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i run it with vinegar- it works

"our dirty dishes sit in the dishwasher for several days"

That's gross!

Hand wash your dishes if you aren't going to run the dishwasher for a few days.

Our dishes also sit in the dishwasher for a couple days and I have never had this problem. Have you checked to see if there is a food trap or filter that needs to be cleaned out?

I don't really think its gross to let dishes sit in the washer for a few days if you are rinsing/scraping the food off of them. It saves energy/water and running the washer half full. I imagine the smell is caused by a build up of food particles in the dishwasher itself...normal after time. Some suggestions:

1. Clean the washer by hand really well
2. Run the washer with white vinegar (fyi-you can also put white vinegar in the rinsing agent/"jet-dry" compartment on a regular basis and not but jet-dry altogether)
3. Make sure your dishes are sufficiently scraped and lightly rinsed before you let them sit
4. look into the drainage area and see if there is any buildup and try to clean it out.

Do you have an air gap? Some plumbing codes don't require one and instead allow a "high loop," which means taking the dishwasher drain hose and attaching it as high inside the cabinet as possible, then letting it fall back down again to the sink drain in order to keep the drain water from running back into the dishwasher. If you have one of these arrangements, check to see that the hose is attached high enough, then goes back down to the drain inside the sink cabinet. Often the waste water getting back into the line can be the source of the smell.

You might consider running the dishwasher more frequently rather than handwashing. Several 'studies' have shown it's more environmentally friendly to do so because it saves water.

One of the reasons I installed the same dishwasher as above (F & P dishdrawer) is because it is smaller.

There are two of us so there are typically not a lot of dishes and it is easy to run a few dishes on "fast" and "eco".

The odor comes from having the dirty dishes enclosed in an airtight space. You could leave the door cracked open when it has dirty dishes inside, to keep the odors from building up, or you could keep the dishes in the sink until you're ready to run a load.

Sounds like you do have a dishwasher problem. I too only run my dishwasher when it is finally full -- about once a week but have never had a smell coming from inside. I agree with Nimah that it could be that the trap needs to be cleaned -- other than that it could be a real plumbing issue where the sink is washing back into your dishwasher.

There's a dishwasher cleaning product (I forget the name) that's basically citric acid. I've used it and it did a great job with odors and discoloration.

BTW, rinsing and handwashing probably use more water than just running 1 full load of dishes. So, perhaps consider skipping the handwashing (unless it's super delicate) and running the dishwasher every day.

Alternatively, some dishwashers have a "rinse" cycle. Mine has one, and it only uses 1 gallon of water. I use it when I know I won't do a load for a few days. You could see if yours has this feature, and run it at the end of the night between loads. It will use less water than rinsing with the faucet (2.5 gal/minute).

I have the same problem with a brand spanking new Bosch DW. I've pretty much concluded it is the dirty water that sits in the drain below the DW. Not sure what to do about it though....I'm going to keep checking back at the comments for suggestions.

We run our dishwasher 2x/week max since there are only 2 of us filling a full-sized dishwasher. I noticed that in order to keep things from getting smelly, we have to:

1. leave the dishwasher cracked open at all times.
There's water in the trap that doesn't drain out all the way, and that'll start getting musty if we keep the dishwasher shut.

2. scrape all food off plates.
I also do this b/c it's easier than cleaning the trap later on.

3. clean the food trap 2x/month.
Our dishwasher is European style, which means that it's not meant to process food chunks. There's a food trap that I have to clean.

4. run a packet of lemonade (basically any drink mix with a high citric acid content) in an empty dishwasher 1x/month.
I've found that the Hi-C lemonade works better than Tang.

FWIW, we don't rinse our dishes anymore either. As long as you have a decent dishwasher & run on an appropriate setting, scraped clean dishes get just as clean as rinsed dishes. Our Miele does fine, and your F&P should do fine too. It's a hard habit to break, but remind yourself that you're saving water in the long run!

My dishwasher doesn't get the dishes clean enough (yes, I tried rinsing first), so I hand-wash them, use the dishwasher as a big drying rack, and (at my landlord's request) run it once a month to ensure the hookup still works. I use undiluted white vinegar instead of dish soap, and it always smells fresh afterward.

It's not a dishwasher problem, it's a scientific and logistical problem.

Letting "rinsed" dirty dishes sit in a dark, sealed, wet, warm environment - ideal for bacterial and fungal/mold growth - just isn't smart.

1) When you finally DO run it, I hope you use the hottest, longest "sanitizing" setting. If not, you're just whirling around all the foodborne bacteria right back onto your dishes. That's disgusting, and dangerous.

2) That "sanitizing" setting takes a lot of hot water and energy to run. And it's hard on your dishes.

