How do you get rid of "wet dog" smell in a dishwasher?

makeasnek@lemmy.ml to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 80 points –

This is a thing with every dishwasher I've had, some models seem better than other. You wash the dishes and when they dry, they have a musty odor I can only describe as "wet dog". Other people often don't seem to notice this, so maybe I am just sensitive to it. Though if I point it out, then they smell it.

I have tried:

  • Cleaning every nook and cranny of the dishwasher and filter
  • Running with orange kool-aid/citric acid/lemishine in dispenser after each wash (works decently well)
  • Running a rinse w white vinegar after each cycle (this works the best so far)
  • Making sure dishes air dry instead of dry inside the dishwasher (always do this, helps a bit)

In all instances where this happens, the dishes are clean and don't have food stuck to them or floating around in the water.

Has anybody else fought this problem? What worked for you?

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I’ve had success with Jet Dry and Cascade Platinum plus pods. Our filter gets super gross after about 10 cycles. Between cleaning out the filter often and running those two product combos, we don’t really have a smelly washer. My other thought was your water quality. We have a whole house water softener. Have you tested to see if you have super hard water? This ruins appliances. Simple test can be bought on Amazon.

I've been wondering if it might be a water hardness/softness things. I've experienced this in several different cities, but it's possible they all had either hard or soft water.