The dishwasher wasn't rinsing properly. I found a bottle of what I thought said "dishwasher cleaner" under the sink, so I put that in the dishwasher, on a hot cycle. Well, I am partially sighted and turns out I misread the bottle. It was actually washing machine cleaner. After several cycles I managed to get rid of the suds, but not the smell. The dishwasher smells terribly of laundry detergent. And it's strongly clinging to the glasses and dishes, making them unusable. I tried putting vinegar in, but it didn't get rid of the smell. I am worried about my landlady's reaction when she finds out. She is already at the end of her tether with me because I am several months behind on the rent. She has spoken before about evicting me due to the money - I'm worried this might be the final straw. what can I do to get rid of the smell?
EDIT: Thanks so much for all the suggestions. After wiping out the filter and multiple cycles, the smell seems to be gone!
Firstly I doubt it’ll do any long term damage it’s just annoying while it sticks around. I would suggest that you want to rinse with a couple of water cycles with nothing in (definitely no dishwasher soap) then you could use a cup or more of white vinegar, and wash it as hot and long as possible - if the dishwasher has an extra hot cycle and an extra rinse cycle program use them. The vinegar is a mild acid and should help strip the detergent without being caustic enough to do damage. The hot water should help too. Otherwise dishwasher cleaner is a thing you can buy but I’ve never used it so I dunno if it’s any good, at the very least though it should replace the smell with something more dishwasher appropriate.
Before you do it, I’d recommend taking the filter out and immersing it in very hot water in your washing up bowl and scrubbing it clean. May help remove any detergent there especially if it’s in any food waste that’s there too.
I took the filter out and scrubbed it as you suggested. It was pretty clean already, it didn't seem to have any food on it, just a few bits of what looked like lint, weird for a dishwasher.