The filter is where I'd start to clean a dishwasher, since Bosch's manual says its filter system handles 100% of the water heading to the spray arms. After rinsing it, clear the spray arms, wipe the door seal, then run an empty hot cycle with a cleaner or white vinegar. Those are the four jobs.
A dishwasher filter is the mesh screen in the bottom of the tub that catches food before the pump sends water back up through the arms. At Merit Home Furniture on Vancouver Island, I've taken every step from the makers' own manuals and help pages. KitchenAid gets a section of its own, next to Bosch, Whirlpool, Frigidaire, LG and Samsung.
Merit lists 53 dishwashers at our Campbell River and Port Alberni stores, and 9 of them are KitchenAid. I work in Duncan, which is stepping back from appliances, so for a new dishwasher or any other appliance I'd point people up-Island or across to the Alberni Valley.
How to clean a dishwasher, step by step
The order follows KitchenAid's cleaning page, with the spray arms added from Bosch and Samsung.
- Empty it and slide out the lower rack. Bosch's manual warns that some debris may be sharp, so pick out loose bits slowly.
- Lift out the filter and rinse it. Warm running water and a soft brush do the job.
- Check the spray arms. Look through the holes for seeds, labels or scale.
- Wipe the door seal. KitchenAid uses a soft cloth and warm water, and Bosch adds a little dishwashing liquid.
- Run an empty hot cycle. Use a dishwasher cleaner, or white vinegar in an upright cup, and no detergent.
- Top up the rinse aid to the max mark when the refill light comes on.
- Wipe the outside. Bosch's Benchmark manual uses a damp cloth with a little liquid soap on the front, and a soft, dry towel on black stainless.
That's the Midea 24 in. Ultra-Quiet dishwasher listed at Port Alberni, with the lower spray arm under the bottom rack. How the racks get loaded decides where the spray reaches, and loading has a guide of its own.
How to clean a dishwasher filter, manual or self-cleaning
Cleaning a dishwasher filter means lifting it out, rinsing it under warm running water and brushing the mesh with something soft. KitchenAid and Whirlpool describe two kinds. A manual filter has to be cleaned by hand. A self-cleaning filter uses spinning force and water pressure to knock particles loose.
- KitchenAid and Whirlpool call theirs a triple filter system with 2 parts. The upper assembly turns a quarter turn counterclockwise and lifts out, then the lower filter slides forward.
- Bosch's 100 Series manual shows a micro filter, a fine filter and a coarse filter that come out together.
- Samsung Canada soaks its filter and filter door overnight in distilled white vinegar.
- Frigidaire's Canadian blog describes a Gallery model whose fine and coarse filters are self-cleaning, though the writer still takes them out for a deep clean.
Between them, Whirlpool, KitchenAid and LG rule out wire brushes, steel wool and scouring pads, which can damage the mesh. Bosch's Benchmark manual lists the signs a filter needs attention: food left on it, weaker cleaning, or a gritty film on the dishes. LG adds that a neglected filter may give off an offensive odour, which is the filter's share of what causes a smelly dishwasher. Smells with other causes are a subject for another day.
Cleaning a KitchenAid dishwasher: its filter and its own advice
KitchenAid's help page cleans a KitchenAid dishwasher in three steps: rinse the filter, wipe the door seals, then clean the interior with affresh or white vinegar. It says to do this approximately every 30 days. Its filter page asks for a filter clean once a month, or every two weeks in a large family or with daily use.
The upper part of the filter keeps oversized items and very fine particles away from the pump. The lower part keeps food from washing back onto the dishes. For calcium deposits from hard water, KitchenAid allows a soft brush.
Merit's KitchenAid listings don't describe the filter the same way. Three say triple filtration, three say self-cleaning filtration, and three don't name it. The prices below are what each listing showed on November 1, 2026, before applicable taxes.
| KitchenAid listing | Filter and wash arms | Price |
|---|---|---|
| KDFS224SWH, white (both stores) | Triple filtration, 3 arms | $1,099.99 |
| KDFS324SPS (both stores) | Triple filtration, 4 arms | $1,099.99 to $1,199.99 |
| KDPS324SPS (Campbell River) | Triple filtration, 4 arms | $1,099.99 |
| KDFS424SPS (Campbell River) | Self-cleaning, 5 arms | $1,299.99 to $1,399.99 |
| KDTS424SPS (Campbell River) | Self-cleaning, 5 arms | $1,299.99 to $1,399.99 |
| KDPS624SPS (both stores) | Self-cleaning, 5 arms | $1,399.99 to $1,499.99 |
| KDTF924PPS (Campbell River) | Not named | $1,799.99 to $1,899.99 |
| KDFE104KPS (Port Alberni) | Not named | $2,199.00 |
| KDFE204KPS (Port Alberni) | Not named | $2,699.00 |
The model number on each listing is the one to look up in KitchenAid's manual before trusting the word "self-cleaning". I'd check the filter monthly on any of them. All nine sit in the KitchenAid collection.
