One of the Biggest Causes of Dishwasher Decline Is Easy to Prevent
If the glasses, plates, and bowls you remove from the dishwasher basket after the cycle look barely better than when you put them in, the problem may be a small part of your dishwasher.
Your dishwasher’s filter quietly does the heavy lifting, trapping loose food particles to prevent them from entering the circulating wash water. If it’s clean and installed correctly, that means less need to pre-rinse dishes and a greater chance of them coming out sparkling. But if it’s covered in food particles, that’s where problems could arise.
When compiling and analyzing our list of best dishwashersEvery expert I spoke with said that one of the most common causes of dishwasher repair calls and warranty claims is failure to clean the filter.
So, how often should you clean your dishwasher filter? It’s more important than most people think. Let’s explore why your filter is important, how often you should clean it, and the best way to do it.
Your dishwasher filter is important. Here’s why
A dirty filter could cause your dishwasher to underperform.
An effective dishwasher filter has three benefits: it keeps the water cleaner, protects the water pump, and prevents food debris from clogging spray nozzles and drain lines. As a result, the dishwasher requires less effort to operate and you will eliminate wildcards that can damage your expensive kitchen appliance.
On the other hand, my old Maytag PDC3600AWX portable dishwasher does not have any sort of filter. This means I have to be extra careful with scraping and pre-cleaning when loading to get everything working properly.
How to clean your dishwasher filter
The filter is your dishwasher’s secret weapon.
Even if you regularly run a self-clean cycle on your dishwasher with a product like Affresh, solid food debris won’t disappear unless you empty the filter. Here’s a quick guide to cleaning your dishwasher filter.
- Remove the bottom rack to access the filter assembly at the bottom of your dishwasher. You may also need to move the wash arm slightly to access the filter.
- Rotate the filter to unlock it before removing it. Keep in mind that your filter may have two parts: an inner cylindrical filter and a flat outer screen. You should clean both of these items.
- Rinse the filter with clean water in your kitchen sink. If food debris and hard water remain, you may need to scrub with a soft brush (abrasive scrubbing can damage the filter mesh) and soapy water.
- Some brands suggest drying the filter assembly before putting it back in your dishwasher. However, you should be able to reinstall it before it dries out, as persistent moisture is unlikely to cause problems for a product that constantly deals with water and dishwashing chemicals.
- Don’t forget to twist the filter to put everything back in place.
How often should you clean your dishwasher filter?
Keep things simple by scraping your dishes before loading them and establishing a monthly cleaning schedule.
In the absence of unified manufacturer guidelines, I recommend checking your dishwasher filter at least once a month. If it’s clean, your job is already done. If not, it’s time to clean it.
Best of all, it’s as easy as putting a reminder on your phone, calendar, or chore wheel to check and clean the dishwasher filter. However, you should also stay alert for any drop in performance or foul odors in your dishwasher, which could mean it’s time to clean the filter sooner than expected.
You can also simplify the planning (and clean-up) process by always picking up leftover food in the trash. This habit alone easily turns filter cleaning into a monthly task at most – even with two daily wash cycles – rather than something to dread twice a week without any scraping.
For more context, some brands offer detailed filter cleaning schedules based on how often you run your dishwasher and how much you pre-clean (scrape and rinse) the dishes before loading them. Scraping is easily the deciding factor in avoiding frequent filter clogs.
It’s much easier to scrape your dishes than to understand a complex calendar like LG’s. Additionally, pre-washing your dishes before loading them is not an efficient use of water.
Normally, I defer to manufacturers on how often to clean your dishwasher filter, but the advice in user manuals regarding our top dishwasher picks is inconsistent. For example, Bosch (PDF) and LG recommend checking and cleaning the filters after each dishwashing cycle. In contrast, brands like Samsung (PDF), Midea (PDF), KitchenAid (PDF), and Frigidaire (PDF) give vague instructions on cleaning periodically or as needed.
Always remember to reinstall your dishwasher filter after cleaning it: you should not run any cycle without it.
Even companies like Whirlpool (PDF) and Maytag (PDF), which recommend cleaning your dishwasher filter every one to three months, muddy the waters by claiming that frequency depends on your usage. I mean, technically, they’re not wrong. Someone like me, who uses a dishwasher once a week, may not need to clean the filter more than once every few months, compared to busy households who run multiple loads daily.
Even with a relatively dirty dishwasher filter, it’s unlikely you’ll need more than 10 minutes to complete the cleaning process. Now you can enjoy a cooler, more efficient dishwasher.
