Ecover dishwasher tabs ruined my machine

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

So annoyed. I brought ecover dishwasher tablets as thought I'd give them a go. I usually use Persil or fairy depending on what's on offer.

Put the first load on and when finished the inside of the dishwasher and the items inside covered in a fine powdery sticky residue. Thought I must have put wrong cycle on so put it on again. Still there.

Hand washed all the items and then checked salt and rinse aid were topped up, both fine. Put dishwasher on empty to try and clear it but residue still there. Brought dishwasher cleaner those pods you put in the cutlery tray nope still there used the second one in the pack again still there. Googled how to clean dishwasher it said to put a squeeze of washing up liquid and run hot cycle. Did this and the residue still there.

Even using the steam cleaner barely touched it and have had to throw several items away as the residue wouldn't come off.

I've emailed ecover bit no reply, will call on Tuesday if no reply by then. I have no idea what to do, the baskets are covered in it and too big to fit in the sink for a soak, plus if a steam cleaner couldn't shift it what chance does a bit of fairy and a scourer got (which I have already tried)

[BuggersMuddle]

Sorry to hear that OP.

We used Ecover products extensively for a while and eventually gave up following a broken down dishwasher and washing machine that didn't last for the lifespan we expected (it was a cheap one that came with the house, but even still).

I found they didn't work well, so sometimes washing was repeated; they gunked up the appliances; glasses constantly cloudy and ultimately I believe they shortened the lifespans of both the appliances and some of the clothing / dishes we were washing.

I felt bad but switched to Persil, Lenor & Finish. Everything just works, no gunk / residue / mould and my laundry seems properly clean.

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

Um not sure if that's good to know we're not the only ones or not. I've used lots of ecover products as the fewer the chemicals the better but this along with the lack if response is putting me off of them.

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

My dishwasher is old but up until the swap to ecover was doing a great job if cleaning the dishes and stopping the sc argue over who's turn to wash and who's turn to wipe.

I can't use the machine now as the residue is everywhere and glassware comes out cloudy despite using a different product.

[Branleuse]

i like ecover washing up liquid and fabcon, but not their laundry detergent or their dishwasher stuff, as neither dissolve properly in hard water

[Branleuse]

i like ecover washing up liquid and fabcon, but not their laundry detergent or their dishwasher stuff, as neither dissolve properly in hard water

[MILLYmo0se]

try running the machine on the hottest wash with soda crystals thrown in the bottom ? It's more for dissolving grease but worth a go at this stage !

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

Thanks milly, will give that a go.

[e1y1]

We have a box of Ecover dishwasher tabs, only used them once and if remember correctly, the load came out gritty, but it did not ruin the machine.

We use co-op own brand (blue box) this is because we wont use anything tested on animals (which Ecover and co-op fit the bill for) the co-op ones are amazing, every single load spotless.

If anything is missed I know its because its the way machine has been loaded, got a Kenwood dishwasher, getting rid of my AEG to get the Kenwood was a massive mistake, but hey.

I hope you get it sorted, I don't think you will get a response from Ecover until after Tuesday, they don't strike me as the type of company that will operate an all hours service.

[PigletJohn]

watching with interest because I can't think what this deposit can be. If you have been using salt in the softener reservoir then it should not be minerals, and does not sound like starchy food such as mashed potatoes (which can get cooked on but will hand-wash off with a green scourer).

Have you taken out and cleaned the filters and arms?

BTW washing-up liquid is a bad thing to put in dishwashers, because they fill with foam which prevents them washing.

[Tweetinat]

Ecover dishwasher tablets ruined a glass I was given as a child over 40 years ago. It had been in hundreds of cycles over the years but one with those tablets and it went cloudy and has never gone back to how it was :(

[PigletJohn]

looking at the Which tests, the three best buy tablets are, in order:
Fairy Platinum
Lidl W5
Aldi Magnum
Fairy costs four times as much as the others. Ecover had quite poor results.
all of the above are nominally "all in one" but dwrs really do work better if you use salt in the salt reservoir, and rinse-aid as well.

