I'm sure you are all aware of the Great Dishwasher Debate, always a delightful topic after a dinner party. Many would contend that a well loaded, eco-friendly dishwasher saves water over doing your dishes by hand. But this creates a problem for our 2 person household: by the time our dishwasher is well loaded with rinsed dishes it STINKS. We just don't make enough dishes to run it often enough to avoid the smell. So, how often do you run your dishwasher?
Yes, we rinse our dishes to avoid food particles and we leave the dishwasher open after each load to let it dry out to avoid the moldy smell but we still can't seem to make dishes fast enough to run it as often as it needs to run to avoid it getting smelly. And yes, we've had it looked at; there is nothing wrong with it and there is nothing growing inside.
I've come to the conclusion that a fresh smelling dishwasher is a thing of balance. It is run often enough to not only keep the dishes clean but itself clean.
How often do you run your dishwasher to keep it sparkling?
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I have the same problem - we run ours about once a week and it just gets an odor that we can't seem to get rid of without bleach.
At least once a day for our family of four and a lot of home-cooked meals.
We run it every day or every other day and pack it as efficiently as possible. Never had a smell that way. I'd imagine sprinkling a bit of baking soda on the door between loads would go a long way.
Family of three -Two to three times a week and only when it's completely full. I also wipe down and clean out the dishwasher on a monthly or as needed basis.
i run mine about once a week, and have never had it smell. that being said, i dont put pots/pans in it (those get washed by hands) and dishes are scraped or rinsed before putting them in. perhaps you need to do some sort of deep clean in it?
Twice a day for our family of seven. Nothing has a chance to smell, and I pre-rinse or scrape the really messy stuff.
Can anyone ID that dishwasher in the picture? I am lusting after that third drawer on top!
Household of two- we run it every other day but we cook almost every night, and frequently entertain guests; I don't feel that we're ever running the dishwasher when it's not full, and we don't seem to have odor problems.
yikes! i think it's time for a new dishwasher. i run mine about once a week and have never had a problem with smell. just how infrequently are you using it? have you tried using different dishwashing liquids? if it's a moldy smell, there must be mold growing somewhere. there's just no reason that it should smell.
Maybe once a week, after a big round of cooking for the week.
Have you tried just dumping a ton of white vinegar in there? Way better for you and most equipment than bleach.
@caitlin926
Bosch models often have a third drawer http://www.bosch-home.com/us/products/dishwashers/dishwashers/concealed-controls/SHX68E15UC.html?source=browse
@cutey pie if they've checked it and it works well and has nothing growing in it a new machine seems uncalled for and wasteful. @embryoconcepts idea about vinegar seems like a great solution instead of scrapping the whole machine!
I'm about to move into a 540 sq ft apartment with a brand new efficiency dw. I'm excited to have a dishwasher for the first time, ever, in my 38 years. That said, I anticipate using it twice a week, as it's tiny. And after years of hand washing I can tell you right now I'll feel no guilt whatsoever about using it.
I run the dishwasher once a week, scrape but don't rinse my dishes and never have had an odor problem. Sounds like the dishwasher isn't drying out all the way between washings and mildew is growing.
we run ours daily. 4 people eating 2-3 meals a day makes for quite a few dishes. I just don't have the time or inclination to be washing dishes constantly, not to mention the amount of water that would be wasted.
Thanks, Heidi!
I run mine about once every 2-3 days and yes it's always full. The manual for mine (an LG) suggests examining the drain filter if it starts to smell.
It also offers this advice:
Use white distilled vinegar to deodorize the inside. Pour 2 cups white vinegar into a bowl and sit it upright in the bottom rack. Run the machine through a quick wash cycle.
I run my dishwasher once, maybe twice a day. There's only two of us, but I do most my cooking from scratch, so there's a lot of dishes.
We lived without a dishwasher in one apartment, and with all the dishes from baking and cooking, my hands fell apart.
Not to hijack the comments, but I've been looking at a double-drawer system for a while, and was wondering if anyone had some feedback? According to the spec comparison on Sears, the F&P, Maytag and Jenn-Air all have identical specifications. Which is...odd.
@embryoconcepts. If dishwashers ate like most appliances they are made by 2 manufacturers then sold under name brands so it's not surprising that they have the same specs. It's likely they are almost identical
I guess we eat/cook a lot. It's just my husband and me and we run it pretty much daily.
@Heidi - I know the F&P and KitchenAid are supposedly the same manufacturer, but the Maytag and Jenn-Air as well? And I mean the exact same specs. Generally, there is some slight variation, as the each brand name is targeted at a different demographic.
My family of 4 runs the dishwasher about once per week. I mainly hand wash and only use the dishwasher when we entertain, etc. Several times it has smelled. I think it was due to a glass having a bit of milk in it which then dripped to the bottom of the dishwasher. Good luck!
We're a family of two that cooks at home and eats leftovers for lunch. I run a full dishwasher every day tor every other day. I use vinegar in the Jet Dry container which I thinks works better. I don't have a problem with it smelling. However, I often remove the filter/basket and clan the gunk that collects underneath it.
Does it smell bad in the kitchen even when it's closed? If not, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Sometimes mine smells a little funky, but only during the few minutes that it's open and being loaded.
We use our dishwasher as a drying rack! Living in a rental, it just isn't that great of a machine and seems to be more functional, eco-friendly, and affordable as an extended drying rack, ha!
We run it about every other day, and have never experienced an odor problem. We scrape and wipe our dishes before putting them in - not much choice since it's an older model, but we'd do that anyway.
In our household of 2, we run the dw almost every night. BUT it is an 18 inch dw so obviously it fills up much quicker. I have a 60 s.f. kitchen and a full size would not fit. But even if a full size would fit, I think the smaller size is a better option for 2 people. Its a GE Profile and I love it!
@ cait.a I also use the dishwasher as a drying rack. It frees up counter space in my tiny galley kitchen. I also prefer to hand wash. I find it therapeutic. I'm cognizant of wasting water and plug the sink each round instead of letting the water run.
So I didn't answer the question. I guess at this rate, I only use the dishwasher when I entertain, which is only once every two or three months.
Family of three, here! Daddy works all day and I stay at home with our toddler. We have a cooked breakfast every morning, make lunch, and then all eat dinner together as a family. With my food allergies, convenience foods really aren't an option... so the result? LOTS of dishes! We run it every day basically without fail. On a super busy day, we may run two full loads.
With 4 persons eating all meals at home, we run it at least once a day.
I'm in college and 5 people live in my apartment we run it daily, sometimes twice a day. We all cook, eat at home a lot, and our dishwasher always smells squeeky clean.
Household of 2 people and 2 cats. We run it a few times a week, but not daily. If we don't fill it quick enough and a couple of days has past w/o running it, we will do the half load option. I like to empty it out about 15-30 mins after the cycle is finished while the dishes are still hot. That way, the moisture doesn't have a chance to condense and the dishes get wet again...
Dishwashers that smell after a few days (despite rinsing dishes before putting them in) are a result of the dishwasher not draining properly. If the hose draining from the dishwasher isn't in the correct position, the dirty water from the previous wash (completely with food particles) sits and smells.
Get a professional to come in and check the dishwasher and reinstall it if necessary. You might need a plumber to adjust the slope of the drain the dishwasher hooks into.