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.
Why we say this
Supported
Named prohibition. The filter's function is its openings, and an abrasive closes or tears them.
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)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The removal, rinsing, brushing, reinstallation and frequency sections, and the damage caution. Supports the claim as stated. Supplies a complete component procedure including the reassembly check and the consequence of skipping it, which is the first aftercare instruction here whose omission damages the appliance rather than the surface.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Scouring powder is unsafe on Dishwasher filter
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Why we say this
Supported
Scouring pads are named alongside wire brushes on the same prohibition.
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)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The removal, rinsing, brushing, reinstallation and frequency sections, and the damage caution. Supports the claim as stated. Supplies a complete component procedure including the reassembly check and the consequence of skipping it, which is the first aftercare instruction here whose omission damages the appliance rather than the surface.
Last reviewed by a person on .
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.
Why we say this
Supported
COMPONENT EVIDENCE OVERRIDING MATERIAL INHERITANCE, which is the case this sprint exists to handle. The filter is stainless steel and this catalogue clears mild abrasion on stainless — but the filter's function is its openings rather than its surface, and the manufacturer excludes abrasives from it by name. Recorded as interpretation because the source names tools rather than the method.
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. (cleaninghq's interpretation of what it says)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The removal, rinsing, brushing, reinstallation and frequency sections, and the damage caution. Supports the claim as stated. Supplies a complete component procedure including the reassembly check and the consequence of skipping it, which is the first aftercare instruction here whose omission damages the appliance rather than the surface.
Last reviewed by a person on .
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.
Why we say this
Supported
The same override, applied to the stronger abrasive process. A filter that has been resurfaced has had its apertures altered, which is the one property it exists for.
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. (cleaninghq's interpretation of what it says)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The removal, rinsing, brushing, reinstallation and frequency sections, and the damage caution. Supports the claim as stated. Supplies a complete component procedure including the reassembly check and the consequence of skipping it, which is the first aftercare instruction here whose omission damages the appliance rather than the surface.
Last reviewed by a person on .
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Start here
What this is, what goes wrong with it, and where CleaningHQ can help.
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 is what stops food debris going round again. When it blocks, three things happen at once and none of them looks like a filter problem: cleaning performance drops because flow to the spray arms is reduced, a smell develops because trapped food is sitting warm and wet between cycles, and gritty residue is redeposited on the load. The manufacturer's own manual treats removing and rinsing the filter as routine owner maintenance rather than a service task, and the interval that keeps it working is far shorter than most owners assume — monthly for the equivalent filter on a washing machine, according to another manufacturer in this register, and more often where plates are not scraped before loading. The method is unglamorous: remove the assembly, rinse under a running tap, use a soft brush on the mesh, and check the sump beneath it for glass fragments and labels. Two adjacent points. The spray arm jets block with the same debris and clear with a cocktail stick. And a dishwasher that smells with a clean filter usually has a blocked drain hose or an un-run empty hot cycle behind it.
What works
Water is safe on, in specific conditions, Dishwasher filter
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, CleaningHQ makes no claim.
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
Why we say this
Supported
The most complete component procedure in the register: removal, method, tool limit, drying, refitting check and frequency.
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)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The removal, rinsing, brushing, reinstallation and frequency sections, and the damage caution. Supports the claim as stated. Supplies a complete component procedure including the reassembly check and the consequence of skipping it, which is the first aftercare instruction here whose omission damages the appliance rather than the surface.
Last reviewed by a person on .
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
Owner's Manual: Dishwashers GSD4500, GSD4800
GE Appliances · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the filter assembly is removed and rinsed as routine owner maintenance and that food debris affects wash performance. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — 'Caring for the dishwasher' and the film, cloudiness and marks entries in Troubleshooting Tips. Supports the claim as stated.
LG Washer — How to Clean the Drain Pump Filter
LG Electronics · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the manufacturer specifies cleaning the drain pump filter monthly. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — Which machines have the filter, the draining procedure and the frequency. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .