Basic Dishwasher Maintenance {The Mountain Kitchen Tips

My dishwasher is my best friend and I always do basic dishwasher maintenance, to ensure it functions well.

When David and I sold our townhouse and moved away from the city, I lived without a dishwasher for over 3 years. Once you’ve had one, you really miss the luxury of not having to stand at the sink and wash every single dish by hand. In fact, I got pretty creative in figuring out ways to conserve dishes and multitasking, I could save myself the hassle of washing more than I needed. I also used a lot of paper plates during this time period.

Yeah, I know very wasteful and LAZY, but once you have had a dishwasher, there is no turning back.

Here are a few maintenance tips to keep your dishwasher running like new:

Basic Dishwasher Maintenance:

Run the dishwasher with a full load. It is more efficient and effective for the dishwasher
Don’t overload the dishwasher. It is more effective to wash a few by hand then to do them again.
Scrape dishes but don’t rinse before adding to the dishwasher – wastes water & energy
- Read filling guidelines for your dishwasher- this will make a difference but in general:
  - Put big stuff in back and bottom
  - Face dirty side of dishes towards center
  - Put cutlery in handles down
Clean sponges and/or brushes in the dishwasher – They breed germs!
Put really congealed stuff in mucky side down to get full blast of water inside the dishwasher
Don’t put floury baking things un-rinsed into dishwasher as causes white grime
To clean your dishwasher periodically, run a short but hot empty load with either plain white vinegar in the bottom of machine or with cup of vinegar in top, after this cycle is finished sprinkle one cup of baking soda across the bottom of the dishwasher and run a second very hot short cycle. (From Today.com)