Chia in my dishwasher...

February 18, 2024 7:46 AM

My dishwasher isn't draining fully. Now thanks to a previous askMe I know how to force it to drain, but I wanted to also fix the problem and went poking around in the filter. i think it's clogged with chia seed gel. I put chia seeds in my son's yogurt. sometimes it doesn't all get eaten and the bowl or thermos go in the dishwasher, so now I have a problem. How do I dissolve chia seed gel in my dishwasher filter/drain/tubes etc.?
posted by If only I had a penguin... to Home & Garden (16 answers total)

I would run a capful of bleach in an empty rinse cycle and see if it dissolves.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:57 AM on February 18

Best answer: Run a load, then pour in very hot tap water and drain it. See it it's draining better.
posted by theora55 at 7:58 AM on February 18

Response by poster: I should have said I already tried pouring in boiling water and draining to no real effect. I'm hoping there's some magic ingredient that un-gels chia seeds, like kiwi prevents jello from setting. Huh...kiwi juice?...nope...lots of recipes with kiwi and chia suggest they're fully compatible.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:50 AM on February 18

Best answer: It sounds like the filter may have been doing its job, tbh.

There are dishwasher cleaning solutions that you can use that will help ungunk the pipes (run an empty load).

I assume you've looked at the air gap and cleaned that out (pro-tip: Don't do that while the dishwasher is running. It's dramatic).
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 8:57 AM on February 18 [2 favorites]

I've learned how to force my dishwasher to drain (info I don't actually see in the OP's previously) by starting another wash (or even rinse-only) cycle - I observed how these all begin with the pump draining the DW. Once the sound changes I stop the machine by opening the door. Since the power switch on the front doesn't really turn everything off, shutting the door again just resumes that cycle (although it does seem to reset if the door's left open for something like 24 hours). Therefore, since I can't get at where the DW's plugged in, I've learned I must perform a hard reset for its circuit at the breaker box.

I'd heard it was actually okay, people say they're not supposed to drain completely but what does that mean? IMO it should drain completely; if I only use it once a week things get unpleasantly (and IMO unhealthily) fetid in there, given a centimeter of standing water in the bottom, especially with some actually-dirty dishes involved (which is not my way, don't care what they say, I'm a rinser-first).

According to my plumber my dishwasher probably isn't draining adequately because the outlet hose is too long. Instead of being right next to the sink, they're positioned at right angles, making a corner. He wants to install an additional valve on that outlet hose but we haven't gotten around to that yet. He says they make DWs now with little mini-disposers at the filter but sounds to me like the chia seeds are a red herring, here.
posted by Rash at 10:06 AM on February 18

Response by poster: I've learned how to force my dishwasher to drain (info I don't actually see in the OP's previously)

Right, so the post only says how to get it into maintenance mode. You do that by pressing the down arrow and the heated dry button for three seconds. Note: In my experience press the down arrow a split second before the heated dry button because holding down the heated-dry button alone will turn on the lock-controls. Once it's in maintenance mode, different buttons do different things (turn on the heat, turn on the spray, run the pump etc. etc.) so to turn on the drain pump I press the up arrow. Obviously all this is specific to my own model.

My dishwasher does have the little disposal in the filter. Also, it used drain fully before, and the timing does seem to coincide with an unusually chia-filled thermos, and the filter WAS full of chia gel, so I don' think it's a case of "they just don't do that" or my hose length or anything.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:23 AM on February 18

Can you not remove the filter altogether and clean it out manually?
posted by cooker girl at 11:24 AM on February 18 [7 favorites]

I wouldn't recommend Drano and the like bc they can make these kinds of problems worse. But an enzyme-based cleaner couldn't hurt and may help.
posted by SaltySalticid at 12:12 PM on February 18 [1 favorite]

Lemishine dishwasher cleaner does it for me, as well as cleaning the filter every few weeks with a toothbrush. I think you must be right about the Chia. I never had a problem until I started putting chia in my smoothies.
posted by miscbuff at 12:53 PM on February 18 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Remove the filter and clean it and the filter housing out as well as you can, then replace it and run a couple loads on the heaviest setting with normal detergent, but nothing in the dishwasher. Dishwasher detergent is probably the best thing you have to dissolve chia gel and will work best with as hot water as possible (which you get on the heavy setting).
posted by ssg at 12:55 PM on February 18 [1 favorite]

You may also want to try switching detergents, as cheaper detergents or those marketed as environmental may be significantly less effective.
posted by ssg at 12:56 PM on February 18 [1 favorite]

A little Googling (including Googles new AI assistance) sez to try baking soda and vinegar. Empty the DW, then poor an equal mixture into the drain basket, then poor in hot water and drain again.
posted by beagle at 12:57 PM on February 18

Last resort, wet or dry shop vac application to the drain holes and filters.
posted by hortense at 5:06 PM on February 18

Best answer: I just saw this article, maybe it will be of some use.
posted by theora55 at 7:35 PM on February 18

Response by poster: So after a few cycles of dishwashing where I had to manually run the drain pump at the end to clear everything out, it seems to have resolved itself. Incidentally, I did order a think of dishwasher cleaner and I was looking it over and it seems the primary ingredient is citric acid. I rinsed today's chia yogurt in the sink before putting it in the dishwasher. I know how to unclog the sink.

Oh, and I found videos of pulling out dishwasher filters and cleaning...I don't think mine does that. I think it just has a little cover which you can lift up and then clean the basin but you can't pull out the basin that I can figure. Anyway, I had already manually cleaned out the basin before posting.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:10 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]

I did order a think of dishwasher cleaner and I was looking it over and it seems the primary ingredient is citric acid.

Yes, it's pretty much citric acid. You can just order yourself a big bag of bulk citric acid and use it to clean your dishwasher, washing machine, coffee machine, etc.
posted by ssg at 8:11 AM on February 20 [1 favorite]