As I put a dish into the dishwasher I thought to myself, “🤔 I haven’t cleaned the filter in a while.” So I took it out and gave it a real good blast with piping hot water from the kitchen sink. I even scraped some of the gunk off with a dish brush to the point where I couldn’t find a single mote of gunk upon careful examination.
Then I proceeded to refill the rinse aid (even though it wasn’t empty) and–as usual–spilled that stuff all over the interior door in the process. Is it even possible to not spill the rinse aid when refilling it? 🤔
My journey didn’t end there, however! I then proceeded to walk the entirety of my home searching for cups and plates that may have been left behind by my children, found several, and it was enough that it nearly filled the dishwasher racks; bottom and top.
The dishwasher has been started; the wait begins.
One of your bullet items is (slightly) wrong: If your dishwasher was designed to use pods then you should use pods. That’s what the engineers engineered the thing to use and yes, it makes a difference.
Also, another tip: Manually spin the arms before starting the dishwasher. It’ll immediately reveal if anything will block the arm from spinning 👍