I consider myself lucky, as I have a (rare and coveted) full-size dishwasher in my New York City apartment. And while my building is relatively new, I’m not the first tenant to live in this apartment, which means I have no idea what the dishwasher upkeep was like before I arrived. (And yes, you need to clean your dishwasher!).
After four years of living here, the inside of my dishwasher has definitely looked — and smelled — better. So when I saw this cleaning hack of people putting orange peels in their dishwashers making the rounds on the internet, I had to put it to the test.
The idea behind using orange peels as a cleaning agent is that their oils act as a natural deodorizer and degreaser, neutralizing odors in the dishwasher and your drain line while breaking down soap scum and limescale at the same time. I wouldn’t say that my dishwasher smells totally rank, but I definitely think it’s in need of a refresh. So I had to put it to the test!
What Happened When I Put Orange Peels in My Dishwasher
I tend to be a skeptic when it comes to kitchen “hacks,” but I’ll (almost) never turn my nose up at a natural, cost-effective solution to a common annoyance. So I bought two massive Cara Cara oranges, peeled them, and loaded the peels into my dishwasher’s utensil compartments. Then I ran a cycle, and kicked back and tended to my other household chores while the orange peels did their thing.
When the cycle was complete, I gave it a few minutes to cool down before popping my dishwasher open. After a little while, I opened it up and was instantly hit with the bright, fresh smell of citrus. I removed the orange peels, then knelt down to get a closer look. Was my dishwasher any cleaner? Maybe a little bit. But did it smell better? Most definitely.
I’m guessing that because my dishwasher wasn’t visibly dirty to begin with, any impact the orange peels had as far as cleanliness might not be super visible either, so it may be more effective than I realize. However, it smells so much nicer, and it’s made my kitchen smell nicer overall, too. I was surprised that the orange peels were still completely intact and there wasn’t any residue or pulp anywhere in the dishwasher. The peels I had on hand were thicker, so I wonder if there’d be a different result with other peels, like clementines or navel oranges.
Now that I’ve given this viral trick a try, I can’t say that I would do it in lieu of using a proper degreaser or dishwasher cleaning tablet. But if my dishwasher was especially stinky, if I were having guests over, or just wanted to give my space a quick and easy refresh, I’d definitely do it again. What else am I going to do with orange peels?
Give it a try for yourself — especially if it’s been a while since you cleaned your dishwasher (no judgment here!) — and see what this internet-favorite technique does for your own dishwasher. At the bare minimum, your kitchen will smell amazing!