I recently bought my first home. WooHoo!!
Along with this lovely abode comes a nasty, grimy, somewhat moldy dishwasher. Apparently the former owners used powered soap because that is plastered all over the inside. So far, we’ve tried a steamer, Mr Clean and really hot water, Tilex mildew remover, and running it on hot. All to no avail.
Any suggestions on how to salvage this thing?
It might be mineral deposits, either from local hard water or from largely insoluble ingredients in the dishwashing detergent the previous owners used. Try some sort of lime and scale remover, like CLR.
I use this stuff called Dishwasher Magic. You just uncap it, plop it upside-down in the silverware basket, and run the dishwasher (with no dishes in it, of course). It seems to take all the gunk out of mine.