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Your dishwasher is supposed to clean your dishes, and it seems silly that it would need to be cleaned itself, but it does. Over time, food stuff that had been stuck on dirty dishes will collect and gather in the dishwasher’s traps, and this can cause an unpleasant odor to emanate from the appliance. If you’re experiencing a stinky dishwasher, here are some things you can do to potentially eliminate the smell.

Clean the Trap

Clean a Stinky DishwasherYour dishwasher has a trap on it that catches food particles so that they don’t clog the drain. This needs to be cleaned every once in a while—it is recommended monthly—so that the food doesn’t begin to rot and cause a foul odor.

Once the trap has been cleaned, you’ll want to run your dishwasher without any dishes in it to get rid of the smell. You may consider putting vinegar in the soap dispenser to ensure the machine gets sparkling clean.

Check for Growth

If the dishwasher door remains closed for long periods of time and isn’t run on a frequent basis, this could cause mold or bacteria to grow in the machine. Both of these growths could contribute to a bad smell within the dishwasher.

Check the Hose

If you have cleaned the trap and your dishwasher still has an odor, it may not have been caused by the food trap. Other culprits could include the drain hose. It may get kinked, which would prevent the waste water from draining out of the dishwasher and instead backing up into the machine. The drain hose may also be too low, which would also cause water to flow back into the machine.

If you’re unsure whether the hose is the problem or not, consider contacting a residential dishwasher service to inspect the machine. The professionals at Hi-Tech Appliance will be able to let you know exactly what is causing the stinky dishwasher problem and help you fix it.

Contact Hi-Tech Appliance if you need appliance service!

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