How to Clean a Dishwasher

Then use a little bit of dish soap and rub it in with your finger. Rinse again with hot water until all the soap is removed.

The underside of the drain cover will likely look something like this {gross!}.

Rinse off as much as you can using hot water, and then use an old toothbrush and a little dish soap to remove the remainder of the gunk and get all the crevasses clean.

In less than five minutes, both my dishwasher filter and drain cover were sparkling clean.

But after reading pros and cons of different vinegar methods, I opted to instead start a regular wash cycle with a completely empty dishwasher (and no dish soap). Once the bottom of the machine has filled with hot water, paused the cycle, open the door, pour 2 cups of vinegar into the bottom, close the door and let it sit for 30 minutes, and then finish running the cycle. This vinegar method removes any built up grease and grime, and leaves the dishwasher smelling fresh.

Finally, sprinkle about a cup of baking soda across the bottom the empty dishwasher. Run a short, hot-water cycle (again with no detergent). The baking soda method will help to remove any stains and will leave the inside of the dishwasher sparkling clean.