To never have cleaned my dishwasher

[Pavementworrier]

Is it true you're supposed to do it monthly???

No I never have

Yes they can harbour E-coli

Get a cloth or paper towel and run it under the bottom of the dishwasher underneath the door and see how much gunk is there!
Obviously how dirty it gets depends on how often it’s used and how well you rinse the plates before they go in.
But yes you are supposed to empty the filter and clean iit regularly plus run a cleaning solution through every month or so and give it a wipe down/clean seals. Otherwise you are just washing your pots in dirty water.

I rinse the filter and mesh every wash (I’m rubbish at clearing plates) and I wipe out the door seal every week-it gets disgusting!

We do a proper clean of ours regularly. Well, DH does. But only because we discovered that if we didn’t it wouldn’t clean dishes properly and would flood.

i’m not so good at doesn’t the washing machine though. But do clean out the filter on the tumble dryer regularly too.

A previous poster has reminded me that the hoover filters are long overdue a clean.

Folloeing a recent blockage and overflow incident I’m adding a kitchen sink drain clean to the monthly jobs too.

Yay me too! Try to empty the mesh basket every time it runs but certainly every couple of days. DH will do the big filter say weekly. And we are complete SLATTERNS on everything.

Really gross. It will have that terrible smell. We dont use or have one so I can always smell a dishwasher.

Also run a cleaning cloth under the door on the inside. Door fully open and run a cloth along the hinged join. Didn’t realise you could do that and wow it was rotten. I’ve a strong stomach but that got me. Our dishwasher was stinking and I couldn’t work out why as I do clean it monthly. First of the month for all my monthly cleans (dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, meter reads, hoover filters etc) use cleaning wipes that you can just bin as the sludge was horrific.

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.

League of Gents :

Harvey Denton

What's my prize ?

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 🤢

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!

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.

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.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!!!

I just opened the filter... It is absolutely empty, pristine! I said to my husband hey have you cleaned the dishwasher filter?? He replied "What's that?"

AEG if anyone is looking for a recommendation

I got this dishwasher in 2022

Now running a long life machine care sachet thing through it hope that doesn't somehow undo the magic

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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