Just realized my dishwasher cleaner was a waste of money for 2 years

Last month I pulled apart the filter on my Whirlpool after our dishes kept coming out cloudy. Found a thick layer of gunk that no amount of those little cleaning pods could touch. I scrubbed it with a toothbrush and now everything comes out sparkling. Has anyone else found that actual manual cleaning works better than those expensive tablets?

3 comments

3 Comments

michael66923d ago

@dakotab93 hit on something important about pulling the filter, but nobody mentioned the spray arms. I took mine off last month and found a little chunk of broken glass stuck in one of the holes, probably from a jar that shattered. Poked it out with a paperclip and the water pressure shot back up like crazy. Also check the little plastic cap on top of the upper rack, that thing gets crusty too.

anderson.piper23d ago

Honestly, those cleaning tablets are more for maintenance than deep cleaning. You really gotta pull the filter and scrub it by hand every few months to get the buildup out. Tbh, once you do that once, you'll never waste money on pods again.

dakotab9323d ago

Yeah, totally agree with @anderson.piper on maintenance vs deep cleaning. Those pods are just for keeping things fresh, they can't touch the thick sludge that builds up under the filter. I had the same gross surprise when I finally popped mine out last year, scrubbed it with an old toothbrush and some dish soap, and it was night and day difference. Now I just pull the filter once a month, rinse it off, and skip the expensive tablets altogether. Saves money and the dishes actually look clean, so it's a win.