If you own a dishwasher, you may or may not be aware that the appliance comes with a filter that traps food particles from going down the drain. For those who have been existing in the blissfully ignorant camp, however, a professional cleaner on TikTok posted a cautionary tale that is decidedly not for the faint of heart.
Kate Croukamp and her husband Jack run a cleaning service on the Gold Coast of Australia called Mates Rates, which specializes in end-of-lease bond cleaning once a tenant has vacated the property. As one can probably imagine, the duo have seen rental homes in pretty gnarly condition, which they document on their TikTok account, Clean Like a Pro, which boosts over 80,000 followers.
After cleaning a client's dishwasher in a new post this week, Croukamp urged viewers: "Run, don’t walk to go clean your dishwasher!"
"I've been a professional cleaner for 15 years and I've seen some pretty interesting things, especially in dishwashers," she says, narrating the clip. "But I've never seen anything quite as funky as this."
"This genuinely looked like oysters growing in the dishwasher," Croukamp continued. "Oysters mixed with perhaps some kind of mushroom? The smell was very interesting as well ... an odor I have never come across before."
@cleanlikeapro Run, don’t walk to go clean your dishwasher! #dishwashercleaning #cleanlikeapro #cleaningtransformation #cleaningtips #cleantokaustralia
♬ original sound - Clean Like a Pro
After double-gloving—because clearly, this job called for more than one pair of gloves—she got to work, digging up the rest of the "oysters and mushrooms" from the filter cavity. She also ran her fingers along the ledge at the front of the dishwasher to get the rest of the gunk off. In the end, the result was sparkling and clean.
"People love to watch shocking, filthy things when it comes to cleaning," Croukamp told News.au. "This filter is up there. Visually, it was a lot, add in the smell as well and, it was pretty bad."
People may love to watch disgusting things, but probably less so dealing with it themselves. So let this be a lesson, because the smell likely only gets worse the longer you put it off.
