Tools Needed to Unclog the Drain in a Kenmore Dishwasher

Perhaps the most common and preventable dishwasher clogs are those caused by food debris. Large pieces of food can wash off your dishes and stick to the basket of your Kenmore dishwasher, which filters to the drain, leaving standing water. To avoid clogs from food debris, scrape food off dishes before loading the dishwasher. Kenmore dishwashers are built like most standard dishwashers, including a basket filter and a drain out to your sink/garbage disposal, both of which can become clogged from food debris, broken glass or fragments of dishes, hard-water buildup and more.

Rubber gloves
Screwdriver
Powdered dishwasher detergent
Bowl
Sponge
Liquid drain clog remover

Instructions

- 1
  Put on rubber gloves. Open the dishwasher and sift through the standing water to remove any food, glass, utensils or dishes that may be clogging the drain.
- 2
  Unscrew the basket covering the drain and remove further debris that may have gone through the filter but built up and clogged the drain. This is most common when there is a large amount of tiny debris.
- 3
  Pour powdered dishwasher detergent in a bowl with a small amount of water to create a paste. Dip a sponge in the paste and wipe down the interior of the dishwasher to remove hard-water buildup. Hard-water buildup can clog the drain.
- 4
  Run a normal cycle with detergent after wiping down the interior with the detergent paste used in Step 3.
- 5
  Pour liquid drain clog remover down your garbage disposal if the dishwasher is still not draining properly. This usually clears out the drain line that connects the sink/garbage disposal to the dishwasher.

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