my dishwasher smells bad--what to do?

Try lemonaid flavor Koolaid

Try using one of those dishwasher detergents with enzymes.

Slice of lemon placed on to dishwasher every time u use it.Every month rise dishwasher with salt and cleaner should smell nice:)

Some dishwashers have a filter that should be removed and cleaned every six months or so. Assuming you don't have an owner's manual, let Google be your friend and do some research on your particular model.

White vinegar as already suggested or emptying a box of baking soda and running it through might help. Also, have you made sure that there isn't some food in the trap at the bottom? Do you live in a house or an apartment? If in a house, the smell might be coming from your sewer line. Try pouring some bleach into the trap and that might help.

One of my sons used to live in an apartment that came with a smelly dishwasher. It was due to the discharge drain not emptying completely, and it was a faintly mold-type of odor. He tried my go-to ingredient for getting rid of odd smells, which is vinegar, which didn't work at all. So he put a bowl of bleach on the bottom rack and ran it through three cycles, which worked temporarily, and he ended up calling maintenance because he swore the odor was permeating every piece of fabric he owned, including the seats of his car. (This from the son who, when he lived at home, never noticed how smelly his socks were.)

I put half a fresh lemon in with all the dirty dishes...smells great and sparkles too...;o)