My dishes are coming out really cloudy from the diswasher. any suggestions?

Question

frigidare dishwasher, white cloudy film not being rinsed away. Does anyone know how I can fix this?

Answer 1

I hate to disagree with almost everyone here, but I believe that your problem is hard water. There are probably lots of impurities in your water that collect in your hot water heater and are causing the clouding issue.

There are a couple of solutions...

First, you could purchase a water conditioning system. The best systems use a brine (salt water) tank to regenerate particles that act as a filter for all of the water that enters your house. This would remove the impurities within your water and eventually cycle through your hot water heater and you would no longer have the problem.

Or second, you could simply drain your hot water heater (something that I try to do at least every six to nine months). You do this by attaching a garden hose to the spigot near the bottom and turning on the nozzle with a screwdriver. You need to let the water run through until it is cold.

You can try everyone else's solutions first, but this is the solution that will work for you.

Answer 2

If your dish washer is old check the inside top for corrosion? You may need to invest in a new one. If you live in a hard water city the one thing the sales people may or may not tell you is that it will continue to happen unless you buy a water softener. The manufacturer will tell you the same thing, it is not bs. If you have to get a new one just make sure you use jet dry.

To clean the inside of your machine and it will clean the glasses as well, is vinager (1C). ONLY USE IT ONCE A MONTH.

If you are currently using jet dry you could be using too much which causes cloudyness. Using cheap detergent will also cause it. I found that Palmolive, Sun Light, and store brands will cause that film even if you use Jet Dry.

If the detergent is good, Jet Dry is the right dose, the other option is to buy Lemie Shine. This stuff is about 4.00 and is a small bottle but it works. It is enviro friendly and safe to use every day. It will get the hard water build up off of a glass that has been encrusted for 5 years. It has some great uses besides dishes and can be used on plastic and metal. FYI. Aluminum will cause a reaction with other metal if placed together in the dish washer. Check the other things before buying it to identify the specific problem. If this does not work then the problem is etching which is not reversable as they are tiny scratches in the glass.

DO NOT USE BLEACH IN YOUR DISHWASHER!!!!! BLEACH PROMOTES THE GROWTH OF MOLD AND MILDEW.

Answer 3

I usually use my diswasher as a sanitizer to make the dishes clean without complaints. Here is how I do it: (my "secret is now being revealed...behold!!!)
1. Clean the dishes--the old fashioned way. Use HOT water, and wear gloves. If you hate washing them, then do it quickly--like taking bad medicine: it won't get better if you don't take it!!.
2. Load your dishwasher so that it is not overloaded. DO NOT "nest" dishes; do not put a bowl on top of another bowl and top of another bowl. If the water jets have problem reaching the surfaces of each dish, it will not be effective in cleaning (think of cars in a car wash... the little car can't get clean if under a monster truck!!!)
3. Use a good diswashing soap. I personally use the Cascade tablets that have Dawn liquid on 1 side. So far, no one has ever complained about my dishes.
4. You can add Jet Dry in the rinsing dispenser, but not to brag, my dishes are never spotty, and I never use Jet Dry!!!

Hope this helps. Just try it and let me know what happens. remember also, that the more time the dishes "sit" in your kitchen sink, 2 things happen:
1) They will not get clean by themselves!!!
2) They actually get harder to clean, as the food on them is getting "settled in".
and of course, the more time they sit, the less motivation you have in wanting to clean them to put them in the dishwasher. Therefore, just pre-clean and put the dishes in the dishwasher and start it when if gets full.

Answer 4

First clean the dishwasher real well. Some have a trap in the bottom that stuff gets stuck in. Then run it empty using vinegar or I actually use bleach. Use a detergent with rinse agent and make sure your rinse agent receptacle is full. I have seen some glasses that were so badly cloudy, nothing worked getting it off! Had to get new ones and keep a closer eye on detergent and rinse agent levels. If you have hard water maybe look into getting a water softener system. It will save you lots of $$ in the long run on everything! Good Luck!

Answer 5

I have a Frigidaire with the same problem. I would try the vinegar thing, then I would use a rinse agent. If you just start using the rinse agent without cleaning the unit, you will have the same problem. Also, what kind of detergent ar you using. I found that liquids tend to do better, and reduce the amount of build up in your waste water pipes. Back about fifteen years ago, when I lived in a house with a septic tank, I had to have it pumped. When we opened it up, we found a four inch think white crust in the top of the tank. The guy running the pump truck look at us and said, 'you use powdered detergent in you laundry and dishwasher?' The answer was yes. Evidently, the powdered detergents never really dissolve, and collect in the waste system. From then on, we have use liquid detergents. One you have had to replace a septic tank or plumbing, it changes you perspective on things.
Point being, once a solid.... always a solid.
Once a liquid, always a liquid.

Answer 6

1. Make sure your machine is clean and no spray jets are clogged. Using vinegar (1cup) or Tang (1 cup dry)or Lemi-Shine (1/4 cup) will work for this. There are 2 school of thought on whether to run the dishwasher empty or with a load. I usually run the dishwasher empty. I suppose it would be okay to clean your "every day" dishes I would not put anything metal in the machine while cleaning ... like pots or flatware

2. Set your HOT water heater up a little higher. OR make sure your temperature boost is on the ON position.

3. Use a rinse agent like Jet-dry OR fill the "closed" detergent cup with Lemi-Shine OR add vinegar to the final rinse.

4. Experiment with dishwasher detergent brands. I could tell you my favorite but it might not work at all in your water. I also switch back and forth between 2 favorite brands and my dishes stay looking better.

Answer 7

Rinse the dishes well before you wash them. Dry food is a biatch to get off, especially for a dishwasher since it relies on water pressure to clean, rather than scrubbing. Dump about a cup or two of WHITE vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher whenever you wash the dishes. It works just like Lime Away. You may notice they smell alike, as well. Hmmmm. Also use a good brand of detergent, like Electrasol. The cheap stuff doesn't dissolve as well and leaves crap on the dishes, including little flecks of detergent. Also, don't use liquid dishwasher detergents or those little tablets, use plain old powder. Liquids and tablets suck, and liquids also cause a buildup on the pipes. Some dishwashers have a reservoir for a rinse fluid that may help, but frankly, vinegar's much cheaper.

Answer 8

I didn't read all the responses, so if someone said this ....oh well.
The cloudiness is caused by two things, Calcium and other total dissolved solids in the water. TDS and calcium come out of solution when exposed to a heat source. Jet dry and other rinse agents have surfactants which break the surface tension of the glass and allow almost all of the water to drain off. They will work but the true cure is a softener. This won't take out Chlorides (salts) because chlorides won't adhere to the resin in a softener. Salts take a reverse osmosis system which is waaayyy to expensive. They do make scale filters for the 1/4"-3/8" line that feeds your dishwasher. Get your water analyzed.

Answer 9

Make sure that the dishwasher is not overfilled so that the water can circulate. Also make sure you use the hot wash setting. I add a product called Lemi Shine in the same cup that I put the detergent in. It is all natural. It even cleaned the bottom of the dishwasher and is great for getting the film off your shower doors. Before I always had spots and a haze on my dishes and glasses but no more since I follow these steps.

Answer 10

This could be due to several reasons:

1. The machine is not filling up with enough water for its cycles

2. There are too many dissolved solids in the water

3. The machine isn't engineered to give enough adequate rinses. (We have this problem with our crappy Whirlpool dishwasher which we will never buy again)

4. Or perhaps you're not using enough detergent in wash cycle.

Solutions: Chuck the dishwasher and get a real dishwasher ---> An Ariston or Miele brand

Make sure the timer is adjusted properly to allow proper water fill.

Use a rinse or wash agent

Give the machine a vinegar rinse