If your dishwasher is letting you down and leaving your plates and bowls dirty – there may well be a simple solution that will completely transform the appliance from mediocre to miraculous.
A US-based TikTok content creator, who goes by the online name beannina4 or Bean, recently made a shocking dishwasher revelation that stunned the internet.
She explained that she had been living in her apartment for a year and was endlessly frustrated that her dishwasher never seemed to get her dishes clean, no matter how many cycles she ran through.
As it turns out however, it was not the dishwasher at fault – with Bean voicing her shock at learning she had meant to be deep cleaning the appliance regularly in order to make it run efficiently.
‘Am I the only one who never knew we were supposed to be deep cleaning our dishwashers?’ she said in the video, before proceeding to pull out the filter from her appliance – only to discover it was covered in dirt and grime.
‘This is what I found,’ she continued. ‘It was so disgusting, every time I think about the fact that I was washing my dishes in this, it literally makes me gag.’
If your washed dishes aren’t coming out clean and shiny, perhaps it’s time for a deep clean
She explained that she had lived in her apartment for a year and didn’t know that she needed to keep her dishwasher clean by washing its filter
‘I never even knew that this filter was a thing or that we were supposed to be deep cleaning it monthly,’ she confessed
Bean then laid out the proper technique for deep cleaning the dishwasher filter, advising others that they should be going through this process once a month at least.
‘I never even knew that this filter was a thing or that we were supposed to be deep cleaning it monthly,’ the creator confessed, adding that she had ‘no idea if there were renters before her’ who had been using the same filter without cleaning it out.
Using baking soda and distilled white vinegar, the TikTok creator detailed her step-by-step guide to sanitizing your ‘disgusting’ dishwashing machine in two posts.
Pictured is the content creator who posted the video and photo set
In the first clip, she laid out instructions for cleaning the filter, while the second post saw her sharing 17 screengrabs that she took from her initial clip.
On the picture slideshow’s caption, she wrote: ‘Deep clean your dishwasher babes!
‘This was so gross, but I’m so glad I found it & was able to get it all clean!
‘My dishwasher is running a million times better & smells so much cleaner!’
For her video post, she started it off by showing a glass that had leftover white residue on it.
‘All of my dishes kept coming out looking like this, which is not okay,’ she said.
‘So I decided to investigate, and… this is what I found. It was so disgusting.’
The TikTok creator holds up the dirty filter that she discovered.
Using baking soda and distilled white vinegar, the TikTok creator detailed her step-by-step guide to sanitizing your ‘disgusting’ dishwashing machine in two posts
‘Then I use this baking soda and sprinkled it all over the bottom of my dishwasher. I used the distilled white vinegar in a little container up top,’ she said
‘And then I set my dishwasher to a 60-minute cycle and let that run,’ she explained as she closed the door of the machine
How to deep clean your dishwashing machine
Take out the cylinder and tray filters from the bottom of the machineFill up your sink with dish wash soup and water and let the filters soak for a few minutesUse a sponge and scrubber to take out the filter’s gunkSprinkle baking soda all around your machine Pour distilled white vinegar in a small cup and pour it into the machine Run the dishwasher for 60 minutesThen rearrange all the parts
‘Every time I think about the fact that I was washing my dishes in this literally makes me gag,’ she confessed.
She proceeded to bubble up her sink with dishwashing soup and water as she continued her cleaning routine and informed her viewers: ‘So for anybody else who didn’t know, this is called the filter.’
The content creator then held her filter under the water to start washing out the gunk.
‘Every dishwasher has one, and there’s usually two parts to it,’ she said.
The cylinder filter sits right on top of the tray one at the bottom of the machine.
‘And here’s what really got me. We’re supposed to be washing this monthly,’ she added.
In the video the TikTok creator is seen placing the filter in the bubbled water.
‘But what really gets me is the fact that there were renters before me and I have no idea whether they ever cleaned it out or not.’
She is shown holding up baking soda and distilled white vinegar while saying, ‘so we went straight to work.
‘I filled up my sink with hot water and dish soap, and then let those [filters] soak in there.’
‘Gave it one last rinse, and this is how it came out. It’s beautiful,’ she said while showing a clear and clean cylinder filter
For her caption she wrote: ‘This was so gross, but I’m so glad I found it and was able to get it all clean! My dishwasher is running a million times better & smells so much cleaner’
‘Once everything was put back together, I filled up my dishwasher, put some soap in it, and ran a cycle. Everything came out looking and smelling so clean,’ she explained
The content creator is shown powdering the bottom of her machine with baking soda.
She then pours distilled white vinegar into a little container and placed that in the machine as well.
She set the dishwasher on a 60-minute cycle and went back to work on her ‘gross’ filters.
‘And let me tell you, I was scrubbing because of how caked on everything was, I use this sponge and another little scrubby thing to finally get everything off.
‘Gave it one last rinse, and this is how it came out. It’s beautiful.’
She shared: ‘I feel so much better washing my dishes than my dishwasher, knowing that this is what my filter looks like.
‘Then I drained the water and went ahead to reassemble everything.
‘Once everything was put back together I filled up my dishwasher, put some soap in it, and ran a cycle.
‘Everything came out looking and smelling so clean.’
She concluded the video by saying: ‘So, yeah, take this as your sign to deep clean your dishwasher.’
The content creator’s picture carousel post got more than 3.2 million views, 176,000 likes, 49,500 saves and 781 comments.
The content creator’s picture carousel post got more than 3.2 million views, 176,000 likes, 49,500 saves and 781 comments
One person wrote: ‘I will admit I just cleaned mine for the first time in a year it was horrid…’
‘I’ve never cleaned that filter before… ever… didn’t even know [of] its existence,’ another added.
‘The fact that I grew up with a dishwasher and my parents never told me you have to clean one,’ a third said.
A fourth person commented: ‘Moved into our old apartment and this piece had MOLD on it.’
Other people joined the conversation with their own cleaning suggestions.
‘My dad is a dishwasher and washing machine operator for over 40 years. Put a cup of lemon salt in the dishwasher once a month and run it for 30 [minutes],’ one person wrote.
Another added: ‘Make sure you use a bunch of dish soap next time too, lots of bubbles.’
‘My handy man has told me that using any sort of powdery detergent will clog that filter way faster than using liquid,’ someone else commented.
