7 Best Dishwasher Cleaners for a Cleaner, Better-Performing Machine
Prevent odors and keep your dishes spotless with one cycle.
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Even if you use the best dishwasher detergent, your dishes won't come out sparkling if your dishwasher is dirty. Grease, food residue, and hard-water minerals can build up inside the machine over time, leading to cloudy glasses, unpleasant odors, and lackluster cleaning performance.
Our top picks:
- Best overall: Cascade Dishwasher Cleaner
- Best value: Glisten Dishwasher Cleaner
- Best scent: Lemi Shine Dishwasher Cleaner
In the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care & Cleaning Lab, we recommend giving your dishwasher a deep clean about once a month. These hardworking cleaners make it easy to remove buildup, freshen up the interior, and help your machine perform its best.
Best Deal
Pros
- Easy to use
- Effective on all kinds of residue
Cons
- Some users find the scent unpleasant
This Good Housekeeping Seal holder comes in a convenient single-dose packet for an easy monthly refresh. Just pop it into your dishwasher’s dispenser, run an empty high-temperature cycle, and the formula goes to work on limescale, grease buildup, and odors.
In our Cleaning Lab evaluations, it effectively removed stubborn odors, mineral deposits, limescale, and grease. That’s important because buildup doesn’t always show up where you can see it—it can hide in the spray arms, tub, and other hard-to-reach parts of your machine. While the cleaner itself is unscented, some testers said they found its natural scent unpleasant.
| Size | 1 pack |
| Scent | Unscented |
Pros
- Disinfects
- EPA Safer Choice Certified
Cons
- Mixed opinions on the lemon scent
Glisten Dishwasher Magic Machine Cleaner is EPA Safer Choice Certified, a designation that helps shoppers identify products made with ingredients considered safer for people and the environment, and does more than remove buildup. It also kills certain strains of E. coli and Salmonella while tackling limescale and rust, helping keep your dishwasher fresh.
It helps eliminate odors and leaves behind a fresh lemon scent, although users have mixed opinions about the fragrance. To use, remove the cap to expose the wax plug, place the bottle upside down in the silverware basket, and run your dishwasher’s hottest, longest cycle.
| Size | 12 oz. |
| Scent | Lemon |
Pros
- Convenient and quick
- Lemon scent
Cons
- May leave a slight residue behind
Need a fast fix? This EPA-registered product cleans your dishwasher while your machine runs a normal load. Simply place a tablet on the floor of the dishwasher, add detergent to the dispenser, and run a cycle as usual.
In our Cleaning Lab tests, these tablets helped remove limescale and mineral deposits from hard water while leaving dishes clean and the machine with a fresh lemon scent. The single-use tablets also eliminate the need to measure out a liquid or powder cleaner, though they may leave a slight residue behind.
| Size | 6 tablets |
| Scent | Lemon |
Pros
- Easy to use
- Targets buildup and odors in hard-to-reach spots
Cons
- Single-use bottle
Finish Dishwasher Cleaner Liquid breaks down hidden grease, hard-water buildup, and limescale inside your machine, targeting hard-to-reach areas like the spray arms, filter, and pipes. It also helps neutralize lingering odors, keeping your dishwasher fresh between uses.
This liquid is convenient to use. Simply peel off the top sticker, place the bottle upside down in the bottom rack of an empty dishwasher, and run a hot cycle. The downside: each bottle is single-use, so you’ll need a new one for every cleaning.
| Size | 8.45 oz. |
| Scent | Unscented |
Pros
- Lemon scent
- Great for hard water
- Easy to use
Cons
- Single-use
Lemi Shine is a favorite eco-friendly cleaning brand in our Cleaning Lab. The brand’s Garbage Disposal Cleaner even won a Good Housekeeping Cleaning & Organizing Award. This single-use dishwasher cleaner uses citric extracts, a natural acid that helps break down mineral deposits and hard-water buildup that can affect machine performance.