I am one half of a childfree married couple too, with small dishwasher. If we can fill 1/2 of it we run a short cycle. If we didn't dirty up enough dishes to fill 1/2, we wash by hand. Sometimes, if it's not quite 1/2 full, I'll find other items to throw in there to justify it, like the pet bowls, trivets, glass light fixtures, tools, costume jewelery, drawers/shelves from the fridge, stove grates, whatever. I can always find something. I would NEVER EVER LEAVE warm, wet dishes with FOOD sticking to them SIT for a "few days."

(I'm a public health nurse and my hubby's a chef with a Foodborne Illness Safety certification. We know a tiny bit about this stuff, and I really hope you'll do things differently, just so you won't get sick. PLUS this solves your stink problem).

Whoa. There are a lot of "leaving dishes in the dishwasher is gross" people out there.

I for one, leave my dishes in the dishwasher, and incidentally have the same problem. I think its bigger than just letting stuff sit in there though, becuase even after i run a load and empty it, the dishwasher will start to smell a little after a day or two with the door closed, even with no dishes in it.

I've tried not just running the washer with vinegar but POURING it onto the bottom and letting it sit for half an hour, but it didn't really do anything. I figure if pure vinegar didnt' kill whatever's in there, lemonade's not gonna do much (at least in my case). :(

Guess i'll have to try to fish around in there and see if something gross is living in there. :( :( :(

Vinegar and baking soda is a great solution for almost anything and helped with my old dishwasher. When I got a new dishwasher that was energy efficient and also grinded up food bits, I have never had a problem again. (I don't leave the dishes for days, but when I am gone on a trip, I can't say what my husband does...)

F&P Dishdrawers are really easy to clean thoroughly. Just keep disassembling inside until you can take out nothing else. Racks -> Sprayer Blade -> Metal Grate with Plastic Insert (turn ring around center impeller) -> Impeller. Wash all the parts in soapy water, rinse out the plastic tub inside, and you should be good to go. To drain the standing water, you will have to run through the first few minutes of a cycle with the impeller installed.

If your dishwasher is hooked up to your sink and you also have a garbage disposal, that might be your smell problem. I know that if my garbage disposal hasn't been cleaned (with either chunks of lemon or chunks of ice) that my dishwasher smells. If you don't have a garbage disposal, stick to the vinegar wash for your dishwasher. It's the perfect solution!!

Our dishes also sit in the dishwasher for a couple days and usually it smells because we keep it closed. For us it's just a reminder to run it once it gets full.

I run it at LEAST once a day and my smells funky on occasion so I pour a lot of vinegar into the bottom wait a few minutes and run it.

I have my dishes sitting a couple of days. My dishwasher do not smell because I rinse before putting my dishes in and my dishwasher interior is stainless steel. The "plastic" interior is not as hygienic and will smell eventually.

It sounds to me like the people with the odor problems have plumbing issues. Maybe the trap was not installed properly or as someone else mentioned the garbage disposal is installed improperly. I leave rinsed dishes in the dishwasher for 1 to 3 days and don't have an issue (unless I made fish or something stinky). Also I keep the door shut.

Don't close the door!!!
The same for your garbagecans.
Leave it a little bit open.
If you close them, the temperature will go up and stink.
If it smells I suggest to run a really hot program and leave it open after.

The solution is easy: don't use the dishwasher if you are only a household of 2 or 3. It is a major waste of energy, and you have to do half the job anyway rinsing out the dishes before putting them in. I cook a full meal every night for two and wash plates, saucepans, dutch oven, salad bowls after each meal. It takes 10 minutes. And the bonus: I use my dishwasher as additional storage space for my tupperware and plastic containers, pan lids, cutting boards and baking sheets. It's amazing what you can fit in a dishwasher!

I'm a big fan of vinegar. I tried using white vinegar in my dishwasher, but when the drying started, I just couldn't stand all that vinegar smell in my kitchen...

If you've just scraped the dishes and have a plastic interior, the smell may be in the plastic lining by now! Try making a paste of lemon juice and baking soda and coating the plastic inside the DW. Leave overnight, then run a hot cycle with an empty DW and a bit of bleach in the soap dispensers. This should kill off the odor.

From then on, don't just scrape your dishes. Fill a glass or bowl with hot water, add a squirt of vinegar, dish soap, whatever floats your boat and WIPE your dishes quickly as you load. The sponge will get gross; your dishwasher will not. Need to be more organic than disposable sponges? Use a washable cloth! It worked on the stinky dishwasher in our recently purchased forclosure.

Vinegar works best. I tried it first with baking soda but must have used to much in the mixture because it left a white reside on the dishwashers appliance parts which I then had to clean off.

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