Dishwasher really holds smells from soiled foods. Can I put bleach in the dispenser periodically?

There is a sump in bottom that collects food that is too big to fit in the pump or the drain. You need to clean that. Then you can run one cup of vinegar or bleach in the unit with no dishes.

try running the dish washer on the heated cycle and use a quality wash detergent not ordinary washing up liquid

it's generally not a good idea to put really greasy items in a dishwasher along with relatively clean items such as glassware and plates and cutlery, as most recent good quality dishwashers come with a soil sensor that ends the wash cycle once the dishes appear clean, and all the grease from your frying pan will cause the soil sensor to take longer to detect clean water.

There are a few ways that people use to clean a smelly dishwasher .. First check the strainer at the bottom of the dishwasher for any food residue .. remove that before treating the washer .. then you can do some or one or all of these to see what works for you
If the strainer is messy, pour a good layer of baking soda in the strainer , then pour in some vinegar, it will foam and clean the strainer .. periodically adding vinegar until the foaming stops.
Put a cup or two of vinegar in the washer and run an empty cycle , use it on hot water cycle.
Put in some bleach and run an empty cycle
Put some lemonaide mix in the washer and run it ..

Good luck

Please Vote !

no use tang! a tabel sppon of tang in the dispenser close it then start the dw

Three things, dryer coil, food stuck inside.

Most washers have a one way valve on the drain and a water trap
created with the line, so no water or smell can go into the machine.

Check the valve, remove the hose,that should be under the sink,
wrap a cloth around it and blow,it should not be able to blow into it.
Then make sure the hose at some point go higher then where it
connects to the drain.

Fill a bucket and fill the washer until you see a little in the bottom of the machine, watch it for a few minutes to see if it drains, it
shouldn't, dump in a bottle of white vinegar and run the machine, make sure dry is off. Then run it again, do not add anything.

I would check the bottom of the dishwasher to see if there are any bones, old food built up as some of these collection systems have a small disposer built into them.
If you find any food, it's probably that.
Also, you can make sure that the drain line is the proper length and high enough as this is a common problem. Do a good search on proper drain height for dishwasher.
You may run an empty load of dishes with a cup of bleach added to eliminate the odor as well. Bleach will kill any bacteria causing the smell. More than likely the drain hose wasn't installed correctly.

You probably have rotting food scraps in the food trap. Take the bottom arm off, remove the filter, and clean. You can also add some bleach to the bottom of the tank and run the dishwasher empty to sanitize the inside. Run a second empty load to rinse. This should help rid the dishwasher of the nasty smell.

food particles stuck in inside base or drain system inspect with flashlight-once you find source use bleach to kill smell!!!good luck in future rinse off all food before putting dishes in washer!!!!

clean out the food traps in the bottom, assuming the unit has some sort of filter.
then run a cup of bleach in the unit with no dishes. you might need to do this once or twice.
make sure you use fresh bleach.
most bleach dies in strength after only 2 weeks. it will still smell like bleach to some degree, but it will have little effect. most bleach manufacturers add 'scents' to the bleach to hide the degradation characteristics of bleach.
also, you may have a partially blocked air gap.
to determine this, check for water remaining in the bottom of the tub after it drains. left over water will contribute to odor, and negate any sterilization you dishwasher might otherwise try to do.
good luck
mark