I have an old whirlpool dishwasher, and I just noticed that my dishes aren't getting

Question

rinsed off like they used to. The glasses are all cloudy and spotted. What is causing this, and what can I do to fix it? Do I need to call a service person to come and fix it, or there something that I can do to fix it myself.

Answer 1

I have seen this problem many times in older dishwashers and sometimes in newer ones where they are used in areas of hard water.

What can happen is under high temperatures, the minerals which adhere to the dishwasher tub, accumilate and end up by redepositing on your dishware. If you want to do a quick test, just take your finger and run it on the inside of the tub. If you see a whitish film on your finger, you know you have residue build up and that is most likely the problem.

The first thing I would do is run a dishwasher cleaner through it without any dishes. A really good product is Glisten. It uses citric acid to remove mineral residue from the tub and pump assembly. Alternatively, you can use a package of Tang (powdered drink crystals) since it has alot of citric acid in it. With Tang, you might end up with an orange dishwasher for some time especially if the tub is plastic. Another option is to take a lemon, cut it in half and stick them onto the wash racks of the dishwasher. It works but not as well as Glisten or Tang.

After that is done, make sure you have rinse agent in the dishwasher and that it is being dispensed properly. About once a month you should have to top it off. I find after about 2-3 months, I need to buy a new bottle (the large one). Jet Dry works well imo. If you haven't filled it up in a long time and its empty or it looks full and you haven't needed to fill it up, it's probably not dispensing properly.

Make sure you are using a good powder detergent like cascade or all. The tabs work fine too. I would avoid using liquid detergents since they do not always disolve well and can gum up the pump assembly.

The long and short of your problem is most likely

A. Residue on the tub and

B. Rinse agent.

To get the white stuff and spots off your dishes, you can use vinegar or run the bad ones through the dishwasher with Glisten in it.

Hope it helps!

Answer 2

The amount of d/w soap you use if you rinse the dishes first should be cut down to 1/8 teaspoon this soap if it does not have food to change the PH of the soap will etch the glasses.To see if the glasses are etch or mineral deposits soak in vinager and if the glasses look bad  the are etched and will not go away. Older d/w need to have wter valves changed to improve water into d/w. Cut back on the d/w soap it is very strong stuff and will eat up the dishes over time!

Answer 3

Have you changed detergents lately? I realized that my dishes are gross ever since I picked up some new "eco-friendly" detergent. I think it was by Palmolive. Anyway, I'm all about being eco-friendly, but I'm wasting soap and water re-washing them so I'll go back to electrosol.

Answer 4

I have this problem occasionally and it is usually becuase my rinse aid dispenser is empty. All dish wahsers have them. The rinse aid makes it so that particals and water spots do not say on the dishes.