Phosphates ,and dishwashers.

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So, I have a standard builder grade Whirlpool dishwasher in my 10 year old house.

We moved into the house about a year ago, and noticed tons of etching and food particles on most of the dishes after we run a cycle. It got to the point where it was gross to be scraping the stuff off my glassware.

We used all different kinds of detergent, cascade, costco brand, you name it. I used all the premium rinse aids, finish, oxyclean.

Still grimy dishes, nothing really clean. I was going to throw the dishwasher out, then I came across an article on Phosphates being banned from detergents about 10 years ago.

Went to the corner Lowes and bought a 3 dollar box of TSP in the paint department. Used the cheapest Walmart brand dishwasher detergent, and sprinkled a little TSP over each wash cup. Dishes are so clean they squeak when you rub your fingers over them.

Almost all that baked on food is gone. I'll keep chugging with my 10 year old dishwasher and a 3 dollar box of what the government shouldn't be banning anyways.
 
Dang, someone else has found the secret. TSP is gonna go through the roof!
Amazon still carries the commercial Cascade with phosphate, as well as Bubble Bandit.
 
Yeah I see that Amazon now calls the commercial Cascade "Fryer Boil Out".

Price tag is $40-$50 bucks for a box of detergent. I think not.

I may buy a few sample packs of Bubble Bandit and see how it works. There is a vendor on Ebay selling 50 pound bags of Bubble Bandit for $149.

Still dumb money to be paying for dish detergent.
 
I rinse my dishes, use the Costco detergent and rinse aid. Everything comes out clean.
 
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Clean out your spray arms


And any other little filters that are in the dishwasher. I've had to do that twice with ours in the two years we've lived here. Once when we moved in, and once a year later. Cleaning the spray arms also helped.

Finish tablets and Jet Dry rinse aid do a pretty darned good job removing stuck-on food. I've put in some pretty crusty dishes to find that combination has worked miracles.

Running the water at the sink to make sure it's hot before starting the machine also helps, especially for really crusty dishes.

Lastly, when was the last time the dishwasher was run empty with just a bit of detergent in it? We do that about every 3 months or so.
 
In most states phosphate was never banned. Something like 15 states banned it and then the companies removed it themselves.

I use brands of dishwashing detergent that work. There's been no need for me to seek out some homebrew. I just buy brands that work.

When the changeover happened, some companies botched the switch, while others came out with detergents that work very well.
 
The Kroger store brand dishwasher detergent was labelled as having 2% phosphorus. I've been using for years with good results.

When I was shopping and noticed that it was marked as "discontinued" and marked half-price, I bought all that my local store had, and I keep it in a dry cabinet.

I'm set for at least a couple of years now.
 
A properly working dishwasher, hot water and decent detergent should get dishes clean. Sounds like a filter is not working. Typically there is a filter to catch stuff during the wash cycle and it then empties everything caught during the drain cycle.
 
Toward the end of its service life, our 20 year old Amana dishwasher began to exhibit poor wash quality. We replaced it with a Bosch last August.
Other than wiping heavily soiled dishes with a paper towel before they go into the dishwasher, we don't do anything special, and the dishes are spotless when they come out. I suspect the issue is with your dishwasher; a low end dishwasher may well start to fail at the 10 year mark.
 
To keep dishes clean, but save energy,
turn on heated rinse,
but turn off heated dry.

Heated wash may be necessary if your water is 105-110 like mine...
(keeps you from being scalded, and saves energy...)

Vineger in 99 cents a gallon, you can use half rinse aid, half vinegar,
or all vinegar.
 
We use these, and our dishes are always perfectly clean. They're typically more expensive than regular dish detergent, but we buy them by the case off Groupon which makes them cheaper than buying them in the store.

finish-quantum-rebate.jpg
 
Spray the dishes off before putting them in.

I use store brand dishwasher packs and find them to be superior to the cascade gel and powder I was using before.

Like these
wouldnt-recommend-cascade-dishwasher-detergent-action-pacs-21672806.jpg


gel.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: cat843
A properly working dishwasher, hot water and decent detergent should get dishes clean. Sounds like a filter is not working.


I was going to say this as well. Check/clean the filter. Usually in the bottom of the unit. Lots of people forget this maintenance item. Unit works much better with a clean filter.
 
About once a year I do an empty load cycle with CLR - a cup or two. The Zep brand is much cheaper and works as well. Even though I have very hard water, both the clothes and dishwasher work well and are far from new.
 
TSP is likely your cheapest bet. I had a portable and had to add tsp..id advise against vinegar, it ended up eating up the metal in my portable and then leaked the vinegar from rinse aid. It works well, but i wouldnt do it with my reg dishwasher. The house i bought came with a dishwasher and cleans things well enough using cheap detergent, so id bet its ur dishwasher..but if tsp works why not.

Fill a cup with vinegar and run an empty cycle from time to time (or use lemi shine) it will clean out your dishwasher and might clean better.
 
After reading this thread, I just cleaned out the arms and screens for our GE dishwasher. A lot of the spray holes were plugged up and the screen was full of debris. I am running it now and can just hear how much water is spraying around.
 
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