Descale Dishwashers – This is How it Works with Home Remedies

Since the water in many parts of Germany is quite calcareous, it is worth descaling the dishwasher regularly. You can remove the annoying limescale with the help of old home remedies just as well as with special descalers from specialist shops. In this home tip, we briefly present some tried and tested home remedies for descaling the dishwasher.

You should bear this in mind when descaling the dishwasher

How often you descale the dishwasher depends on the hardness of your water and how often you use the dishwasher. However, you should descale the dishwasher at least twice a year.

• You can easily tell when it is time to descale when your dishes have more stains after the wash cycle than before cleaning. In addition, you are likely to be met with bad smells as soon as you open the dishwasher door.
• Before you descale the dishwasher, you must first do some preparatory work. Bacteria, lime deposits, and, in the worst case, fungi like to settle unnoticed in more hidden places such as the door seal, the spray arms, the sieve, or the cutlery compartment.
• Before you start descaling, therefore, dissolve the home remedy of your choice in hot water and first clean these areas, including the inside of the dishwasher.

Important: the dishwasher must be empty during descaling.

Descale the dishwasher with household products

• Two proven means for descaling household appliances of all kinds are citric acid and vinegar essence. However, the smell of citric acid is much more pleasant.
• Baking soda has also proven itself in the fight against limescale, although the household remedy is also considered an insider tip for shiny glasses. If you put a bit of baking soda in the dishwasher during every normal cleaning cycle, your glasses will shine like new.
• After you have pre-cleaned the dishwasher, let the actual descaling cycle run. To do this, sprinkle about eight to ten tablespoons of the respective household remedy on the bottom of the empty dishwasher.
• Select a cleaning program for heavy soiling. It is important that the selected program does not have a pre-wash cycle.
• Alternatively, you can also use a standard machine cleaner.
• Tip: Just like with the washing machine, you should use a high rinse cycle at regular intervals. The hot water kills bacteria and fungi.
• Just like the dishwasher, you should also clean and descale your washing machine regularly.