Vinegar Friday! Cleaning the yuckies out of your dishwasher

TGIVF!

It's Vinegar Friday!

Today, we're talking dishwasher. As in dirty dishwasher. When is the last time you actually cleaned your dishwasher?

What do you mean 'cleaned?' you ask. Don't I clean it every time I run it?

Unfortunately, no. Every time you run your dishwasher, you dirty it up a bit. Food scraps cling to the drain and, if you've taken the time to notice, it simply isn't sparkly anymore. 

Since it's Vinegar Friday, you probably already know what I'm going to tell you. But here goes:

Every month or so, after you empty your dishwasher, pull out the bottom rack and reach in and clear the drain of all those yucky food scraps that have accumulated since the last time you cleaned it. You do realized they not only lay there breeding bacteria, but they also can clog the drain and affect the way your dishwasher cleans your dishes. Eww.

Now grab your distilled white vinegar and pour one cup into a glass container and place it upright (of course!) on the top rack. Oh, and don't forget to put the bottom rack back in the dishwasher. I don't want someone tripping over it or something.

Run the empty dishwasher through a cycle with hot water. I know it seems wasteful, especially in areas where water usage is restricted, but it is important to keep your machine operating at its full efficiency. Maybe in those areas, you might want to cut back to doing this every other month or so.

Now, you'd think that would be good enough. And maybe it is. But if you want to take it one step further in the cleaning/deodorizing arena, there's one more step. This time, I want you to grab your baking soda. If you're like me, it's not one of those little yellow boxes, but rather a monster bag of baking soda from the big box store. We use a lot of baking soda here.

Sprinkle the baking soda onto the floor of the dishwasher, close it up, and punch in the short cycle button (or turn to it on the dial). That's it. Your dishwasher will be so clean, you'll want to show it off when company comes over. Seriously. 

I wish I'd taken before and after pictures, but I didn't and it's not that time of the month yet. 

Keeping it green and clean with vinegar,

For more vinegar tips, check out my book, GREEN GRANDMA'S VINEGAR FRIDAYS.