Why dishwasher filter and spray arm cleaning matters more than it used to
Older machines ground food scraps with a hard chopper and sent them down the drain. To meet tighter water and energy limits, most current designs use less water and a fine filter instead, which makes them quieter and more efficient but leaves the owner in charge of emptying what the filter catches.
A clogged filter does not announce itself. The machine keeps running, the wash water gets dirtier, and the pump pushes grit back through the spray arms, where it plugs nozzles one at a time. By the time dishes look bad, both parts usually need attention.
How often, really
Monthly is the figure Whirlpool gives, and it suits a family that scrapes plates and runs a load a day. Households that load plates straight from the table, cook a lot of rice, pasta or seeds, or wash baby bottles with their labels will find weekly checks worth the time. A two-person home that runs three loads a week can often stretch to six weeks.
Source: Whirlpool — Water remains in the filter area — Filters rinsed at least monthly; the design saves water and energy; ENERGY STAR — Dishwashers key product criteria — Federal and ENERGY STAR caps on water and energy per cycle
The filter assembly
The filter sits in the floor of the tub, under the lower spray arm. Pull the lower rack out completely to reach it. On most machines it is a cylinder that twists a quarter turn counterclockwise and lifts out, with a flat fine-mesh screen around or beneath it.
Drawer models hide the filter in the floor of each drawer, so a double drawer has two to clean. Some compacts use a single flat screen that lifts straight out with no twist at all.
- Coarse cylinder: catches bones, pits, labels and broken glass; tap it out over the trash first.
- Fine mesh: holds the grease film that makes water cloudy; scrub it gently with a soft brush under warm running water.
- Sump opening: the hole the filter sat in; look inside with a flashlight and pick out anything sharp by hand, carefully.
Putting it back correctly
Seat the flat screen first, then lower the cylinder and turn it until it locks, often with an arrow lining up with a mark on the tub floor. A filter left loose lets debris bypass it straight into the pump, which is how a cleaning habit can cause the very jam it was meant to prevent.
Source: Whirlpool — Cleaning the removable filtration system — Upper filter turns a quarter turn counterclockwise; no wire brushes
Spray arm cleaning
Every rack is served by its own spray arm: one under the lower rack, one under the upper rack, and on many machines a third high in the tub or a small spray head at the top. Each arm spins because water leaves its nozzles at an angle, so a few plugged holes weaken the spin as well as the spray.
Mineral crust inside a nozzle is harder to shift than food. Soaking the arm for half an hour in warm white vinegar softens it enough for the toothpick to finish the job.
Removing the arms
The lower arm usually pulls straight up or unscrews from a center hub. The middle arm is clipped or threaded to the underside of the upper rack; slide the rack out and look for a nut or tab at its center. A top spray head, where fitted, often stays in place and is cleaned where it sits.
Clearing the nozzles
Hold each arm under the faucet and watch the water come out of the holes; any hole that stays dry is plugged. Push a wooden toothpick into it from the outside, then shake the arm and listen. A rattle means seeds or glass are loose inside, and rinsing through the center opening flushes them out.
Checking the spin
Once the arms are back, turn each by hand. It should spin several times from a light push without scraping. An arm that stops short is either catching on a tall utensil hanging through the rack or sitting on a worn bearing, and a cracked arm will never spin properly however clean it is.
Source: Whirlpool — Spray arm not working — Spin the spray arm by hand to check it turns freely
While the racks are out
Five more minutes finishes the job and covers the places odor tends to start.
- Run a damp cloth along the rubber seal and the lower lip of the door, a strip no spray ever reaches.
- Clear the front ledge of the tub floor, just inside the door, where crumbs settle.
- Check the detergent cup lid opens freely and the rinse aid cap closes tightly.
- Look along the rack tines for broken coating; exposed metal rusts and stains dishes.
- If a greasy smell hangs on, follow up with a cleaner tablet in an otherwise empty machine.
