Cleaning a Dirty Dishwasher

by Mary Ellen Pinkham, Everyday Problem Solver

ON Dec 27, 2002 at 10:44AM

How do I clean my dishwasher? We have very hard water, with lots of lime. My dishes are covered with small lime particles and the glasses have a film. The walls and bottom of our dishwasher also have a film of lime. I have tried cleaning it with Lime-Away, but it doesn't completely work. --iVillager kellymcnamara

Question:

Here are my suggestions on how you can clean your dishwasher:

Fill the detergent cup with two ounces of ascorbic acid (one $2 bottle from druggist is usually good for several cleanings).
Run the empty machine on rinse for a few minutes, let it stand a few minutes more, and let the rinse cycle complete.
Use heated (not energy saver) drying.
To remove mineral deposits (caused by hard water) add a cup of vinegar to a load.

For the future, I would look into a water softener to help eliminate this mineral build-up problem.

Answer:

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