How to Clean a Dishwasher with Vinegar and Baking Soda

Many people think of cleaning their dishwasher with vinegar and baking soda, as it's an inexpensive household chemical that's always on hand. Besides, vinegar and baking soda are familiar; they're not some fancy brand-name formula that could easily cause allergies. However, it's important to understand that vinegar isn't as safe for dishwasher parts as it might seem at first glance. Read this article to the end, and you'll see what we mean.

What are the dangers of using vinegar?

Sodium bicarbonate or regular baking soda are perfectly safe chemicals, but they're not suitable for cleaning the inside of a dishwasher, at least not alone. Vinegar is much better for this purpose, as it eliminates both dirt and limescale. However, it can easily ruin a dishwasher.

Vinegar can negatively affect some dishwasher components, such as the heating element. Repeated exposure of the heating element's coating to acetic acid has caused it to fail.

Experienced technicians have found a direct link between dishwasher breakdowns and the systematic use of vinegar, and this is no joke. In our opinion, if you do decide to use vinegar to clean your dishwasher, do so very rarely, no more than once a year. In addition, the concentration of vinegar should be reduced, since using a 70% solution is extremely dangerous.

Deep Vinegar Cleaning

A complete interior cleaning of a dishwasher with vinegar consists of three stages. We won't describe the first stage for now, as it involves cleaning the machine by hand. We'll return to it later. The second stage involves using diluted vinegar essence. The third stage involves removing the vinegar smell. Let's begin with a description of the second and third stages.

1. Remove the baskets and cutlery tray from the dishwasher.
2. Take a shallow glass or ceramic bowl and pour into it 8 tablespoons of vinegar essence and 8 tablespoons of water.
3. Place the bowl on the bottom of the dishwasher so that the lower spray arm does not touch it.
4. We turn on the longest washing program at a high temperature.
5. Let's wait for the program to finish. Meanwhile, let's prepare a packet of baking soda so it's on hand.
6. As soon as the cycle is finished, quickly open the machine door and generously sprinkle baking soda into the bottom of the wash chamber. Try to do this quickly to prevent the vinegar smell from filling the kitchen.
7. Quickly close the dishwasher door and start a short wash program.

Once the short program is over, the baking soda will almost completely eliminate the vinegar smell. Only a slight odor will remain, which is tolerable, especially if you thoroughly ventilate the kitchen.

Cleaning with baking soda paste

Returning to the first step of cleaning the dishwasher, we need to use the baking soda left in the packet. Cleaning a dishwasher by hand at home is quite simple. First, rinse the dust filter and strainer in hot water. These parts are easily found at the bottom of the washing chamber.Asko dishwasher or any other.

Now take a small basin of clean, warm water, a sponge, and a packet of baking soda. Sprinkle the baking soda onto the wet sponge. The baking soda will soak in the water, creating a baking soda paste. Using this paste, begin cleaning the interior of the dishwasher and all accessible parts. Pay special attention to the spray arms. You can clean their small holes with a toothpick. You can also use the baking soda paste to clean the outside of the dishwasher, but be careful not to use brushes to avoid scratching the exterior.

So, you can completely clean your dishwasher with baking soda and vinegar in three steps. First, hand-clean with a sponge and baking soda, then dry-clean the inside with vinegar, and then remove the odor with baking soda. Be especially careful when doing this, or better yet, use a gentler cleaning solution instead of vinegar. Good luck!

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