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Dishwasher crud!

(41 Posts)
lizzypopbottle Fri 01-Feb-19 16:32:04

Has anyone found the answer to the problem that my daughter charmingly calls 'dishwasher vom'? It's a crusty mineral deposit all over the inside and outside of the cups and glasses on the top shelf after the cycle has finished. I've kept on top of the salt and rinse aid, use a good quality detergent, I've cleaned the trap and the rotating arms and use a dishwasher cleaner on hot once a month. Our water isn't particularly hard and the machine is only about eighteen months old. What more can I do? It's so annoying. ?

kittylester Sun 03-Feb-19 17:45:23

It is not cheaper to wash by hand and is much worse ecologically.

My kitchen sink faces an internal wall as I don't stand at it for hours washing up. We have a window seat for looking at the garden while the dishwasher does the work.

annep1 Sun 03-Feb-19 17:20:18

We have the compact size as its narrower and we had to make room for one when we installed new kitchen after moving. because no way was I not having one. We never argue about it (argue about things in wrong place lol??) An odd time something gets chipped and we throw it out. Special things or glasses not used every day are handwashed. Everything sparkles I have fibro. Hurts my upper back more handwashing. Emptying is so easy and quick. My dishwasher and cordless vac are my all time favourite buys. Love both!?

Maggiemaybe Sun 03-Feb-19 15:45:38

I’d as soon go back to washing dishes by hand as I would to handwashing clothes. We only need to set ours off every couple of days normally, but all the dirty pots are hidden away in the meantime. We’d some friends round the other evening though and used it twice in a couple of hours. So much better than waking up to stacks of dirty pots the next day!

Izabella Sun 03-Feb-19 14:39:10

No handwashing here either. We switch ours on only when fuill, around every 3rd day. We only ever use Aldi tablets and dose the salt according to manufacturers instructions. We don't use the all in one tablets as we cannot adjust the salt content to be right for our water. When we had our machine we had a water testing kit to tell us how to prime and set up the water softener.

Elegran Sun 03-Feb-19 12:08:04

Laptop posted too soon, before I had finished getting spacings right and checking for typos. I have seen one, at least.

Elegran Sun 03-Feb-19 12:05:59

I disagree, Gabriella My dishwasher beats hand washing.

No piles of dishes on the narrow bit of surface to the "dirty" side of the sink, just a few plastic things which I don't wash in the machine and some of the glassware. The rest is hidden from sight.

I can't wear Marigolds, so if handwashing my hands would be in very hot water, with detergent and grease.

There is no-one else to argue over filling or emptying it or over arranging things in the wrong place (or to handwash those greasy pots for me)

No having to rearrange dirty dishes bcause I load it myself.
No having to stand at the sink with greasy water on my sleeves..

No angst about dulling of glassware because I handwash the glasses I value most and don't care about the others.
I would be rinsing crud off the crockery first before handwashing anyway.
Arguments about cutlery basket having everything mixed up instead of separate compartments - see above. I put them where I want them.
Just stack, add dishwasher detergent, press button. Make cup of coffee and have 15 delightful minutes of looking out of the kitchen window at the passing seasons...a bit of 'me' time
When I had husband, children and visitors I also had a husband who would wash while I dried. It was till liberating when we got the machine to take over both our washing-up roles.

GabriellaG54 Sun 03-Feb-19 10:10:17

Nothing to beat hand washing. No trying to fit everything in or improperly loaded items.
No arguments over emptying or having to bend down when your aching back or arthritis kicks in.
No having to rearrange dirty dishes when someone else loads it in the wrong way.
No dulling of glassware and having to rinse crockery first.
No arguments about cutlery basket having everything mixed up instead of separate compartments.
Just two bowls, one wash, one to dip in really hot rinse water and into rack to drip dry. Much cheaper and quicker. I rarely used mine when I was married, even with visitors and 5 children.
You can even have 15 delightful minutes of looking out of the kitchen window at the passing seasons...a bit of 'me' time whilst keeping an eye on the children playing in the garden.
I wouldn't have one now at any price. It's therapeutic to wash dishes by hand. grin

FlexibleFriend Sat 02-Feb-19 20:20:51

My dishwasher engineer said not to use salt or rinse aid even though our water is hard because we use the pods which contain everything we need and it's a waste of money.

