How to Sanitize a Stainless Steel Dishwasher
Even an item that cleans other items--such as a stainless steel dishwasher--needs to be cleaned itself. Stainless steel is a long-lasting, silvery alloy steel. Proper maintenance of your stainless steel dishwasher is essential to keep its shiny luster. Cleaning the inside of the dishwasher should be part of your routine deep cleaning, according to Mr. Clean USA. Using household items, this process is quick and easy. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Household dish soap
- 2 buckets, 1-gallon size
- Warm water
- 1 sponge
- 1 toothbrush
- 1 cup vinegar
Instructions
-
Exterior Cleaning Instructions
-
1
Fill one of the gallon buckets with warm water first and dish soap second, leaving about five inches of room at the top. Adding the dish soap second will avoid an over-abundance of bubbles and ultimately make the cleaning process easier. Fill the other bucket with warm water only (no soap) for rinsing.
-
2
Pull the dripping sponge from the water and scrub the outside of the dishwasher. Rinse and wring the sponge and give the outside one last scrub with a barely wet sponge.
-
-
3
Rinse the sponge in the sink until all soap is gone. Immerse the sponge in the bucket of warm water (no soap) and pull out without wringing. Wring the sponge out at the top of the dishwasher, letting the clean water rinse the soapy surface of the appliance. Do this until all soap is completely gone.
Interior Cleaning Instructions
-
4
Scrub any deep gunk from the inside of the dishwasher--including the rubber lining around the door--with a hot, soapy toothbrush until all excess food and build-up is gone, according to Mr. Clean.
-
5
Wipe the dirt and grime away with a soapy, wet sponge, going over what you just scrubbed with the toothbrush.
-
6
Remove any food build-up from the drain area by pulling out the bottom rack and wiping down the drain with a sponge, or toothbrush if needed.
-
7
Put a dishwasher-safe cup of white vinegar in the top rock of the dishwasher and run the dishwasher through a cycle using the hottest available water. This will remove stains that you couldn't get with the sponge, and it will sanitize the inside of the dishwasher.
-
8
Examine the inside after the cycle. If all stains are gone, run the dishwasher on one more cycle, this time with dish detergent to clean out the vinegar.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If you don't keep vinegar around, baking soda is a good option, too. Some dishwashers can be cleaned with bleach, but make sure you know what your appliance can and can't handle before you experiment.
