how to clean a dishwasher

slm6002

i had the dishwasher man out a little while back as i had similar problems with getting things clean. He said a common error was putting rinse aid in when also using all in one tablets. This makes too many bubbles for machine to cope with and then it leaves residue of bubbles and dirt on glasses etc. I have now stopped using rinse aid as well but still having problems so will follow your thread.

You might have luck with adjusting the rinse aid if you use it? Just an idea

Ches

Tip from my DD, when I was having the same problems as the OP, was to bung the Finish (or whatever brand you use) tablet onto the bottom of the dishwasher and not in the holder made for the purpose. And keep the salt level up. Works a treat now.

Chris25

Ches wrote: »

, was to bung the Finish (or whatever brand you use) tablet onto the bottom of the dishwasher and not in the holder made for the purpose. . .

I've heard the same thing. I was told that the holders were made for powder & that compressing it into a block means that it's not as efficient at dissolving so best to place into the machine itself.

You could always crumble the tablet before throwing in the bottom of the machine.

May sound silly, but have you checked the manual for tips if not cleaning properly?

pigpen

Don't use finish it is rubbish.. even at quite high temps the tablets do not dissolve properly. Lidls own brand are ok as are the tesco ones but the best I have found are Fairy.. they dissolve fully very quickly and don't leave any residue.

Secondly.. you should be running it through a clean cycle once a month at least with an appropriate cleaners.. and soda crystals are not a appropriate cleaners, they stick in the grease build ups and make any issues worse... you can get stuff online about £10 for maybe 5 sachets of cleaning stuff.. you run it empty on the hottest settings and it makes a massive difference.

I have wrecked many a filter with build ups of grease and dirt from running on low temperature settings not rinsing excess food off plates/pans..

It may well be that it needs an engineer to come out, clean all the innards properly before you can stop it in future.

Black gritty bits are just bits of limescale, old food, general dirt and other such vileness that are not being flushed out of the machine.

zippychick

As this has dropped down the board, I've merged this with a thread on washing dishwashers to see if you can find some more ideas in here

Zip

johndogs

Well, this answer is going to be different from everyone else's but it's my own experience and that of many of my customeres when I worked for Hotpoint as a washing machine and dishwasher service engineer.

I have had my Hotpoint 71340 dishwasher since 1985. I have never done anything to it except clean out the waste trap now and then. I have never, in all that time cleaned it with any propietory cleaning product, (they clean themselves as they wash) and I have never added salt to the salt container. (I live in a soft water area.)

As long as you scrape off most of the waste from your dishes and keep the waste trap clear, that's all you need to do. My 71340 is 27 years old now and looks set for a while yet.

lily117

I bought a bottle of dishwasher cleaner from the 99p shop and it seems nice and clean and fresh now.

ollybass

musogirl295 wrote: »

As the title says, I am loosing the will to live with my dishwasher! (And no, I don't mean my OH!)

Dishwasher is approx 3 years old and never seems to clean properly, particularly the glasses which often come out coated in a grainy substance that is even difficult to clean by hand.

I wash the filters regularly and check the spray arm holes for blockages. The tablets seem to dissolve ok most of the time (I use Finish all in ones). I stack the dishwasher carefully and rinse off anything that's really gunky. I use rinseaid.

The only thing I'm not sure of is the salt. Ever since we've had it the salt hole has been full of water so when you pour the salt in everything overflows. I'm guessing this isn't normal but its not possible to get the water out.

Any suggestions before I take the unthrifty way out?

Thanks

Make sure that there are NO items that protrude beneath the crockery trays and cutlery baskets (eg thin pieces of cutlery) also, check that the base of the cutlery basket hasn't broken (split), which would allow thicker cutlery to poke through ... both these would stop the spray arms from rotating.
Don't worry about the water seeping from salt reservoir when you fill it. It is only the displaced water that is escaping. The salt is always under water anyway. Salt is essential - it softens the water - many people think it is to do with the washing cycle - it isn't .... softening the water protects the internal parts of the machine from corrosion or limescale, giving it a longer life ( My first dishwasher lasted from 1978 to 1996. My second was from 1996 and is still working fine today). Both same make - Hotpoint.
Re grainy glasses - ensure that rinse aid is not empty - if not, use the control to increase the amount dispensed with each cycle.
My machine is always sparkling after a cycle and I can't understand how they can be dirty or smelly afterwards. The calgon advert, which shows an empty machine with smears all over it, to me is possibly a bit mischievous because the only time mine looks like that is when it is almost full, dirty and ready to be started.

metropolis

I have never need to clean mine inside apart from a quick wipe round the door seals with kitchen paper. I dont use salt or rinse aid either. Fortunately the water round here is of such quality that there's no build up of lime-scale either.
If your machine is smelly, leave the door ajar when not in use, so that air can circulate. Dont leave lumps of food on any items when you put them in the machine. That way you hardly ever need to look at the filters.

ollybass

metropolis wrote: »

I have never need to clean mine inside apart from a quick wipe round the door seals with kitchen paper. I dont use salt or rinse aid either. Fortunately the water round here is of such quality that there's no build up of lime-scale either.
If your machine is smelly, leave the door ajar when not in use, so that air can circulate. Dont leave lumps of food on any items when you put them in the machine. That way you hardly ever need to look at the filters.

I'm surprised that you don't use salt or rinse, so a question - How old is your machine? and ...
Have you used salt or rinse in the past? - if yes, why have you stopped? If no, you can't have experienced the shine that rinse aid gives to crockery and glassware in the final rinse.
I live in a soft water area and was surprised at the reading with a PH test strip. It showed that salt was needed so I always use it. These days water is moved around the country much more than before, so you could be getting different levels of softness over time.
You say you have no limescale build-up. Where have you checked to be able to say that ? The heating-element isn't a reliable guide - It's the internal workings (pump & pipes) that benefit from salt preventing limescale - like preventing arteries from blocking, giving longer life.