Elegran Sat 02-Feb-19 19:56:28

I think the clouding on glasses is a chemical thing and depends on the composition of the glass they are made of.

MaizieD Sat 02-Feb-19 19:32:07

I'd agree about cleaning out the rotor arms. It's amazing how just two or three blocked holes can seriously affect its cleaning power.

I put all glasses in my dishwasher (including some little Victorian wine glasses) and have never had a cloudy effect develop on them. That's over the course of 30 years usage...

I love my dishwasher, too. It resolved a constant argument about dirty dishes being left unwashed over night. grin

constance Sat 02-Feb-19 19:18:17

If I get the horridstuck on mugs etc in our dishwasher it means it's because something has dropped and stopped the arms spinning or it is time to clean out the arms = flushing out the little bits that get stuck in the holes. It does def help if the plates etc are scraped or quickly rinsed but I don't seem to be able to get that through to family...

Craftycat Sat 02-Feb-19 12:19:47

We are in a hard water area & I use Finish tabs- which I get when they are on offer-& a cleaner every couple of months. I don't get any problems but I do rinse things before they go in & I also put vinegar in every now & again & run a hot wash.

sarahellenwhitney Sat 02-Feb-19 11:32:20

Having in the past had a no expense spared dish washer after only twelve months use we sold it. Family were not always at home so there were times when it wasn't worth the expense of using it for just two of us.

Heather51 Sat 02-Feb-19 11:32:09

I always use Lidl own brand, have found it cleans the dishes a lot better than Finish tablets. We live in one of the hardest water areas in the country so always use salt and rinse aid. I always rinse the dishes under tap before putting into machine. I do put everyday glasses in but never put decent glasses in the dishwasher!

4allweknow Sat 02-Feb-19 10:39:31

Agree with Framilode F,,,y Platinum does a great job. Aldi are the next best. Any subscriber to Which magazine will tell you. Also rinse muck off plates before placing in dishwasher.

Nanah67 Sat 02-Feb-19 10:35:29

Once a month I pour a small bottle of white vinegar into my dishwasher. Run it on highest wash and it keeps the machine clean and dishes sparkling.

annep1 Sat 02-Feb-19 10:23:25

The various bargain shops often have offers on FP.

kittylester Sat 02-Feb-19 09:56:34

I also use Fairy Platinum but, as we live in an area with very hard water, I also use conditioner.

I buy it when it's offer too.

Maggiemaybe Sat 02-Feb-19 09:45:53

I see two others have mentioned it, but I’ll do it as well. smile Fairy Platinum. We don’t need to rinse, or use rinse aid or salt (though we are in a soft water area). I used to buy own brands with variable results, but FP is superb. I just stock up when it’s on a half price offer.

nanasam Sat 02-Feb-19 09:42:41

I had the same when I was sent basic Finish Classic from Groupon instead of All-In-One. The grittiness started very quickly, even using salt and rinse aid. I got rid of the second box and am now using Quantum. A bit more expensive but all trace of crud gone without having to add the other stuff.

Missfoodlove Sat 02-Feb-19 09:36:57

We had the same problem, it was small bit s of scale and food inside the arms.
My husband flushed out the arms and made the holes slightly bigger so nothing got trapped.
It worked ?

annep1 Sat 02-Feb-19 08:26:35

I use fairy platinum. nothing else. clean dishwasher every so often. never a problem. love my dishwasher.

SpringyChicken Sat 02-Feb-19 08:19:13

Is the salt dispenser set for the correct water hardness? It may be harder than you think. Alternatively, use all in one tablets and see if the problem is still there.
My in-laws had a slimline dishwasher which didn’t wash well. It turned out that they were using too much detergent and salt which isn’t needed in our area.

Coolgran65 Sat 02-Feb-19 05:10:06

I scrape but don't rinse plates. Very occasionally I've had the mashed potato crud but just run another cycle.
I only use the daily 35 minute cycle excepting Sunday roast dishes.

Buffybee Sat 02-Feb-19 00:26:31

Same as all above, I have never seen this "dishwasher vom" but I rinse everything before it goes in the machine.
I'm on my third or maybe fourth Bendix and have always found them to be brilliant.
Don't use rinse aid or salt as we have soft water and I've never used a cleaner but always use the highest wash setting.