Any way to stop glasses going cloudy in the dishwasher?

[Tinkjon]

We got a dishwasher about 4 months ago and I love it. Our glassware never went cloudy and I assumed that this was because we had a good dishwasher or the right powder or something else, as I thought they'd have gone cloudy straightaway if they were going to. But they've just started clouding up this week, boo his. Is there any way to clean them, or any way to prevent it happening? Did I do something wrong to make them suddenly go cloudy or is it a cumulative thing - will all glasses go like this in every dishwasher after a while? I've followed the instructions wrt rinse aid, salt and so on and always keep them topped up.

[picklepie555]

dishwasher cleaners are good (those little bottles that you turn upside down in the cutlery basket), might do the trick. If you are using proper salt, rinse aid etc I don't know what else to suggest, apart from trying different brand of tablets, rinse aid, salt. I must admit our glasses were quite cloudy when we used Finish tablets, then swapped to Asda ownbrand tablets or Aldi ones and they are not cloudy anymore (Aldi also do the cleaners too)

[Tinkjon]

I thought the idea of a dishwasher cleaner was odd because surely a dishwasher gets cleaned at the same time as it's cleaning the contents... ?

So did your glasses un-cloud themselves when you switched powder, for want of a better phrase, or did you get new ones which stayed ok?

[PestoMonster]

We I hand wash all our glasses to prevent this from happening.

[elmoandella]

gotta clean your dishwasher. and from now on use tablets that have salt and everything built in if you cant be bothered regularly cleaning it.

i find finish 5 in 1 good.

also... do you wait till the end of the cycle, or do you start unloading when it's still steaming them?

[Tinkjon]

But why do I have to clean the dishwasher if it has soapy water running around inside it? I don't understand!

I wait until the end of the cycle before unloading - should I not?

I hadn't used the all-in-one products because I've often heard that they don't clean as well as individual products ie. separate salt, rinse aid etc.

[elmoandella]

you should always wait till it's finished. if your using seperates then you probably have your measurements out of order.

just go buy the bloody 5 in 1's and problem solved.

i dont clean my dishwasher. i just wipe off the scum that collects in the tray every once in a while.

had it 3 years and still sparkly glasses

[picklepie555]

Dishwasher engineer told me to use cleaners. He also told me to rinse everything before loading into dishwasher . