Is Your Dishwasher Not Cleaning Lately?

[Jerry]

Appliance issues....a topic dear to my heart ( I used to reapir them for a living)
Have you noticed that your dishwasher, like mine, has been leaving a cloudy film on china, glasses, etc.?
This seems to be a slighltly hard water problem in Orleans, Jefferson parishes..

Seems that in this past November manufacturers of dishwasher detergent were forced to stop including phosphates in their products. Phosphates is what kept hard water from leaving the white film...

Commercial detergents for restaurants, etc. are exempt....

Tips like using half the amount of detergent and adding vinegar to the rinse are found on many websites....

What will the Enviromental Whackos throw at us next?

[Annie Laurie]

Yes, I have had the same problem. I finally found a product that seems to
work OK,..it is... Finish Powerball Tabs. The package does say phosphate free.

It is unreal.....how is this helping....when you have to rewash the dishes
using more water, and electricity. And you are paying more for something
that has less cleaning ability. The immates are running the asylum.

[LauraMc]

Not all states have banned the phosphate but enough that the industry responded. I can't remember where I heard about this but you can buy TSP (trisodium phosphate) at hardware stores in the paint section and even on amazon. The lady I heard about it from says she uses 1tsp with her regular dishwashing liquid. But I also heard the more phosphate you use, you can get scratches on the glass.
I don't have a dishwasher (well, I do but I don't think Mike would want TSP in him) so haven't tried it.

[Schuarta]

Do you wash your dishes every day? My SO says that being an ORC (old retired couple), we keep using dishes until the washer is full and then "run it" (3-4 days).

[justagirl]

Wow, I've been wondering about that for months now. Interesting. Have you tried the vinegar route yet?

[Isabella Maja]

Wow! Jerry, you are the best for posting this topic!
I was ready to go out & buy a new dishwasher!

MFDC does the dishes & I told him he needed to start wearing
his glasses because they not only have the cloudiness but some
have not been totally clean as well. Not acceptable!
Now that I know what the problem is I will work on resovling it
a different way rather than washing the same load over again.
(too bad, a new dishwasher would be nice! This one came w/the house).

Now that some time has passed, what are all of you doing to
solve the problem? Does additional rinse agent help?
I love those little Cascade bubble packs, but we're out of them
& are using Cascade liquid of some variety now.