The salt is used to regenerate the resin in the miniature water softener. Unless it is broken and needs mending, there will never be any salt in the washing or rinsing water.

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

Just off to buy soda crystals as I forgot them when I did the big food shop.

The dishwasher is always clean, I often complain it's easier to wash by hand than maintain a dishwasher just to not wash up. The filters are rinsed out after every use. I take out the mesh type triangular filter a couple of times a week and wash it by hand. Check salt and rinse aid regularly. Wipe out the dishwasher if can see any food debris inside.

Is been looking at buying a new machine a nice shiney miele one but object to being forced to buy one because of a shoddy product.

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

Well it's on a cycle empty with soda crystals in. I wasn't sure how much to use so just sprinkled liberally in the bottom of the machine. Fingers crossed.

[ClaimedByMe]

If the dishwasher tablets you used before were in the jelly dissolvable bags it could be a blockage in your pipes from them, my mum had a similar problem and called out a repair man when her dishes weren't cleaning and coming out gritty and he came in, asked what tablets she used when she said the capsule ones he knew straight away what was wrong and cleaned out the pipe coming from the dishwasher, it was bunged with loads of slime which was the coating from the tablets.

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

So the soda crystals have got rid of most of it. Just left with a powdery residue now that comes off when brushed with finger so will steam clean it again and hope for the best when I load it after dinner this evening.

[BuggersMuddle]

Hmm, I'm in soft water (Edinburgh) and I had the same problems you're having. Honestly I wouldn't recommend them.

A post upthread mentioned the liquid for hand washing. I also found that okay with no issues, but was put off it after the dishwasher and washing machine issues.

[BuggersMuddle]

Oh and regarding models I have a nice shiny Siemens dishwasher and I clean it out about once a fortnight because I am a slattern. Cheap dishwasher and Ecover was daily, but I don't know how much of that was down to cheap dishwasher.

[abbiefield]

Ditto. Sorry to hear about your problems. I had a simlar problem with Ecover. I live in a rural village and we dont have drainage ( septic tank here). I used Ecover thinking it would be better for the septic tank.

Not on your life! I bought two packs of dishwasher cleaner and used both before I got rid of the problems caused.

Now I use Finish. I find it works and it says Ok for septic tanks on the box.

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

I've not managed to get it completely clean, but at least I'm able to use my machine again.

even steam cleaning it, there is still a lot of residue. I will try the soda crystals again at the weekend and just hope it all goes in time. I was going to offer it on freedcycle once/if I got a new one, once finances permited, but I doubt anyone would take it now.

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

Well the email today was pretty condescending especially as in my email I had specified that I had cleaned the filters etc and used salt and rinse aid.

It basically described how to clean and check the filters and to use additional salt and rinse aid!!

I was too cross to reply right away. Will compose a reply tomorrow.

[PigletJohn]

well, considering that in the Which tests, Ecover tablets scored only 48%, but Fairy Platinum scored 84% and Lidl W5 scored 80%, I am tempted to suppose that Ecover is just not very good.

[HelpMeGetOutOfHere]

yes I hadn't even thought to look at the which test for dishwashing tablets, I just buy whats on offer and never had this not even with things like sainsburys basic ones or aldi own brands, I prefer the gel type ones as no residue ever, and the powder type tablets can sometimes leave a residue, but never experienced anything like the residue with the ecover ones.

I finally got round to ordering a new dishwasher as its payday, but ecover will not be coming anywhere near my shiny new miele.9as recommended by the good housekeeping threads)

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Have you tried a hot wash with half a bag of soda crystals in the drum OP?

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Sorry, it's a dish washer! RTFT

We have meile appliances and use Aldi dishwasher tablets as we've found no difference between them Finish tablets, also tesco value brand come off the same line according to extensive googling.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

I don't rate ecover cleaning products either, utter crap imo.