Should you keep the dishwasher door open when not in use or directly after it has been used?
Keeping the dishwasher door open when not in use is not something you need to do, if you’re using it regularly.
But after use, a dishwasher is very hot from the water and the heated drying cycle if you use it too.
Leaving the dishwasher door slightly open after use gives it a chance to air out and cool off. Dishwashers operate with water heated to 130°F – 170°F and when combined with a heated drying cycle, the inside gets very hot. You can keep the dishwasher door closed when not in use but airing it out after use until cooled isn’t a bad idea.
But there are many other factors to also consider if you find that your dishwasher smells, has streaks on the metal or is otherwise causing you troubles that you can’t figure out. Below we’ll discuss many factors to consider when to open and close the dishwasher door, your use of detergent and rinse aid, hard vs soft water and cleaning your filter.
We’ll also touch on your dishwasher salt dispenser in case you have one (they’re common!)
Does bacteria grow inside the dishwasher?
Bacteria can grow inside your dishwasher regardless of whether you keep the door open or closed. Depending on the dishwasher design, you may have a small amount of standing water at the bottom at all times.
Research
has shown that fungus may enter a dishwasher from the water supply and bacteria is believed to enter through contaminated food.
The reason why the water in a dishwasher is generally heated to between 120°F (49°C) minimum and up to 170°F (77°C) degrees depending on the model and how hot the water supplied by your water heater. This high temperature level is because the water has to be hot enough to dissolve the detergent and effectively remove hardened food on dishes that might have been sitting dirty for several days.
Very hot water can also help to sanitize the dishes and cutlery that the dishwasher cleans.
The National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) has a standard called NSF/ANSI Standard 184 which can be awarded to residential dishwasher models that prove it can effectively kill 99.999% of bacteria when operating on its sanitize setting while also achieving a final rinse water temperature of 150º F (66º C).
How to ensure your dishwasher remains clean and runs effectively
Your best to ensure your dishwasher remains clean when not in use and operates properly when being used is as follows:
- Check the water temperature setting on your hot water heater. You may not achieve the desired water temperature in your dishwasher if your water heater is set too low.
- Use a good quality detergent but don’t use too much. More detergent doesn’t mean better. It’ll just get wasted if you overuse it.
- Use a good quality rinse aid. It helps to dry dishes quicker and avoid streaks.
- Rinse excessively dirty dishes before loading them in the dishwasher otherwise you run the risk of clogging your filter and caking food debris on dishes rather than cleaning them.
- Wipe the rubber seal on your dishwasher with a clean, dry cloth after use and replace it if it gets cracked or otherwise badly worn.
- Clean the dishwasher filter regularly to ensure it isn’t clogged with food debris, grease and fat.
Let’s take a closer look at the last point because while the other suggestions are fairly self-explanatory, many people don’t know how or why to clean the filter.
How to clean the dishwasher filter
As the image above shows, the typical dishwasher has a filter on the bottom of the unit and can be twisted off to remove it. Wash the filter (and scrub if necessary) with warm soap and water if it’s dirty.
Over time it can get coated with grease and food scraps. More so if you don’t do a good job at rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
Some dishwashers include a chopper which is basically a knife that turns at a very high speed when the dishwasher is pumping water to literally cut up food scraps before the water runs through the filter screen. This ensures that large debris is cut down to size and doesn’t clog the system. Other dishwasher may just include a filter such as the one shown above.
A dirty, greasy filter can not only cause a smell in your dishwasher over time, but can also inhibit the dishwasher’s ability to properly clean your dishes. The water that pumps through the dishwasher goes through this filter and touches your dishes and cutlery.
If you unscrew the top of the filter and remove it, you can wash the filter with warm water and soap before putting it back in its place. Filters like the one above typically come in two parts: The round metal filter itself along with the cover that holds the filter and then screws back into place. Both should be cleaned properly.
If you notice that the filter is particularly dirty, you may need to wash the filter out more frequently and perhaps rinse dishes off better before putting them in the dishwasher. It sounds counterintuitive to wash dishes before washing them but you’re really removing noticeable food scraps that can clog the filter.
Does my dishwasher need salt?
Yes, you read that correctly: Your dishwasher might require salt. Dishwashers often come with a built in water softener and it needs a special salt to work properly. Check your dishwasher and manual to be sure.
If you look at the above picture again just to the left of the hand, you’ll see a round cover that can also be unscrewed.
If you need to add salt, this is where it’s added. The reservoir will have water in it. When you add the salt, it produces a brine (salt water mixture) that gets added to the water used during the dishwasher cycle so that soft water is used instead of hard water.
By using soft water instead of hard water, you can consume less detergent and better clean your dishes which can also help to keep the inside of your dishwasher clean and free of odor. We’ll talk more about soft water below.
As an aside, check the cover gasket to see how clean the seal is because it can also get coated in grease and fat.
Fill the rinse aid dispenser with a quality rinse aid product
Rinse aid is an important part of your dishwasher’s cleaning process. It helps to prevent spots on dishes and cutlery especially if you have hard water in your house, and also helps to dry the dishes faster.
The ingredients inside the rinse aid help to reduce the surface tension of the water, enabling the beads of water to drip off instead of drying on the plates and cutlery, thus leaving a water mark.
The rinse aid dispenser is typically located directly next to the place where you put the dishwasher cleaning tablet. It’s a liquid that gets poured into the dispenser. The rinse aid is then slowly pumped out during the final rinse cycle each time you use the dishwasher.
If you have a problem with a smelly dishwasher, after doing the above-mentioned tasks you may also choose a rinse aid with a nice smell such as lemon as helps to freshen the inside of the unit and leave it smelling clean between uses.
If you use your dishwasher several times per week, you can either top the rinse aid dispenser up once per month or every few uses as needed.
Is soft water better for a dishwasher or is hard water ok to use?
As mentioned above, your dishwasher might have a built-in water softener. So the answer is that soft water helps a dishwasher perform better.
If you have a water softener in your home, you likely already know the benefits of softened water. Water that has a high degree of minerals like calcium and magnesium removed is said to be soft water.
On the other hand, when a local water supply has a high degree of these minerals naturally occurring, the water is said to be hard. Many jurisdictions naturally have hard water supplies that are high in these dissolved minerals.
Hard water can damage pipes, faucets and other water-using appliances and can be harsher on skin and hair. It also tends to require more detergent in your washing machine and dishwasher to properly clean clothes and dishes respectively.
Soft water on the other hand tends to be easier on skin and hair and also produces cleaner clothes and dishes. And it requires less detergent to achieve this, too. So soft water is desirable either from your home water softener or from the built in water softener in your dishwasher but if you rely on that, you’ll need to add the salt as referred to above.
What about how much detergent to use in your dishwasher?
To give you an idea, GE suggests that their dishwasher requires “a full main cup and a full open cup/pre-wash cup of detergent to achieve a good wash performance” when using very hard water. Conversely they suggest using only 1/3 of a cup of detergent in the main cup when using soft water.
Click here to read more about my experience with common water softener problems
Click here to learn more about how much a water softener typically costs.
Summary
So as we can see, the issue of whether or not to open your dishwasher door is really only relevant after the dishwasher has been used. In the few minutes it takes to empty your dishwasher after use, letting it air out for a few extra minutes until the inside is cool isn’t a bad idea.
In actuality, there are many other things you can do to ensure your dishwasher is clean operating properly and is free of odor other than just leaving the door open. Cleaning your filter, properly using detergent and rinse aid and using softened water are several such choices.