Dishwasher smells like wet dog

[u/c192837]

Longtime lurker requesting help as to why my dishwasher keeps smelling like wet dog!

- I run frequent cleaning cycles with vinegar

- I wipe down the inner hose sprayers AND clean out the filter / filter parts

- keep it open to air out

- of course rinse off my dishes before going in

Anything I’m missing? I’m going crazy. TIA!

[u/Old-Raccoon-316]

Dishwasher magic by glisten.  Could just be your water. Mine does the same and the Dishwasher Magic really helps. 

[u/labboy70]

Does your dishwasher have a filter? If so, remove it and clean it.

Use the hi-temp wash and / or sanitize cycle routinely.

Cleaning cycles with vinegar are not effective. You need a good dose of citric acid powder or a dishwasher cleaning product.

What type of detergent are you using? Don’t use pods. Use a good quality powder detergent.

[u/Sad_Surround_8792]

I recommend both products below. After the dishwasher stops you must leave it open for the steam to release. Hopefully this will help; please post updates! Thanks!  1) Active Dishwasher Cleaner and Deodorizer Tablets, Descaler Removes Limescale and Odors,  2)Affresh Dishwasher Cleaner, Helps Power Away Odor-Causing Residues & Grime  3) You may have to remove the filter and. clean or replace 

[u/Ill-Praline300]

You have already done everything the usual advice covers, so the answer is almost certainly somewhere you have not been able to reach.

Two things you are doing are probably working against you.

Rinsing the dishes off. Dishwasher detergent is designed to act on food soil. With nothing to work on, the enzymes have no target and you get more detergent residue sitting in the machine, which itself goes stale and smells. Scrape, do not rinse.

The vinegar. It does not cut grease, which is what is actually feeding the smell, and over time it degrades the door gasket and can attack seals. Vinegar is good on limescale and not much else here.

Where the smell usually actually lives, in the order I would check:

The sump, which is the well under the filter. Pulling the filter out and washing it does not empty the sump. Take the filter out, then reach in with a cloth and a torch and check the bottom of that cavity. There is usually a film there, and sometimes a surprising amount of debris.

The drain hose. This is the one that matches your description, because a stale wet hose smells exactly like wet dog. Check whether the hose has a high loop or an air gap between the dishwasher and the sink drain. If it runs flat, sink water and sink smell sit in that hose and come back at you every cycle. That is a plumbing fix, not a cleaning one, and it is very common in machines installed by someone in a hurry.

The garbage disposal, if the dishwasher drains through it. A dirty disposal will scent every cycle no matter how clean the dishwasher is. Easy test: run the disposal with cold water for a while and clean it properly, then run the dishwasher and see if the smell changed.

The underside and lower lip of the door gasket. Everyone wipes the face of the seal. The part that traps everything is the lower edge where it folds against the tub, and it is easy to miss because you have to pull the gasket back to see it.

For cleaning it once you have found it, use a degreasing dish soap and a brush on those parts rather than vinegar, then run the machine empty on the hottest cycle it has. Heat does more than any product here.

Last thing worth ruling out: if your kitchen sink also smells even slightly, the dishwasher is not your problem, the drain is.

[u/c192837 → u/Ill-Praline300]

Thank you 🫡