What can I use to clean the drain in my dishwasher? Also, what should I use on the inside of the dishwasher?
By Sam
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I recently bought a house with a very old dishwasher. It wasn't washing all that well. I poured about a quart of white vinegar into the wash (as it was about to wash), along with the soap and it's been great since. As to your question about cleaning it, you can manually clean the inside of your dishwasher with just hot water and some dish soap (hand soap), I also had to do that. Even though the function of a dishwasher is to wash, it doesn't seem to always wash itself that well.
I would clean the inside of dishwasher itself with a clean sponge and a bleach/water mixture (bleach is the only thing I've found that will kill any mold, but mix nothing stronger than a 50/50 ratio in a spray bottle or bucket, use tepid water, and wear clothes that you don't mind getting bleached, as this still happens when bleach is diluted with water), rinse well. Use a pitcher of hot water or a clean spray bottle if your sink sprayer won't reach.
If you use a spray bottle, empty it as soon as you're done so it won't expand with hot air. Vinegar mixes with bleach fine (not harmful), so don't worry about getting the liquid out before the next step, which is to then run the dishwasher empty, using white vinegar instead of soap in one of the reservoirs. Put a basic grainy /powder soap or some baking soda (not liquid, and nothing with any ammonia in it) into the second reservoir (I do not believe it matters which reservoir gets filled with which). This should do it.
You can always run the vinegar with the soap (any soap, now that the bleach is gone) when you run the dishwasher (empty or full), which helps kill bacteria and give your dishes a natural spot-free finish! You will still have to get the "big stuff" off your dishes first if you have an older model.
Also, the Tang thing most likely works b/c of the acid in the orange and the grainy texture of the mix; same concept as the white vinegar with soap powder, but the vinegar is much cheaper and can be used for many other things, unless you happen to have the Tang. I hope this helps, and good luck!
Do NOT mix bleach and vinegar -- this is very dangerous.
See chemistry.about.com/
I use Tang for both my dishwasher and Cloths washer it works great 1 cup each
Similar answer to the previous - I used vinegar and a little baking soda poured into the base of my dishwasher, and it helped very much!
I noticed that there was a black ring developing around the bottom of my dishwasher. I asked an expert about it and he said it was mold. He said to clean it first, then I had to use that rinse solution every time I ran the dishwasher so that the water would "sheet" off the dishes as well as the interior of the washer to prevent the mold.
If there is a fine film on your glassware, try using Tang powder in place of soap and put it through a complete cycle. Gives great results.
My dishwasher is now glistening clean, inside, using a mug full of distilled vinegar placed in the lower plate rack, then set with a regular cycle and turned on!
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