“LPT: How to Fix Stinky Dishes After Running Brand New Dishwasher? #NewApartmentProblems #SmellyDishes #DishwasherHelp”
Hi there! Recently moved into a new apartment with a brand new dishwasher, but noticed a gross smell on your dishes after running it? Tried vinegar and baking soda but still dealing with stink? Let’s troubleshoot this together!
**Possible Causes of Stinky Dishes:**
1. Water Quality Issues
2. Drainage Problems
3. New Appliance Odors
**Tips to Fix Smelly Dishes:**
1. Check Water Quality for Odors
2. Inspect Dishwasher Drain
3. Run Empty Cycle with Cleaning Solution
Have you experienced a similar issue in your new apartment? Let’s work together to solve this mystery and make your dishes smell fresh again! #CleanDishesFTW
Ok, so, run a small load of clean dishes without any detergent or rinse. Do they smell?
Check the filter. The dishwasher might be “brand new”.
Otherwise, it could be a poor plumbing job with the garbage disposal draining a bit into the washer
You may want to check for food waste clogging the filters, pipes, air lock and also the garbage disposal.
Basically start with the disposal, run it a few teaspoons of dish soap, with hot running water, and make sure it drains quickly.
And then work your way backwards, cleaning as you go.
Sometimes you need to move the washer out to clean it out.
Or call a plumber and pay them 150 bucks and let them do it
Maybe you live in the country and you have well-water or something. I’d disconnect the water supply line and run a gallon into a clean bucket. How does the water smell (regardless of the DW).
Please check that the drain hose on the dishwasher is routed properly. Dishwasher drain hoses (typically go to a location under the sink and connect to the existing sink drain) need to rise UP above the trap level – almost to counter height before running down to the sink drain plumbing. A search on YouTube about routing drain hoses will get you a ton of hits…
Check the filter in case it’s never been clean and buy some of those dishwasher cleaner tablets as well. I use the Affresh brand for my washer, dishwasher and garbage disposal.
The filter clean is a must but I also put a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil in with every wash, that seems to help the dishes get extra clean but also disinfects the dishwasher.
Dump pack of Kool aid or citric acid in the dishwasher and run it. No soap.
This happens to me too sometimes. When the cycle is finished I pour 1 oz clorox and set the 15 minute rinse, when finished let dry an there’s no bad smells. I’ve noticed that the bad odor happens only when I put dishes that were used to prep or serve egg dishes.
Talk to your neighbors and ask if they have the same problem.
I’ve heard of it being a water problem, nothing about the dishwasher.
It’s your drain line. You need to make sure it has the high loop.
Have you run the cancel drain on it? That often will kick on the pump and loosen stuff up.
I also just run an empty or almost empty load once and a while after cleaning all the screens
I had an expensive new dishwasher that had a soundproofing interior that I did research on because it smelled like you describe, and I found out that other people also reported that the same brand with soundproofing smelled, and the soundproofing was the cause. Nothing fixed it, and I endured it and post-rinsing ALL my dishes for a few years before it blessedly broke.
Another thing that will cause bad smelling water in the home is water hoses attached to exterior water faucets for more than a couple of weeks. If there are any, detach them and let the outside water faucet run for a few minutes to flush it.
Read this twitter thread. The smell has a name. Also has some tips to eliminate it.
Clear filter, check drainage hose height, and then when all else fails, throw vinegar in and find the manual to figure out how to run a clean cycle. It blasts the dishwasher with hot water for an extra long time where a normal cycle only uses a gallon. They also sell dishwasher cleaning bottles near the dishwasher soaps. You can just use one of them.
If the smell comes back quickly, I’d be checking for mold sources inside the dishwasher or calling your apartment for a maintenance request. It’s possible you were leaving way too much food on the dishes and it’s resulted in the drain being clogged somewhere but this would require a really large amount of small particles and I don’t see it being likely if it’s brand new. You’d usually get other clues that you aren’t clearing the dishes enough (it wouldn’t clean them fully) and you’d probably have drainage problems.
You can get (in the UK at least) bottles of dishwasher cleaner which are deisgned so you just leave the open bottle in the dishwasher and turn onto the hottest setting and it’ll gice the insides a really good clean.
However as others have pointed out, if you have an issue with the filter being clogged you’ll want to take that out to clean and possibly also pour some drain cleaner down the pipe (again, can just buy it from the supermarket). They work fine with plastic pipes so I can’t see any reason for it not to work on a dishwasher pipe.
After you have checked the filters and any problems with the piping, for long term maintenance cleaning I use this:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002R0DXQE](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002R0DXQE)
Clean the more you can where you open the trap at the bottom of your dishwasher inside. Then pour white vinegar and baking soda, don’t put too much, it will foam and help to clean the evacuation system. If you can buy good pod the next generation have cleaning and maintaining products that will avoid this problem in the future.
Is it a Bosch?
They are well known for this – it’s because they don’t pump out fully at the end and leave a well of hot stanky water under the filter at the end of each cycle.
So here’s what worked for me…
The filter in the bottom is removed after every load and washed off, the washer is run on a maintenance cycle every week, every single wash is run at the baby bottle temperature, and I use the finish quantum tablets.
All of these together have eliminated the smell after a year of battling it.
I’ll never buy a Bosch again.
I just spent hours researching this for myself and my new Miele. Assuming no install problems, it’s the enzymes from your DW pods. Insert a copper coupling or tube into the wash, and boom- problem solved.
Check the gap where the hinge is at the bottom of the door. You can’t see it when looking from above, but food builds up there quite easily and doesn’t get washed off properly when it’s on.
As many have mentioned the filter is a common cause of this, but I notice the exact same wet dog smell if I run dishes though the dishwasher with egg on them (dried-on or not doesn’t matter).
I don’t typically rinse dishes before placing them in the dishwasher (never need to) *unless* it was used to prepare or serve eggs.
The few times someone has placed an un-rinsed item with egg on it (myself included) the smell returns.
Wash by hand. Better for you, cleaner dishes.
You’ve gotten lots of good advice here about checking things in the dishwasher, but I just wanted to add that my dishes pick up a wet dog smell if I unload the dishwasher with a door or window open in the kitchen. Even though they’re perfectly clean, somehow just the exposure to outside air makes them smell. No idea why.
I’ve started throwing in a tab into bottom of machine when running in addition to tab in dispenser. My filter was never clogged nor greasy. 2 tabs works for me with no obvious damage to interior after 14 years