Does your dishwasher smell bad? For people who don’t use their dishwashers often, possible reasons behind the stink could be trapped food, mold development, etc.
However, you might think, even when you use your dishwasher daily, then why does it still reek?
Today, we will talk about some potential causes of the dishwashers’ odor. In addition, we have also provided tips to get rid of that smell. Let’s start with our reasons.
Trapped Food
A common cause of bad-smelling dishwashers is the trapped food that has started to rot. When you find your dishwasher smelling, the first step is to check the presence of stuck food. You can start from your filter.
There are many holes in a dishwasher’s filter. These holes can easily trap the leftovers from your dishes. If you can’t find any leftovers on it, take out the rack and basket to look deeper.
However, be careful when you are looking for stuck food. There could be broken glass or something sharp inside the dishwasher, which might hurt you. For safety, wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from possible injuries.
Damaged Drain Hose
You might know how a drain hose works. If not, then let’s make you understand that right away. Basically, the job of a drain hose is to transfer the dirty water inside the tub.
If your dishwasher is smelling, there could be something wrong with your drain hose. To check what’s wrong, pull your dishwasher away from the wall. Once done, look for kinks or bends that might hinder water flow.
Also, try to straighten the hose so that dishwater can pass through it smoothly. If the drain hose is damaged and cannot be straightened out, replace it with a new one. You can also contact a professional for help if you are unable to do the job yourself.
You are Not Running Your Dishwasher Enough
Another good reason why your dishwasher smells could be because you don’t use it often. There are people who prefer to wash their dishes collectively in one day. They follow the same practice as they do with the laundry.
Such people pick a specific day for cleaning all the dirty dishes/plates collected throughout the week. But it’s not an ideal practice for your dishwasher. Even if you rinse your plates before placing them in your dishwasher, some tiny food particles still remain on them.
When you place your plates in the dishwasher, the leftover food gets stuck in the machine. Since you don’t use dishwashers often, bacterias start developing in your dishwasher due to those leftovers. Therefore, it becomes necessary to use your dishwasher daily. You can run it on the ‘light cycle’ if we have fewer utensils to clean.
Now that you know why your dishwasher smells, it’s time to understand how you can remove that odor.
Get ready to learn about some amazing expert-recommended tips to make your dishwasher smell good? Let’s get started then.
Expert Tips to Remove Odour From Your Dishwasher
Do you dry your dishes in the dishwasher itself? If yes, then removing that smell becomes necessary. The order contains lots of bacteria and harmful infections that might stick with your dishes when being dried.
We are sure you don’t want to take that risk. So here are the top five tips that you should follow to make your dishwasher odor-free. These tips are expert-designed and effective. Go, try them out!
Clean The Filter
Detach the filter from your dishwasher and clean it properly using hot water, soap, and a shrub or brush. Start by cleaning the top section, then middle and bottom at last. Make sure you clean the filter with a light hand as going hard might break it.
Once you are done cleaning it, dry it under the sun. The final step is to attach the filter back. Be careful when you are placing it back. For additional assistance, you can also take the help of your dishwasher’s manual booklet.
Don’t Forget to Clean the Machine
Sometimes cleaning the filter isn’t enough to remove the odor. That’s why you should also consider cleaning the interiors of the machine. Don’t use your regular dishwasher to do this job.
We have a special paste that works five times better than your regular cleaning bar or soap. Take a bowl, add baking soda, dish wash, and water to it. Then mix everything properly to get a thick paste.
Use a scrub to wash your dishwasher’s interiors using the paste. Clean the walls, shelves, and other parts of your dishwashers with that paste and lukewarm water. Once done, run your dishwasher by an empty cycle to rinse the mixture out.
Never Pre-rinse Your Dishes
There’s a very common misconception that pre-rinsing dishes helps dishwashers clean them better. It’s not wrong if you scrape off large residuals of food before placing them inside your dishwasher. However, there’s no need to do that as detergents stick with dirt.
Detergents are made up of enzymes that react automatically when they come in contact with dirt. If your plates don’t have dirt for detergents to lock, your machine will be filled with lots of unnecessary foam. So when there’s no dirt on your plates, then enzymes won’t break down properly.
If they don’t break down, your dishes will end up getting coated with chunky residues. It’s unhygienic and dangerous for your health. Therefore, instead of pre-rinsing your dishes, place them straight away in your dishwashers.
Final Words
So far, we have learned some potential reasons why dishwashers smell bad. The reasons include trapped food, damaged drain hose, and irregular use of your machine. In addition to the causes of bad smell, we have also shared expert tips to get rid of it.
You can try those tips to get rid of odor instantly. If anyone in your contacts is experiencing the same issue, share this blog with them. Help them remove the bad smell from their dishwashers.
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