A good dishwasher lasts 10 to 15 years with proper care. Learn the signs it’s time to repair or replace, how hard water affects lifespan, and what features to look for in a new model.
Dishwasher Maintenance: How to Keep Your Dishwasher Running Smoothly
When you rely on your dishwasher, an appliance designed to clean dishes automatically using water, detergent, and heat. Also known as a dishwashing machine, it’s one of the most used appliances in the home—yet most people never clean it properly. A well-maintained dishwasher lasts 10 to 12 years. Skip the upkeep, and you’re looking at clogs, bad odors, and a full repair bill.
One of the biggest problems isn’t the dishwasher itself—it’s what goes into it. Food scraps, grease, and hard water minerals build up over time. The dishwasher filter, a removable component at the bottom that traps debris before it clogs the pump is the first line of defense. Most models need cleaning every month. Just pop it out, rinse under warm water, and scrub away gunk with an old toothbrush. If you don’t, that debris gets recycled into your next load, leaving dishes covered in grease. And if the filter’s clogged, the dishwasher drain, the pathway that carries dirty water out of the machine won’t work right. That’s why water sits at the bottom after a cycle. It’s not a leak—it’s a blockage. A simple fix: remove the lower rack, check the drain area for bits of food or plastic, and pour a mix of baking soda and vinegar down the drain, then run a hot rinse cycle.
Dishwasher maintenance isn’t just about cleaning parts. It’s about understanding how water hardness affects your machine. If you live in a hard water area, mineral buildup can coat the heating element and spray arms, reducing cleaning power. A monthly run with white vinegar helps dissolve those deposits. You should also check the spray arms for clogged holes—use a toothpick to clear them. And don’t forget the door seal. Food stuck there doesn’t just smell bad—it can cause leaks. Wipe it down with a damp cloth every week.
These small habits add up. A dishwasher that’s cleaned regularly doesn’t need repairs as often. It uses less energy because the heating element isn’t working harder to overcome scale. It cleans better because water flows freely. And it lasts longer—sometimes well beyond the 10-year mark. You don’t need special tools or expensive products. Just a little time, a toothbrush, and vinegar. Skip the myths about dishwasher tablets doing all the work. They clean dishes, not the machine. The real cleaning happens when you take a few minutes to look inside and clean what the machine can’t reach.
Below, you’ll find real fixes for common dishwasher problems—like why your dishes come out cloudy, what to do when it won’t drain, and how to tell if it’s time to replace it instead of repair. These aren’t guesswork tips. They’re based on what actually works in homes across South Shields, backed by years of hands-on repair experience.