If your dishwasher is letting you down and leaving your plates and bowls dirty, there may 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 revelation about the dishwasher that stunned the internet.
She explained that she had been living in her apartment for a year and was endlessly frustrated because her dishwasher never seemed to clean her dishes no matter how many cycles she went through.
However, it turned out it wasn’t the dishwasher’s fault – with Bean expressing her shock when she learned she planned to deep clean the appliance regularly to keep it running efficiently.
“Am I the only one who never knew we needed to deep clean our dishwashers?” she said inside the videobefore pulling the filter out of her device, only to find it covered in dirt and grime.
“Here’s what I found,” she continued. ‘It was so disgusting, every time I think about washing my dishes in this I literally gag.’
If your washed dishes don’t come out clean and shiny, it might be time for a deep cleaning
She explained that she had been living in her apartment for a year and didn’t know how to keep her dishwasher clean by washing the filter.
“I didn’t even know this filter was a thing or that we had to deep clean it monthly,” she admitted
Bean then explained the proper technique for thoroughly cleaning the dishwasher filter and advised others that they should go through this process at least once a month.
“I never knew this filter was a thing or that we had to thoroughly clean it monthly,” the creator admitted, adding that she had “no idea if there were any tenants before her” who had used the same filter without the cleanup.
Using baking soda and distilled white vinegar, the TikTok creator has detailed her step-by-step guide to sanitizing your ‘disgusting’ dishwasher in two posts.
The photo shows the content creator who posted the video and photo set
In the first clip, she provided instructions on how to clean the filter, while in the second post, she shared seventeen screenshots taken from her first clip.
She captioned the slideshow: “Clean your dishwasher thoroughly, darlings!
‘This was so dirty, but I’m so glad I found it and got everything clean!
“My dishwasher works a million times better and smells so much cleaner!”
For her video post, she started by showing a glass with white residue on it.
“All my dishes kept looking like this, and that’s 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 she discovered.
Using baking soda and distilled white vinegar, the TikTok creator has detailed her step-by-step guide to sanitizing your ‘disgusting’ dishwasher in two posts.
‘Then I use this baking soda and sprinkle it across the bottom of my dishwasher. I used the distilled white vinegar in a small container at the top,” she said
“And then I put my dishwasher on a 60-minute cycle and let it run,” she explained as she closed the door of the machine
“Every time I think about doing my dishes in this, I literally gag,” she admitted.
She then left her sink bubbling up with dishwashing soup and water as she continued her cleaning routine, telling her viewers, “So for anyone who didn’t know, this is called the filter.”
The content creator then held her filter under water to flush out the gunk.
“Every dishwasher has one, and it’s usually in two parts,” she said.
The cylinder filter is located right on top of the tray at the bottom of the machine.
‘And this is what really hit me. We should wash this monthly,” she added.
In the video you can see how the TikTok creator places the filter in the bubbling water.
“But what really gets me is the fact that there were tenants before me and I have no idea if they ever cleaned it or not.”
She is shown holding up baking soda and distilled white vinegar as she says, “So we got right to work.”
“I filled my sink with hot water and dish soap, and I let the (filters) soak in that.”
“I rinsed it one last time and it came out like this. It’s beautiful,” she said, showing a bright and clean cylinder filter
In her caption she wrote: ‘This was so gross but I’m so glad I found it and got everything clean! My dishwasher works a million times better and smells so much cleaner’
‘Once everything was back together, I loaded my dishwasher, put some soap in it and ran a cycle. Everything looked and smelled so clean,” she explained
The content creator is shown dusting the bottom of her machine with baking soda.
She then pours distilled white vinegar into a small container and places that in the machine as well.
She set the dishwasher to a 60-minute program and went back to working with her ‘coarse’ filters.
“And let me tell you, I was scrubbing because everything was so caked up. I use this sponge and another little scrubbing thing to finally get it all off.
“I rinsed it one last time and it came out like this. It is beautiful.’
She shared, “I feel so much better doing the dishes than doing the dishes because I know that’s what my filter looks like.
‘Then I drained the water and proceeded to put everything back together.
‘Once everything was back together, I loaded my dishwasher, put some soap in it and ran a cycle.
“Everything came out smelling so clean.”
She ended the video by saying, “So, yeah, take this as your cue to deep clean your dishwasher.”
The content creator’s photo carousel post received more than 3.2 million views, 176,000 likes, 49,500 saves and 781 comments.
The content creator’s photo carousel post received over 3.2 million views, 176,000 likes, 49,500 saves and 781 comments
One person wrote: ‘I have to admit I just cleaned mine for the first time in a year, it was horrible…’
“I’ve never cleaned that filter before…I didn’t even know it existed,” another added.
“The fact that I grew up with a dishwasher and my parents never told me you have to clean it,” said a third.
A fourth person commented, “We moved into our old apartment and this place had MOLD.”
Other people joined the conversation with their own cleaning suggestions.
‘My father has been a dishwasher and washing machine operator for more than 40 years. Once a month, put a cup of lemon salt in the dishwasher and run it for 30 minutes,” one person wrote.
Another said: ‘Make sure you use a bunch of washing up liquid too next time, lots of bubbles.’
“My handyman told me that using powdered detergent clogs the filter much faster than using liquid detergent,” someone else noted.