Dishwasher filter
The single component behind most complaints that a dishwasher has stopped cleaning or started smelling, and it is designed to be removed by hand.
What not to do
Steel wool is unsafe on Dishwasher filter
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
A mesh is destroyed by an abrasive that would be unremarkable on a pan.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
How to Clean the Dishwasher Filters
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the filter is rinsed under running water with a soft brush for calcium deposits, that a wire brush or scouring pad must not be used, that it must be locked back into place, and that the dishwasher must not be operated without the filters installed. (states this directly)
Scouring powder is unsafe on Dishwasher filter
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
How to Clean the Dishwasher Filters
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the filter is rinsed under running water with a soft brush for calcium deposits, that a wire brush or scouring pad must not be used, that it must be locked back into place, and that the dishwasher must not be operated without the filters installed. (states this directly)
Mild abrasion is unsafe on Dishwasher filter
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
A scouring pad is mild abrasion, and it is named on the prohibition.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
How to Clean the Dishwasher Filters
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That a wire brush, scouring pad and similar must not be used on the filters as they may damage them, and that only a soft brush is permitted for stubborn soil. (inferred from the source; not stated directly)
Controlled resurfacing is unsafe on Dishwasher filter
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Refinishing a mesh is not cleaning it.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
How to Clean the Dishwasher Filters
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That a wire brush, scouring pad and similar must not be used on the filters as they may damage them, and that only a soft brush is permitted for stubborn soil. (inferred from the source; not stated directly)
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Start here
What this is, what tends to go wrong with it, and what to do about it.
Made from
What tends to go wrong
Fats and oils, which water alone cannot lift. Removed by surfactants, by heat, by solvents, or by alkalis that convert the fat into soap.
Why it is difficult: Why oil resists water, Emulsification
A hard, chalky calcium carbonate deposit left by hard water. Dissolved by acids, essentially untouched by detergents.
Why it is difficult: Water hardness, Crystallisation, Adhesion and cohesion
A living growth, not a stain. Killing it and removing the staining are two separate jobs, and neither addresses the moisture that caused it.
Why it is difficult: Porous and non-porous surfaces, Moisture control and recurrence, Cleaning, sanitising and disinfecting, Organic load, Surface roughness
- Dustvia its material
Mostly textile fibres and skin, held by static as much as by gravity — which is why a dry cloth on a plastic surface makes it worse.
Why it is difficult: Static and dust, Mechanical action and abrasion, Why different surfaces get different dirt, Surface roughness
- Fingerprintsvia its material
Skin oils transferred by touch. A greasy soil rather than a dirty one, which is why water alone does not shift them and why they return immediately.
Why it is difficult: Surfactancy
- Water marksvia its material
What hard water leaves behind when it evaporates instead of being wiped away. A mineral film, not dirt, and the fix is at the drying stage.
Why it is difficult: Water hardness, Evaporative deposition
- Rustvia its material
Hydrated iron oxide from corroding iron or steel. Distinguish a surface deposit, which cleans off, from active corrosion of the item itself, which does not.
Why it is difficult: Corrosion and passivation, Why old stains are harder, Adhesion and cohesion
- Burnt-on food and carbon depositsvia its material
Food heated until it carbonised and bonded to the surface. Time and softening do the work; scouring powder does the damage.
Why it is difficult: Contact time, Carbonisation, Adhesion and cohesion, Why old stains are harder
- Heat tintvia its material
The rainbow or brown bloom on stainless steel that has been heated. Not a deposit and not dirt: the metal's own surface oxide, thickened by heat.
A concentrated water-soluble dye with nothing else in it. Nothing has to be emulsified or dissolved — the only question is whether the surface has taken the colour up.
Why it is difficult: Capillary absorption, Dye migration and colour bleeding
A sticky, yellow-brown tar film deposited everywhere at once. It is the reason a room smells after everything visible has been cleaned.
Why it is difficult: Adsorption of odour molecules, Solubility and polarity
Coloured by turmeric in most prepared mustards, and curcumin is a pH indicator — which is why an alkaline cleaner turns a yellow mark red.
Why it is difficult: pH indicators in stains, Fat-soluble pigments, Photodegradation, Pigment retention
The commonest cleaning problem that is not dirt. The tackiness is the plastic's own additive arriving at the surface, which is why wiping it off works for a week.
Why it is difficult: Plasticizer migration, Damage versus soiling
The science behind this: Clogging the thing that does the work, Solvent crazing, Static and dust, Solvents and polymers, Plasticizer migration, Corrosion and passivation
Part of Dishwasher.
In detail
A dishwasher recirculates its wash water, and the filter assembly at the bottom of the tub stops food debris going round again. When it clogs, trapped food sits warm and wet between cycles, and one manufacturer names it among the first causes of a dishwasher that smells. That manufacturer treats the filter as owner maintenance with a stated interval: clean it once a month, and every two weeks for a large household or daily use. The method is water first: lift the filter out, rinse it under running water, and use a soft brush only for soil or hard-water deposits that rinsing has not shifted. A wire brush or scouring pad is ruled out because it damages the mesh. The filter must be locked back in place, and the machine must not be run without it, because running it without the filter can damage the dishwasher.
What works
Water is safe on, in specific conditions, Dishwasher filter
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits, and nothing is established outside them.
Only within these limits:
- Rinse under running water until most soils are gone
- A SOFT brush only, and only for stubborn soil or hard-water deposits
- Air dry or pat dry before refitting
- Refit until it locks — if the upper assembly turns freely it is not seated
- Monthly, or fortnightly if the machine runs daily
The refitting check is part of the cleaning. A filter left unlocked is the same as a filter left out.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Evidence
Supported
Sources
How to Clean the Dishwasher Filters
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the filter is rinsed under running water with a soft brush for calcium deposits, that a wire brush or scouring pad must not be used, that it must be locked back into place, and that the dishwasher must not be operated without the filters installed. (states this directly)
Why
- Dishwasher filter is explained by Clogging the thing that does the work
It works by catching things. When it has caught enough, the machine — not the filter — is what appears to fail.
Related
- Dishwasher filter is made from Household plastics
- Dishwasher filter is made from Stainless steel
- Dishwasher filter is commonly affected by Grease
- Dishwasher filter is commonly affected by Limescale
- Dishwasher filter is commonly affected by Mould
Aftercare and prevention
- Water requires the aftercare Dishwasher filter
Refit it and check it locks. Running the machine without the filters properly installed causes damage.
Sources for this page
Sources
How to Clean the Dishwasher Filters
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the filter is rinsed under running water with a soft brush only for hard-to-remove soil or calcium deposits, that a wire brush or scouring pad may damage it, that it is cleaned once a month or every two weeks with heavy use, and that the dishwasher is not run without the filters properly installed. (states this directly)
Removing Odors in your Dishwasher
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That food debris trapped in the filter is a cause of dishwasher odour, and that the drain filter is rinsed under hot water at least monthly. (states this directly)