Dishwasher G-U-N-K

I was having this problem with my dishwasher...we had had it over ten years and other than occasionally throwing some vinegar or other cleaning agent into it I had never cleaned it. My dishes sometimes looked worse when they came out than when they went in.

I googled the brand and model of my dishwasher and found a you tube video showing me how to clean out the filter...which if clogged could cause this issue and of course it is under all the working machinery in the whole thing. However the video showed me step by step how to disassemble the machine clean it and put it back together...all I needed was a screwdriver.

Be prepared to spend all afternoon and be about a grossed out as you can possibly be...I was surprised we hadn't caught some horrible water/bacteria or parasite from all the gross globs, caked on crud and "stuff" inside and under every part of the machine. It took two whole rolls of paper towels.

And when I finally got down into the filter...I found a couple of coins?? A. apple stem, two sippy cup valves, a huge piece of cellophane wrapper and one other thing I can't remember right now. (Or maybe I have blocked it out...)

Anyways if nothing else works...disassemble...clean...and reassemble and it will work like new.

DO you remember Tang?? The really orangy flavored drink from most of our chilhoods, well some of ours anyway. LOL! My hubby does commercial appliance repair, and SWEARS by this stuff to get dishwashers sparkly clean everytime. Just use it in place of the powdered dishwasher detergent. It really does work wonders! They still sell it at Sam's club and possibly Costco. Good luck! I will add one more thing though, the powdered soaps are much better for the machenes than any of the liquids. They don't build up as much "gunk" with whatever food is coming off of the dishes. :)

When we were getting "gunk" (although it was more like residue) our appliance guy (30+ years exp) told us ONLY powder or packets detergent. No liquids or gels.
I think since the dishes didn't seem to be clean, I was adding that "extra squirt" and when you use too much-more gunk. Vicious circle.
Try powder or packs. First run through 2 cups of white vinegar.
Use pre-measured or HALF the amount you normally put in.
Also, he told us there HAS to be some food on the plates for the detergent to work on, so scrape, but don't rinse.
I made those changes & it's been fine.
Good luck, C.!

My apartment dishwasher had similar problems. I found 2 seals, like little rubber triangular pieces at the bottom of the dishwasher opening. They keep the water from leaking out during a washing cycle. I popped them out (they came out easily), and let's just say the rest is disgusting. I soaked them in a hot bleach and water solution, and scrubbed that area with a small brush. Then I put a thick towel down in front of the dishwasher, poured about a half cup of bleach in, and ran a cycle. Some water did leak onto the towel but it wasn't a flood or anything.

So you may need to inspect the door and opening and see if there are any rubber seals you can clean under. And run a cycle with bleach, with no dishes in the machine.

I run my dishwasher on sanitize cycle about once a month with small juice glasses in in filled 1/2 way with vinegar. That's the only thing in the washer

My regular wash entails cleaning the sides/edges with wipes and finish dishwasher packet . No issues

It sounds like the food filter needs to be cleaned out. If there is fat in there, every time you run the washer, the hot water warms up the fat and it sprays out (the food filter is often under the spray arms). Then when the hot water stops running, the fat cools off and looks like gunk everywhere.

Ugh, we just went through this! So, according to our appliance repair guy, everyone should be using the dishwasher cleaner once per month. I never knew that, but yes, that gunk is actually GREASE from all the dishes that have ever been washed in your dishwasher. Appetizing, yes? ;)

Here's what he explained to us. Over time, little minerals build up in the dishwasher's spray arm(s), blocking the little holes. Think about your shower spray head - you know how you have to clean it with CLR every so often, in order to get the spray nozzles clean again? The same exact thing happens in your dishwasher. When that happens, the water pressure inside the dishwasher isn't enough to get all that grease and gunk fully out of the dishwasher. It may (or may not) be cleaning the actual dishes, but then the gunk just sort of sits in the bottom of your dishwasher, or gets stuck in the door gasket, or wherever. And then, over time, it will build up to the point where it simply starts falling off and then the water deposits it back onto the dishes. Yum!

Bottom line for us was that the spray arms were just too clogged to repair, and we ended up with a new dishwasher. It works much better, and I bought a bunch of dishwasher cleaner to keep it nice and clean inside. Also, the appliance repair guy recommended that we use a rinse aid (like Jet Dry) and the dishwasher soap packets that have both the powder AND the liquid inside. He particularly recommended Cascade - said that works much better than most other brands he has worked with.