Dishwasher not washing as good as it used to?

[mrsilv04]

And I'm not referring to the missus...

My 15 year old Maytag undercounter dishwasher went from washing dishes fine to barely washing them in a period of about 6 months. I also noticed that there was a light white transparent coating that started to build on my glassware as the cleaning quality went downhill.

Last night, I started in to figure out the problem. And it only took about 10 minutes to find it.

With my Maytag, there is a circular plastic water filter under the cover that the lower spray arm is mounted to. This filter is about 2" tall, and about 8" in diameter.

It was nearly completely plugged with white deposits. I would assume that most of these deposits came from the water supply (calcium/lime) and possibly from undissolved dish detergent. I run hot water in the sink before firing up the dishwasher, so I would assume that mine was mostly from the water.

I removed the filter and soaked it in straight white vinegar.

After a good long soak in the white vinegar, I scrubbed the filter with a plastic bristle scrub brush, then used compressed air from the air compressor on it. I'd say I was able to remove about 90% of the deposits.

I read to run the dishwasher for a few cycles with 1 cup of white vinegar in it (with no soap or dishes). After a few cycles, I can tell that it is circulating water better each time I run it, just by the increased noise level of the whooshing of the water when it runs.

I'm going to pull the filter again in a few weeks, just to make sure that it hasn't caught a bunch of crud that the vinegar has cleaned out of the system.

Also read that the quicker buildup of the white crud is a result of the removal of phosphorus from dish detergent.

Just thought that this might help someone else out as well.

 

[SatinSilver]

Some people put Tang or citric acid in their dishwasher periodically to help prevent deposits from building up. Susposed to work well. You can google it for more info.

 

[Cutehumor]

We have a 10 year old Frigidaire washer. we are having the same problem and we have hard water. our dishes are left with a white coating on them after drying. We tried finish washer machine cleaner, lemon shine, and switched from Palmolive gel detergent to cascade powder detergent. the only results we get is with lemon shine but the stuff is expensive. I thought maybe the upper arm on the top rack wasn't spinning because of the size of our dishes, but it works. So far we haven't had any luck figuring it out. I will try your suggestion. Thanks for posting!

 

[Lead Shoes]

We have hard well water, we had the same problem when my mom bought those packets that are good for "one cycle" we switched back to cascade with bleach, the white etching was gone and it started to keep the metal at the bottom clean again.

 

[tdpark]

We use lemon juice and it works to get the white film off, just a a few tablespoons added to the detergent.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04

Also read that the quicker buildup of the white crud is a result of the removal of phosphorus from dish detergent.


This. Earlier this year some more states mandated the removal of phosphorus from dishwasher detergent and as a result the detergent companies removed it nationwide. Google the subject and you will get about a million hits.

You have two choices. Three actually, you can put up with the worthless detergent, buy commercial diswasher detergent (which still has phosphorus) or buy trisodium phosphate and add a little to the regular detergent.

Commercial detergent is available online and from restaurant supply houses. Likewise trisodium phosphate is available in some local hardware stores as well as online. Make sure it is *real* trisodium phosphate, not the substitute.

Our dishes were horrible with the non-phosphate detergent.

 

[oilstudent24]

I believe the formulation may be different on some of the detergents. I found that some of my dishes were not getting as clean as before with the same detergent. I think phosphates have been reduced or eliminated not sure which.

 

[LeakySeals]

Thanks! I have a generic grocery store gallon for the coffee pot, doing it now! Should I leave it on dry? or will the fumes be bad?

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Thanks! I have a generic grocery store gallon for the coffee pot, doing it now! Should I leave it on dry? or will the fumes be bad?


Say what? A gallon of what?

And what fumes?

 

[LeakySeals]

The white vinegar she recommended to use.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
The white vinegar she recommended to use.


Ahha OK, sorry I lost you there. The coffee pot mention threw me off.

FWIW you can try the vinegar (and the citric acid for that matter), maybe you will have better luck with it than we did. We tried both and neither one did squat for us. The only thing that worked was about a 1/4 teaspoon TSP added to each detergent cup along with the new style detergent.

One other thing that was often mentioned by people is that some formulations of the new detergent require fat/grease to work, apparently some of the manufacturers make a note that you must not pre-rinse the dishes. Again for us though, it made no difference. Perhaps our diet was too low-fat...

 

[crosseyedwx]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04

Also read that the quicker buildup of the white crud is a result of the removal of phosphorus from dish detergent.


This. Earlier this year some more states mandated the removal of phosphorus from dishwasher detergent and as a result the detergent companies removed it nationwide. Google the subject and you will get about a million hits.

You have two choices. Three actually, you can put up with the worthless detergent, buy commercial diswasher detergent (which still has phosphorus) or buy trisodium phosphate and add a little to the regular detergent.

Commercial detergent is available online and from restaurant supply houses. Likewise trisodium phosphate is available in some local hardware stores as well as online. Make sure it is *real* trisodium phosphate, not the substitute.

Our dishes were horrible with the non-phosphate detergent.


This. +1. Bought a box of TSP from Lowe's, problem solved.

 

[Donald]

Consumer Reports has now added the "white film" as a category of dish washer test results.

 

[mpvue]

my wife started buying these little dishwasher capsule things w/ a red ball in the middle, and also some little gel packs. both work well in our Fisher & Paykel dish drawer. we never get a film or white haze (never have, I think because it's also a really good dishwasher)
we also noticed that the filter needs to be cleaned out as a matter of course or the dishes don't get as clean, but we never have any calcium buildup.

 

[mrsilv04]

At first, I assumed that I was out of luck, that the pump on the dishwasher was failing. However, I noticed that it was able to pump out water just fine. I then looked underneath the dishwasher at the pump.

The piping that the water passes through from the pump to the spray arms is a milky color. However, I could still see a faint image of the water passing through it... and I could see that it was not a steady stream of water, that it was foamy and frothy, and had air in with it. That was when I suspected a clogged screen or a clogged filter.

 

[Radman]

Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Some people put Tang


Excellent Idea!

 

[HTSS_TR]

Did anyone try small amount of Liquid-Plumr or Drano in the dishwasher ? I tried 10-12 oz Liquid-Plumr in the previous washing machine and it did a very good job of cleaning it.

 

[JHZR2]

Interesting. We have a 25+ year old kitchen aid, that recently it seems to me has been leaving a residue on glassware. You cannot see it, but upon using the glass and filling with water, you can smell it.

Pre-rinsing the glass before use makes the scent not occur.

I'll try these approaches. Thanks!!!

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Did anyone try small amount of Liquid-Plumr or Drano in the dishwasher ? I tried 10-12 oz Liquid-Plumr in the previous washing machine and it did a very good job of cleaning it.


Isn't Liquid-Plumbr and Drano poisonous?

That's not really the environment where I want my glasses, plates, and silverware to be getting 'cleaned' in...

 

[HTSS_TR]

No, I didn't mean to use Liquid-Plumbr or Drano as detergent to clean the glasses, plates, bowls and silverware but to use it to clean the empty dishwasher only, then do a second cleaning with water only to rinse it clean.