How to Clean Your Dishwasher and Small Appliances

When cleaning your kitchen, you probably clean your sink, stovetop, countertops and oven often. There are some items in your kitchen like your dishwasher that you just don't think about cleaning very often, but it needs to be cleaned regularly too. These tips will show you how to clean your dishwasher and small appliances like microwaves and coffee makers so they will be sanitary and will work better in the long run!

Welcome to day 9 of the 4 Week Cleaning and Organizing Challenge! If you haven’t joined the challenge with Fox Hollow Cottage and I yet, it’s never too late to start. You can start any time by downloading or printing the free Printable Cleaning and Organizing Checklist and reading all about it HERE! All of the days of the challenge will be listed there if you’d like to follow along.

We have covered the cleaning of most things in our kitchens, like the countertops, stovetop, oven, sink and faucet, but the truth is, your dishwasher and other small appliances can get left behind. These appliances need more than an occasional wipe down to keep them clean and make sure that they work properly in the long run, so I thought I would share a few tips for getting them all clean!

How to Clean a Dishwasher

Cleaning your dishwasher is so much easier than you think. It doesn't require a bunch of scrubbing unless your dishwasher is REALLY dirty. If your dishwasher is just moderately dirty, all you need to do is pour one cup of vinegar into a heavy cup or measuring cup and place it upright in the top rack of your dishwasher. Don't add any more dishes. Run the dishwasher as usual on the hottest cycle and let it finish. The cup may flip over during the washing cycle, but since it's the only item in the dishwasher, it's not a big deal. The vinegar will work it's way (much like dish detergent) throughout the dishwasher, cleaning and sanitizing the entire appliance.

If your dishwasher is showing signs of hard water buildup, like spots on your glasses or you are just noticing that the dishes aren't coming out as clean, check out my post showing How to Clean Your Dishwasher and Remove Hard Water Deposits HERE.

Your microwave may be one of the hardest working appliances in your kitchen, and it can get really dirty. Mine usually has pizza sauce splatters and run over from soups. Cleaning your microwave is so easy, and all you need is a bowl, some water and a lemon...that's right, a lemon. Start by cutting the lemon into quarters and placing them in a microwave safe bowl. Next, fill the bowl with water, leaving a couple of inches at the top of the bowl for boiling. Place the bowl of lemon and water into the microwave and cook on high for 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, do nothing. DON'T REMOVE THE BOWL FROM THE MICROWAVE...THE WATER WILL BE HOT AND COULD BURN YOU. After about 5 minutes, carefully remove the bowl from the microwave using oven mitts. Use a damp cloth or paper towels to wipe the inside of the microwave clean. The lemons and water will have steamed the inside of the microwave, loosening any stuck on food, making it easy to wipe clean. That's it...so easy!

How to Clean Small Kitchen Appliances

Your smaller kitchen appliances could probably use some cleaning love too! Check out this post showing 10 Things You Should Be Cleaning, But Probably Aren't to see how to easily clean those kitchen appliances that may need a little more than just a wipe down!