Shea Simmons
Your dishwasher cleans your dishes for you, but who cleans the dishwasher? Someone has to do it, and if that someone is you, you can get the job done with just two common kitchen ingredients.
While it might seem surprising that an appliance designed to clean needs to be cleaned itself, alas, it’s true. The good news is you can easily make a DIY dishwasher cleaner with two things you probably already have in your pantry: white vinegar and baking soda.
First, however, you’ll want to manually clean your dishwasher. This includes wiping down the walls, and removing the filter and other removable parts. While you let those soak, clean out any leftover debris. Once that’s done, it’s time to break out the vinegar and baking soda.
Leave all of the washer’s removable parts out, fill a dishwasher-safe bowl with white vinegar, place it in the bottom of the dishwasher, and then run a hot water cycle.
According to Cyrus Bedwyr, oven and appliance cleaning specialist at Fantastic Services, the vinegar helps break down any leftover debris, grease, or soap scum you might have missed during your initial wipe down.
Next, remove the bowl, sprinkle a layer of baking soda all over the bottom of the machine, and then run another short hot water cycle.
“Baking soda is great for removing stains and also deodorizing dishwashers,” Bedwyr said.
When the cycle is done, place everything back in the machine, and voilà: clean dishwasher!
Now that the inside of your dishwasher is clean, it’s time to clean its outside, and guess what? You can use one of the same ingredients, so hopefully, you kept them handy.
[Via MyDomaine]
