Seems a little on the obsessive side, doesn’t it? After all, the dishwasher gets regularly sprayed with hot, soapy water.
Still, lime can build up in there, and some people complain of rust or iron streaks. The Damsel doesn’t spend a lot of time with her head inside the dishwasher and tries not to think about the idea there is ANOTHER thing in her house to wash that isn’t already on the schedule. But, it turns out it’s not so hard.
Citric acid will take off the lime and rust. For a deliciously hands-off method, fill the detergent reservoir with the old-school drink Tang (do they still sell it?) or lemonade-flavored Kool-aid. (It needn’t be Kool-aid brand, but it has to be the lemon flavor. Citrus, ya know.)
Then all you have to do is run the dishwasher through a cycle. Yay! No more sleepless nights fretting about the condition of the inside of your dishwasher.
I love it! It works!
Holy cow, seriously? You gotta clean the dishwasher?????? For crying out loud! I can’t wash one more thing… it’ll kill me! Thank goodness for your tip!
What about the washing machine? Do I wanna know?
If you find out we’re supposed to wash the washing machine, kindly keep it to yourself. I don’t wanna hear about it.
There’s a product called Lemishine that is simply powdered citric acid just for this purpose. It gets your dishes cleaner too! We use that along with detergent and it does an awesome job!
I just occasionally put a little vinegar in with one of the loads. That also helps as a “rinse aid” for the dishes.
Thank you so much for posting this! We are suffering with a dishwasher that leaves gunk on our glasses, and I’m pretty sure this method will work for cleaning it! I’ll write back again and let you know.
By the way, this is Ladyozma’s friend Lynne in Northern VA. I’ve been reading back on your blog and think I’ll be making shortbread today
I LOVE your blog. Can’t wait to read more.
Hey and hi! Jacalyn told me she shared this blog with a friend. So glad you like it. Come back again!
And to think I drank an ocean’s worth of Tang as a child. I wonder what it did to my insides?!??
Sweet!
I used to like Tang…