How to Clean a Dishwasher: A Step-by-Step Guide From Brisbane's Bond Cleaning Team

A few months back, one of our cleaners opened a dishwasher at a property in Toowong for a final inspection and had to take a step back before carrying on. The tenant had scrubbed the oven, wiped every skirting board, even polished the taps — but nobody had opened that little door under the sink in months.

It's a scene we run into constantly. A dishwasher looks self-cleaning by design, which is exactly why it gets forgotten. Every cycle leaves a bit of itself behind: a scrap of food caught in the filter, a film of grease on the door seal, a trace of mineral scale on the spray arms. None of it is obvious day to day. All of it adds up.

This guide is the same routine our team follows on the job — what to do weekly, what to do once a month, and what's actually going on when a dishwasher still smells after you've cleaned it. If you're prepping a rental for a final inspection, there's a section further down worth reading before you book anyone.

Why Dishwasher Cleaning Matters More Than You'd Think

Every wash cycle runs hot water, detergent and food waste past the same handful of parts: the filter basket, the door gasket, the spray arms and the drain. The detergent handles your plates. Nothing handles those parts except you.

Left alone for long enough, three things build up:

• Food particles trapped in the filter basket, which start to smell and can eventually stop the machine draining properly.
• A thin film of grease and mineral scale on the interior walls and spray arm nozzles — the reason glasses come out cloudy even after a full cycle.
• Moisture sitting in the rubber door seal, which is exactly the environment mould needs to take hold. Brisbane's humidity doesn't do you any favours here either.

None of this is dramatic on its own. But a dishwasher that's never properly cleaned works harder to do less, gets through more detergent for the same result, and eventually needs a repair call that a bit of vinegar and bicarb soda would have avoided.

What to Use to Clean a Dishwasher

Nothing on this list needs a trip to a specialty store:

• White vinegar
• Bicarb soda
• An old toothbrush or a narrow grout brush
• A microfibre cloth
• Mild dish soap
• Rubber gloves
• A small dishwasher-safe bowl

The Weekly Clean: A Two-Minute Habit

This is the bit that actually prevents the smell in the first place. It takes less time than unloading the dishwasher itself.

• 1

  Empty the filter basket

  Most dishwashers have a filter basket under the bottom spray arm, usually a twist-and-lift design — check your manual if you're not sure which way it turns. Tip out any loose debris and rinse it under the tap. Skip this for a couple of weeks and it starts holding onto smells rather than just food.

• 2

  Wipe the door seal and rim

  Run a damp microfibre cloth around the rubber gasket on the door and the metal rim it seals against. This is where grime collects fastest and where mould gets its first foothold, so it's worth doing more often than anything else on this list.

• 3

  Check the spray arm holes

  Give the spray arms a spin and look for holes blocked with food debris. A toothpick clears them in seconds — blocked holes are a common reason dishes only come out half clean.

How to Deep Clean a Dishwasher (Once a Month)

This is the part most people skip, or stop halfway through. It's also the part that actually gets rid of the smell for good rather than just masking it.

• 1

  Soak the filter properly

  Take the filter out completely this time — most have a coarse piece and a fine mesh piece — and soak both in warm water with a splash of vinegar for about fifteen minutes. Scrub with your old toothbrush, rinse, and let them dry before refitting.

• 2

  Run a hot vinegar cycle

  Place a cup of white vinegar in a dishwasher-safe bowl on the top rack and run the hottest, longest cycle with nothing else inside. The acidity cuts through grease and mineral scale on parts you can't reach by hand — the inside of the spray arms, the hoses, the heating element.

• 3

  Deodorise with bicarb soda

  On a separate cycle — not the same load as the vinegar — sprinkle a cup of bicarb soda across the base and run a short hot cycle. Once it's done, leave the door cracked open rather than closing it straight away. A closed, damp dishwasher is exactly how that musty smell comes back within a week.

• 4

  Finish the outside

  Wipe the control panel and exterior with a damp microfibre cloth and a little dish soap. On stainless steel, work in the direction of the grain, then buff with a few drops of olive oil on a dry cloth to bring back the shine and cut down on fingerprints.

Still Smells After All That? Check These

• Black spots on the door gasket are actual mould, not just staining. They need scrubbing with a toothbrush and vinegar, not just a wipe.
• A shared drain with the garbage disposal can mean the smell isn't coming from the dishwasher at all.
• Closing the door immediately after a cycle traps moisture inside — crack it open for an hour instead.
• Underneath the cutlery basket or upper cup shelf is a spot people forget to check, and food debris collects there quietly.

Does This Actually Matter for Your Bond?

Short answer: yes, more often than people expect.

Queensland property managers work through the property against the entry condition report from when you moved in, and the kitchen gets more attention than almost any other room. A dishwasher with a mouldy seal or a filter still holding last month's dinner is an easy, obvious thing to flag — and it's one of the more common reasons we get called back for a re-clean on jobs we didn't originally do.

If you're doing your own exit clean, treat the dishwasher the way you'd treat the oven: pull it apart properly rather than running an empty rinse cycle and calling it done.

Or skip that part of moving day altogether. Every bond cleaning Brisbane job we run includes the dishwasher, oven and every kitchen appliance as standard, checked against the same list a property manager works from — not charged as an extra.

A Few Mistakes Worth Avoiding

• Bleach — degrades rubber seals over time and isn't needed for anything vinegar can't handle.
• Vinegar and bicarb soda in the same cycle — foams up and wastes both without any extra cleaning benefit.
• Steel wool or abrasive scourers — scratches stainless steel finishes and control panels.
• Overfilling the detergent dispenser — leaves a cloudy film on glassware instead of a cleaner result.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cleaning a Dishwasher