To use, pour one pouch of crystals into the bottom of an empty dishwasher (use two pouches for heavier grime), then run a normal cycle. The formula leaves behind a fresh lemon scent, though the single-use pouches mean you’ll need a new one for each cleaning.
| Size | 1 tablet |
| Scent | Lemon |
Pros
- Convenient and versatile
- Inexpensive
Cons
- Not as concentrated as dedicated cleaners
If you don’t want to buy a dedicated dishwasher cleaner, a simple DIY option is to use white vinegar. Place a glass container filled with one cup of vinegar on the top rack of an empty dishwasher, then run a normal cycle without detergent or heated dry. As the water circulates, the vinegar helps loosen residue and buildup. For an extra refresh, sprinkle one cup of baking soda into the bottom of the dishwasher afterward and run a second cycle.
While this DIY method is budget-friendly and can help freshen your dishwasher and loosen light residue, it may not be as effective as a dedicated cleaner for tackling stubborn mineral deposits, grease, or buildup in hard-to-reach parts.
| Size | 16 oz. |
| Scent | N/A |
Pros
- Versatile
- EPA Safer Choice
Cons
- Requires two cycles
This EPA Safer Choice Certified cleaner tackles stains, rust, calcium, and limescale deposits throughout the home. Its plant-based ingredients make it a versatile pick for jobs like removing buildup from showerheads, scrubbing bathtubs, cleaning glass, and refreshing the interior of your dishwasher.
To use CLR in your dishwasher, pour a half cup into the bottom of an empty machine and run two normal cycles. The cleaner helps remove mineral buildup and leaves your dishwasher smelling fresh. Just keep in mind that the two-cycle process takes a bit longer than some other dishwasher cleaners.
| Size | 28 oz. |
| Scent | Clean fresh |
How we chose the best dishwasher cleaners
To identify the best dishwasher cleaners, we combined feedback from home testers with evaluations from experts in the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care & Cleaning Lab.
Because there isn't a standardized Good Housekeeping Institute Lab test for dishwasher cleaners, home testers used each product in their own dishwashers and evaluated how well it reduced buildup and eliminated odors during real-world use.
In the Lab, our experts evaluated each product's ingredients, claims, directions, packaging, safety information, and overall ease of use.
Finally, we weighed home tester feedback alongside our Lab evaluations to identify products that deliver strong performance at a reasonable price.
What to look for when shopping for dishwasher cleaners
✔️ Form: Dishwasher cleaners are available as tablets, pods, powders, liquids, and single-use pouches. Cleaning performance is generally similar across formats, so the best choice often comes down to personal preference. Tablets and pods are convenient because there's no measuring involved; powders and liquids can offer more flexibility if you want to adjust the amount you use.
✔️ Cleaning focus: Not all dishwasher cleaners tackle the same types of buildup. Some are formulated primarily to remove grease, food residue, and odors, while others are designed to break down stubborn mineral deposits, limescale, and hard-water buildup. If you have hard water, look for a formula that specifically targets mineral deposits.
✔️ Compatibility: Most dishwasher cleaners work with standard dishwashers, but it's always a good idea to check the manufacturer's directions before using one. Some products are intended for use only in an empty machine or recommend a specific cycle for the best results.
✔️ Certifications and preferences: If sustainability or fragrance is important to you, check the label before you buy. Some dishwasher cleaners are EPA Safer Choice Certified, meaning their ingredients have been reviewed for human health and environmental considerations. Others are available in fragrance-free formulas for those who prefer little to no scent.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Carolyn Forté, the former executive director of the Good Housekeeping Home Care & Cleaning Lab, spent more than 40 years testing hundreds of cleaning appliances and products, including dishwasher cleaners, dishwashers, washing machines, all-purpose cleaners, and more.
Brigitt Earley, a contributing writer with more than 15 years of experience testing consumer products, most recently updated this guide to include more information about each product.
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