How to Clean a Dishwasher: The Filter Is Why It Smells

Your dishwasher washes everything else in the kitchen, so people assume it cleans itself. It does not. Grease, soap scum, and trapped food collect in the tub, the spray arms, and one part almost everyone forgets: the filter. That buildup dulls the wash, spots your glasses, and turns into the musty smell that greets you when you open the door. The filter causes most of it, and rinsing it takes two minutes. Here is the full method, from the ten-minute weekly fix to the monthly deep clean, using ingredients you already own.

Start With The Filter (This Fixes Most Problems)

The filter sits on the floor of the dishwasher, under the bottom spray arm. It catches the food particles that would otherwise clog your drain, and it fills with rotting gunk that produces the smell. Cleaning it solves most dishwasher complaints on its own.

Pull out the bottom rack. Twist the filter to unlock it (check your manual, since some models have both a lower and an upper filter, and a few older machines have a fixed filter you cannot remove). Lift it out.

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Rinse it under hot running water to flush the loose debris. For the stuck-on residue, soak the filter for about 20 minutes in a bowl of hot water with a few drops of dish soap or a 1:1 mix of hot water and white vinegar. Then scrub the mesh with an old toothbrush dipped in baking soda, which acts as a mild abrasive. Rinse it again under hot water and lock it back in place.

Wipe around the filter housingwith a damp microfiber cloth, not your bare fingers. Broken glass sometimes settles there.

If you run the dishwasher daily without pre-rinsing your dishes, clean the filter monthly. If you use it less often, pull the filter every few weeks and check for buildup to find your own rhythm.

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Clear The Spray Arms and Wipe The Seals

Two quick jobs make the next wash noticeably better.

Check the spray arms. Those are the rotating pieces with small holes that fire water at your dishes. Foodand hard-water deposits clog the holes and weaken the spray. Poke each blocked hole clear with a toothpick, and confirm the arms spin freely.

Wipe the door seal (the rubber gasket around the edge). Grime hides in its folds, and it is a common source of odor. Mix half a cup of vinegar with a few cups of hot water, dip a toothbrush, and work along the gasket. A paste of baking soda and a little water lifts stubborn grime around the door edges.

Run a Vinegar Cycle

With the racks empty, fill a dishwasher-safe bowl with one to two cups of white vinegar and set it on the top rack. Run the hottest cycle the machine offers. The hot water carries the vinegar through the spray arms and across the interior, cutting grease, dissolving limescale, and washing away old detergent buildup. Skip the drying step so the vinegar does not bake onto the tub.

When it finishes, open the door and let the interior air out for a few minutes.

Follow With a Baking Soda Cycle

Sprinkle one cup of baking soda across the bottom of the empty tub. Run a short, hot cycle. The baking soda brightens the interior and pulls out the musty smell that the vinegar cycle loosened.

One rule matters here, and skipping it makes a mess: never put the vinegar and the baking soda in together. Run them as two separate cycles. Combined in the same load, they fizz into a foamy volcano. The reaction will not wreck the machine, but you will spend the evening mopping.

For Extra Grime, Wipe it Down by Hand

Between cycles, or for a heavily neglected machine, take out the racks and scrub the interior walls, top, and bottom with a damp cloth sprinkled with baking soda. Rinse the cloth often. Wipe the exterior control panel with a 1:1 vinegar-and-water spray on a cloth (spray the cloth, not the panel). If baking soda and vinegar do not finish the job, a commercial dishwasher-cleaning tablet run through a hot empty cycle handles severe buildup.

Safety: Two Combinations to Never Make

Cleaning chemistry has two hard rules worth stating plainly.

Never mix bleach and vinegar. Together they release chlorine gas, which is toxic. Stick to one cleaning agent per cycle.

Never scrub a stainless steel interior with steel wool. It scratches the surface permanently. Use a cloth or a soft brush instead.

Keep It Clean Between Deep Cleans

A few habits stretch the time between deep cleans:

• Scrape plates before loading, though you can skip a heavy pre-rinse, which modern detergents do not need.

• Run a vinegar cycle about once a month. Vinegar is an acid, so monthly is often enough rather than every wash.

• Leave the door ajar after a cycle so the interior dries and does not grow mold.

• Use a rinse aid if your glasses come out cloudy from hard water.

Keep an eye on nearby kitchen pests, too. Food residue and moisture around the sink, dishwasher, and rubbish bin can attract small flies and gnats. Keeping these areas dry and cleaning up crumbs and spills can help prevent them from becoming a recurring problem. If you are already dealing with them elsewhere in the kitchen, see our guide on how to get rid of gnats for practical ways to deal with the problem.

Troubleshooting

It still smells after cleaning. Recheck the filter, then inspect the drain hose, the garbage-disposal connection, and the gasket folds for trapped food. A smell that survives a thorough clean can point to a drain issue worth a plumber’s look.

Glasses come out cloudy. Check your water hardness, add or increase rinse aid, and confirm you are using enough detergent. Permanent cloudiness can be etching, which cleaning will not reverse.

Water sits in the bottom. Clean the filter again and check the drain path. If the pump only hums without draining, stop and call for service.

Dishes come out gritty. Confirm the filter is locked in correctly and every spray-arm hole is clear.

FAQ

How often should I clean my dishwasher?

Rinse the filter monthly if you use the machine daily, and run a vinegar deep-clean cycle about once a month. Light users can do both a few times a year.

Can I use bleach in my dishwasher?

Avoid it, especially in a stainless steel interior, and never use it alongside vinegar. Vinegar and baking soda handle almost every cleaning and odor problem.

Why does my dishwasher smell even though I clean it?

The filter is the usual culprit, followed by food trapped in the drain, gasket, or spray arms. Clean all four.

Do I really need to clean the filter?

Yes. A clogged filter is the single most common reason a dishwasher smells and stops cleaning well.

The Bottom line

A clean dishwasher starts at the filter, so rinse and scrub it first, since it causes most smells and poor washing. Clear the spray arm holes, wipe the door seal, then run a hot vinegar cycle followed by a separate baking soda cycle to cut grease and kill odor. Never mix bleach with vinegar, and never run vinegar and baking soda together. Keep the filter clean monthly and leave the door ajar to dry, and the machine that cleans your dishes will stop needing an apology every time you open it.

Sources and Expertise

• Whirlpool and Samsung manufacturer cleaning guides: filter removal, cycle method, model variation

• ARM & HAMMER, Better Homes & Gardens, Pro Housekeepers, The Seep Company: vinegar and baking soda method, filter soaking, gasket and spray-arm cleaning

• Manufacturer safety guidance: never mix bleach with vinegar and avoid steel wool on stainless steel

Reviewed against appliance-manufacturer and cleaning-professional guidance. Check your dishwasher’s use-and-care manual for model-specific filter and cycle instructions.