How to clean a dishwasher with vinegar, and how much each maker uses
Cleaning a dishwasher with vinegar means an upright cup or bowl of white vinegar in an empty machine, run hot with no detergent. The makers agree on that much and disagree on the amount.
| Maker | Vinegar and where it goes | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| KitchenAid | 2 cups (500 mL) in a measuring cup, bottom rack | Full cycle, air-dry or energy-saving dry |
| Samsung Canada | An 8-ounce cup, upright in the lower basket | Sanitize, 163 °F (73 °C) in the final rinse |
| LG | 1 oz of vinegar in a small bowl, lower basket | Standard |
| Frigidaire Canada blog | A glass measuring cup full, bottom rack | Hottest cycle, repeated for hard-water stains |
KitchenAid is the one maker here that warns about vinegar. It calls vinegar an acid and says using it too often could damage the dishwasher. So it saves vinegar for a deep clean and puts affresh on the monthly schedule, and I'd treat any brand the same way.
Can I pour vinegar into my dishwasher to clean it?
Every maker page I read puts the vinegar in an upright cup or bowl, never in the detergent dispenser. KitchenAid explains that it mixes with the wash water as the cycle runs. Bleach never goes in alongside it: Health Canada warns that bleach reacts with acids, vinegar included, and that the gases can be deadly.
How to clean a dishwasher with baking soda and vinegar
Arm & Hammer, which sells baking soda, runs two cycles with heat dry off and no detergent. The first has a bowl of 1 to 2 cups of white vinegar on the top rack. The second is a quick hot cycle with 1 cup of baking soda sprinkled along the bottom. None of the dishwasher makers I read calls for baking soda.
Dishwasher cleaner: affresh, Finish and a Self Clean cycle
A dishwasher cleaner is a tablet or liquid made to run through an empty machine and lift grease and limescale. KitchenAid says affresh used every month helps keep the dishwasher from filming and spotting. Bosch's Benchmark manual suggests a cleaner made for dishwashers when the spray arms show grease or scale.
How to use Finish in-wash dishwasher cleaner
Finish starts with a clean filter. For the liquid, the cap stays on and the sticker comes off to expose a wax plug. The bottle goes upside down in the bottom rack for a normal cycle with no detergent. Finish recommends it once per month.
Some machines build this in. Merit's Samsung 24 in. dishwasher with AI Wash at Campbell River lists Self Clean among its 10 programs. Samsung Canada runs that cycle empty, without detergent.
How do I clean the dishwasher spray arms and door seal?
Spray arms get cleaned by taking them off and holding each outlet under running water to clear what's lodged in the holes. Bosch's 100 Series manual says limescale and soiling may block the nozzles and bearings. Its upper arm unscrews, and the lower arm pulls straight up and clicks back in. Samsung Canada brushes each one, soaks it overnight in vinegar, then checks that it turns once refitted. Merit's KitchenAid listings run 3, 4 or 5 wash arms, so the bigger machines take a little longer.
The door seal is the rubber gasket around the tub opening. Bosch's Benchmark manual says food caught in it can cause odour, and a soiled seal may not seal properly. The same manual says never to use a steam cleaner on the dishwasher.
How often should you clean a dishwasher?
How often to clean a dishwasher depends on the part. The filter needs the most frequent look, and a cleaner cycle runs about monthly.
| Task and maker | How often |
|---|---|
| Filter, KitchenAid and Whirlpool | Once a month, or every two weeks with daily use |
| Filter, Bosch Benchmark | 3 to 6 times a year for light to average use, 8 to 12 times a year for heavy use |
| Filter, Bosch 100 Series | Check for residue after each dishwashing cycle |
| Interior, KitchenAid | Approximately every 30 days |
| Cleaner, Finish | Once per month |
| Full clean, Frigidaire Canada blog | Every 2 to 3 months |
Bosch adds one trigger: clean the filter after a load heavy in food or starch, such as potatoes and pasta. My own rule from all of this would be a filter check on the first of each month, and sooner when glasses come out gritty.
