How To Fix It When Food Gets Stuck In Your Dishwasher Bottom

One of the more irritating things that can happen with your dishwasher is when food gets stuck in the bottom. It's important to fix this issue as quickly as you can because otherwise food particles could be distributed across your clean dishes later on if you don't. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do in order to relieve the situation even if the food down there is very resistant to cleaning.

Use Vinegar To Clean The Unit

If you dump vinegar in the bottom area of the dishwasher where the food particles are stuck, you can then put the dishwasher through a wash cycle and the vinegar will help wash out any and all extra food particles in the way. You may have to do this a few times. It helps to do a heavy cycle and to make it very hot if you can. You can also put vinegar into the rinse aid reservoir to help with this as well.

Try Products Specifically For This Purpose

There are products available that are for the express purpose of cleaning out the food in the bottom of your dishwasher. Generally, these are little plastic bottles that you open and then place in the top drawer of your washer. Then, you put the dishwasher into a wash for a regular cycle, The liquid in the container will come out during the wash, and do what it was designed to do—disintegrate all the food particles in the bottom of the dishwasher.

This may take a few cycles. In general, it may be best to save this approach for when the material is very resistant to any other kind of cleaning.

Pull Out The Trap

If you're having trouble clearing it, you may need to remove the entire food trap. You can then put it in the sink and wash it down, cleaning it out thoroughly. Many dishwashers actually have it so that their food traps are fully removable.

Run Hot Water Beforehand

If the problem appears to be only minor, you can just run hot water in the sink next to the dishwasher a bit before you turn the dishwasher on, instead of using vinegar or another solution. They use the same basic piping so this can help clean out the area a bit to make your life easier.

If you have constant problems, consider purchasing a self-cleaning dishwasher, like a Thermador model. Companies like Cape Cod Appliance Service may be able to help meet your needs in this area.


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