Stinky dishwasher

16 years ago

We have cats and feed them canned food on regular glazed dinner plates and them rinse them and put them in the dishwasher. I have noticed lately that all the dishes come out of the dishwasher smelling sort of fish-like.

I have tried adding a small bowl of vinegar in the dishwasher in the middle of the bottom part and it works sometimes but not all the time. I did a small load tonight without cat food dishes, and I just poured a cup or so of vinegar in the bottom of the washer, they smelled better but not great.

I use Jet Blue (I think, not sure of the name) which supposedly rinses dishes better, so could this be the culprit?

If it is the cat food dishes I have no problem hand washing them, but wanted to see if anyone else has this problem. It is a 7 year old Whirlpool Gold series.

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Comments (4)

hidroman
16 years ago
You must be aware that :

- when you start the dishwasher, the drain pump removes all the liquors from the tub, so your vinegar will be flushed in the drain as son as you turn the machine on

- vinegar is acidic, while dishwasher detergent is alkaline. So vinegar weakens detergent strenght rather than enhance it ..... Vinegar is nice in the last rinse to remove any deergent residue left. Not a case "Jet Blue" Jet Dry and other rinse aids (which aim is not only to rinse better but TO DRY) are all acidic stuff

IMHO you'd use the high temp option and a detergent containing chlorine bleach ( some Cascade types have it)
gsciencechick
16 years ago
I just wash the cat bowls by hand.

If the DW gets stinky between cycles, especially now that it's hot, I'll run the rinse cycle, and this helps a bit.
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aprince
16 years ago
If you have the dishwasher draining into a garbage disposal, muck from the disposal may be causing the smell. Does the drain line have a high loop? There is a post in this forum a few weeks old that shows the proper way this loop should be installed.
However, this issue usually appears fairly soon on a newly installed dishwasher, not after 7 years.

Make sure the water heater is set at 120 degrees, but don't burn yourself. This dishwasher uses a timer to attain a workable washing temp and if the temp is too low feeding into the dishwasher, then the temp during washing is low and you get subpar cleaning.

Also, If it takes a while for the water to flow hot through your sink faucet, same thing is happening in your dishwasher. If this is the case, turn on your faucet until the water heats up before you start your dishwasher.

Otherwise, the dishwasher may be the culprit. Is it making more/less noise? Is there anything else happening that is out of the ordinary?
michelle_phxaz
Original Author
16 years ago
I will try the hotter water suggestion, and I like the chlorine idea. Nothing with the dishwasher has changed, and I clean the disposal regularly. We live in Phoenix so the water coming out of the faucet is automatically about 120 degrees (it is almost too hot to wash your hands with the cold water only, and there is no thing as a cold shower!).

Much appreciation!