Hard water, rinse aid and dishwasher film on the Island
Hard water carries more dissolved calcium and magnesium than soft water. A groundwater fact sheet posted by the Regional District of Nanaimo says it causes scale in pipes and on fixtures. KitchenAid strongly recommends a water softener at 15 grains or more. The town supplies I checked are all soft, using the Canadian guideline bands the RDN sheet quotes. Soft water also changes how much detergent a load needs, and pods or powder for soft Island water covers the dosing.
| Water supply | Hardness, as calcium carbonate |
|---|---|
| City of Campbell River, treated water, 2025 sheet | 23.5 mg/L |
| City of Port Alberni, average to the end of 2024 | 46.39 mg/L |
| North Cowichan, Chemainus system, August 2025 | 26.8 mg/L |
| Soft | Under 60 mg/L |
| Very hard | 180 mg/L or greater |
Wells are the exception. The RDN sheet says groundwater tends to be harder and can run past 1,000 mg/L, though 40% of the nearly 12,000 BC well samples it reports were under 60 mg/L. A well test gives the real figure.
Rinse aid goes in its own dispenser on the door. Bosch's 100 Series manual uses it for drying and warns that spilled rinse aid can cause excess froth. Its Benchmark manual says to check the dispenser is full when spots start to show on the stainless.
Where dishwasher cleaning goes wrong
- Bleach and vinegar in one machine. Bosch also says never to use detergents containing chlorine, and Samsung warns bleach can discolour a stainless tub.
- Vinegar every week, which KitchenAid's acid warning argues against.
- Running a cycle without the filter. KitchenAid says not to operate the dishwasher until the filters are properly installed.
- Steam cleaners and bleach wipes, both ruled out in Bosch's Benchmark manual.
- Trying to clean away a fault. A spray arm that won't turn, a cracked filter or a dishwasher that won't drain is a repair question. Who fixes what under a maker's warranty is written up separately.
- Assuming every brand has local service. Danby makes three compact dishwashers on our list, and its Island service locations are in our Silhouette guide.
Where these dishwasher cleaning facts come from
- KitchenAid, Cleaning the Dishwasher Interior, checked November 2026.
- KitchenAid, How to Clean the Dishwasher Filters, checked November 2026.
- Whirlpool, How to Clean the Dishwasher Filters, checked November 2026.
- Bosch, SHE3AEM6N Use and Care Manual (100 Series, en-us), checked November 2026.
- Bosch, dishwasher operating instructions SHE89PW55N, SHX89PW55N, SHV89PW53N (Benchmark, en-us, fr-ca), checked November 2026.
- Samsung Canada, How to clean your Samsung dishwasher effectively, checked November 2026.
- LG, LG Dishwasher: How To Clean The Filter, checked November 2026.
- LG, LG Dishwashers: How to Clean Your Dishwasher Filter, checked November 2026.
- Frigidaire Canada, Get Rid of that Film: Easy Method to Clean Your Dishwasher, checked November 2026.
- Finish, How to clean your dishwasher, checked November 2026.
- Arm & Hammer, Using Baking Soda to Help Clean Your Dishwasher, checked November 2026.
- Health Canada, Reduce your risk from toxic gases: Never mix bleach with other cleaning products, checked November 2026.
- Regional District of Nanaimo, Hardness in Groundwater (Water Stewardship Information Series, February 2007), checked November 2026.
- City of Campbell River, treated drinking water parameters 2025, checked November 2026.
- City of Port Alberni, Finished Water Quality Parameters, annual averages to end of 2024, checked November 2026.
- Municipality of North Cowichan, Chemainus Water Quality Report (Summary) 2025, checked November 2026.
- Merit Home Furniture, dishwasher listings with stores and prices, read November 1, 2026.
Shopping for a dishwasher in Campbell River or Port Alberni
When a clean doesn't bring an older machine back, Merit has 33 dishwashers listed at Campbell River and 32 at Port Alberni, with some at both. I write from Duncan, which doesn't carry appliances, so those two stores are the ones to call. If the old machine was loud, I've ranked the quietest models we list by dBA. Where each of our four stores sits has the distances between them.
You'll find the Campbell River store at 1300 A Homewood Rd, and the Port Alberni store on Third Ave at number 2935.
It helps to bring the width, height and depth of the cabinet opening, and to ask what's set up to look at. The 78 dishwashers with no store listed are special orders, and their pages say Call to order (250) 746-5527.
Campbell River, (250) 286-0868 and Port Alberni, (250) 724-6644 both take dishwasher questions by phone.
You can browse every dishwasher we list, by store, and our other appliance care and buying guides sit on one page.