How to Clean Your Dishwasher Filter the Right Way

Rinse the dishwasher filter under running water with a soft brush, then seat it fully so it cannot spin loose. A packed or crooked filter is the first thing to rule out when glasses feel gritty or the tub smells, and a clean filter that does not fix standing water means it is time to stop and book a visit.

If glasses come out sandy or the tub smells like a leftover, the cylindrical filter in the floor of the tub is usually packed. It is designed to come out by hand. It is also designed to go back in a specific orientation. A filter that sits crooked lets grit into the pump.

Wait until the dishwasher is off and cool. If standing water is above the filter, bail some out or you will flood the kitchen when you lift the mesh.

How do you know the dishwasher filter is due for cleaning?

Gritty glasses, a stale smell from the tub, soil you can see on the mesh, and plates that come out less clean than they used to all fit a loaded filter. Those are the signs Whirlpool Product Help lists for filter care, so none of them needs a part to be failing. They need the filter out and rinsed.

Cloudy white deposits on the mesh can be mineral buildup from hard water rather than food. A soft brush handles that. A wire brush or scouring pad does not belong anywhere near the screen, because it tears the fine mesh that is supposed to hold grit back.

Where the gunk actually lives

Most Whirlpool tubs use a fine mesh cylinder plus a coarse screen. Food wraps the mesh; glass and seeds sit in the sump below. Rinse the mesh under the tap from the outside so debris does not embed deeper. A soft brush is enough. Skip steel wool.

Does a Whirlpool dishwasher have one filter or two?

On many Whirlpool models the tub uses a triple-filter arrangement: an upper filter assembly plus a lower filter. In the guidance for one such design, the upper assembly turns a quarter turn to release and lifts out, and the lower filter lifts slightly and pulls forward. Turn direction and part shapes differ between models, so follow the diagram in the use-and-care manual for your own dishwasher instead of a video of a different one.

Rinse every piece you removed, front and back, and look into the opening it leaves. Anything that fell past the mesh, such as a seed, a label, or a glass chip, can be lifted out by hand once the water has been bailed out.

How do you put the dishwasher filter back correctly?

The filter usually twists to lock. If it spins freely after you think you seated it, it is not locked. Run a short cycle and listen: a rattle from the floor of the tub can mean the assembly is loose. Product Help puts it plainly: the upper assembly is locked only if it does not turn freely.

Never run a cycle with the filters left out or sitting loose. Without them, food and glass fragments have an open path to the drain pump.

Habits that keep it from packing

Scrape plates before loading instead of rinsing them clean; the filter exists to catch what the spray arms wash off, but a plate loaded with scraps puts the whole burden on it at once. Use dishwasher detergent only. Dish soap creates suds, and Whirlpool notes that suds can push water out of the tub and leave residue that clings to everything, the filter included.

A routine matters more than a perfect technique. Tying the rinse to a chore you already do, like taking out the trash, keeps the pump from working against a half-blocked screen, and the job itself is quick. If you replace a part under the sink or move the dishwasher, recheck the filter seating afterward too, because vibration and handling can leave it sitting crooked.

What will cleaning the filter not fix?

A crushed drain hose, a disposer knockout that was never removed, or a dead drain pump will still leave a puddle. Cleaning the filter is maintenance, not a pump replacement. If water returns immediately with a clean filter, stop running loads.

Which dishwasher symptoms point to the filter?

Gritty glasses, a stale smell, and visible soil on the mesh point to a loaded filter. Standing water that returns after cleaning points somewhere else.

Common questions

How often should I clean the dishwasher filter?

Whirlpool gives different intervals on different pages, and heavy use or hard water shortens them. The use-and-care manual for your model has the schedule that applies, and gritty dishes mean it is already overdue.

Is it fine to skip the filter just for one load?

No. Product Help says never to run the dishwasher without the filters properly installed, since the filter is what keeps debris away from the pump.

Should I use a wire brush on the filter?

No. A soft brush is the documented tool, and wire brushes or scouring pads can damage the mesh.

Why does the dishwasher still smell after the filter is clean?

Soil can also sit in the sump or along the drain path, such as the hose and the disposer connection. If the smell comes back with standing water, the cause is further along than the filter.