than I did! I had no idea until recently when I was getting the filter out and accidentally brushed against that area. So grateful I was wearing rubber gloves!

Ok only half way through the thread, but also feeling vaguely smug 😆 I clean mine whenever the salt light comes on - about every 4-6 weeks, so I top everything up and give it a clean.

Have we also talked about the gunge that builds up under the door? When you open the door, there's a little space under the opened door near the hinge. Try wiping it with a bit of kitchen roll 🤢

League of Gents :

Harvey Denton

What's my prize ?

I take my filter out and clean it monthly and also clean around the sides and do a cleaning wash. Otherwise the water to rinse is grim.