Written by MaidEX Cleaning Services Editorial Team · Reviewed by Milad Hoseini, Founder & CEO · Published September 17, 2026 · 4 min read
Quick answer
Start by removing and hand-rinsing the filter (the cylinder on the floor of the tub) under warm water with a little dish soap — the step that fixes most smells and cloudy glasses — then clear the spray-arm holes, wipe the door seal and the hidden bottom edge, and run a hot cycle with a cup of white vinegar on the top rack, followed by a separate short cycle with baking soda. Check your owner's manual for how the filter releases and which cleaner to use, and never mix bleach and vinegar.
Why your dishwasher needs cleaning
A dishwasher washes your dishes, but it does not really wash itself. Over weeks, food bits, grease, and hard-water minerals build up in the filter, spray arms, and around the seals.
When that happens you might notice cloudy glasses, a musty smell when you open the door, or dishes that come out with gritty spots. The good news is a full clean takes about twenty minutes and only needs things you already have at home.
Here in Metro Vancouver our water is fairly soft, so heavy limescale is less of an issue than in some regions. Grease and trapped food are still the main culprits, and the filter is where they collect.
What you will need
Grab a soft cloth or sponge, an old toothbrush, white vinegar, baking soda, and dish soap. A small bowl helps for soaking the filter, and rubber gloves keep your hands out of the gunk.
One safety note before you start: never mix bleach with vinegar. Together they create toxic fumes. For this whole job, stick with vinegar and baking soda and skip the bleach entirely.
Also check your owner manual for how the filter comes out. Most twist and lift, but a few models lock differently, and the manual saves you guessing.
Step 1: Remove and rinse the filter
Pull out the bottom rack so you can see the floor of the dishwasher. The filter is usually a round cylinder sitting in the center or a back corner.
Most filters twist counterclockwise and lift straight out. If yours does not budge, look at the manual rather than forcing it, since some have a flat mesh screen underneath that lifts separately.
Take the filter to the sink and rinse it under warm running water. Use the old toothbrush and a drop of dish soap to work food and grease out of the mesh. For a stubborn filter, let it soak in warm soapy water for ten minutes, then scrub and rinse again until it looks clean.
Step 2: Clear the spray arms
The spray arms are the propeller-shaped pieces that spin and shoot water at your dishes. Their tiny holes clog with food and mineral bits, which weakens the spray.
Look closely at each hole. If you see a stuck particle, poke it free with a toothpick or the toothbrush bristles. Give the arms a wipe and make sure they spin freely by hand.
Clear spray arms are one of the biggest reasons dishes come out cleaner, so do not skip this step.
Step 3: Wipe the seals and the door edge everyone misses
Run a damp cloth around the rubber seal, or gasket, that lines the door. Grime, food, and a dark film love to hide in those folds, and that is often the source of a bad smell.
Now open the door fully and look at the very bottom lip and the inner edge of the door, below where the seal sits. This strip almost never gets sprayed during a cycle, so it collects a sticky buildup that most people never notice.
Wipe that hidden edge with a cloth dipped in warm soapy water, using the toothbrush to reach into the corners. It is a small spot that makes a surprising difference to the smell.
Step 4: Run a vinegar cycle, then a baking soda cycle
With the filter back in place, pour about one cup of white vinegar into a dishwasher-safe bowl and set it upright on the top rack. Run a hot cycle with the dishwasher otherwise empty. The vinegar cuts grease and freshens the interior.
When that finishes, sprinkle a cup of baking soda across the bottom of the empty dishwasher and run a short hot cycle. This deodorizes and gives a gentle scrub to anything the vinegar loosened.
Run these two steps separately, not at the same time. Once done, your dishwasher should smell fresh and look bright.
How often should you clean it
Rinse or check the filter every couple of weeks, especially if you rarely pre-rinse your dishes. It only takes a minute once you know where it is.
Do the full routine, spray arms, seals, and a vinegar plus baking soda cycle, about once a month. If you run your dishwasher daily or cook a lot of greasy meals, lean toward every three weeks.
Wiping the door and seal quickly each week keeps smells from ever building up in the first place.
When to let MaidEX handle it
Cleaning the inside of a dishwasher is homeowner maintenance, and this routine is easy to do yourself. It is not part of a standard house clean, so this one is on you.
That said, when MaidEX cleans your kitchen, we wipe down the dishwasher exterior along with your other appliance fronts so the whole space looks pulled together. Our cleaners are insured and background-checked, and every clean comes with a satisfaction guarantee, so if something was missed we will re-clean it free within 24 hours.
If your kitchen has reached the point where you would rather hand the whole thing off, that is exactly what a MaidEX clean is for. Keep this guide handy for the dishwasher interior between visits.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put the dishwasher filter in the dishwasher to clean it?
No. The filter needs hand-rinsing under warm water with a soft brush and a little dish soap. Running it through a cycle will not clear the trapped food and grease the way scrubbing does.
Is it safe to run vinegar and baking soda together in one cycle?
It is better to run them as two separate cycles. Vinegar first to cut grease, then baking soda to deodorize. Combining them just cancels each other out and you lose the benefit of both.
Why does my dishwasher still smell after cleaning?
The smell is almost always the filter or the hidden door edge below the seal. Make sure you rinsed the filter thoroughly and wiped that bottom lip, since both trap food that a normal cycle never reaches.
How often should I clean my dishwasher filter?
Check and rinse it every couple of weeks, and do a full clean about once a month. Clean it more often if you skip pre-rinsing dishes or cook a lot of greasy meals.
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Book a cleanAbout the author
Milad Hoseini
Founder & CEO, MaidEX Cleaning Services
Written by the MaidEX Cleaning Services Editorial Team and reviewed by Milad Hoseini, who founded MaidEX in Vancouver. MaidEX provides insured, background-checked cleaning across Metro Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. More about MaidEX →
How this guide was made
This guide draws on MaidEX's hands-on cleaning experience across Metro Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, along with publicly available sources. It was drafted with the help of AI tools, then reviewed and fact-checked by our editorial team and approved by Milad Hoseini, Founder & CEO, before publishing.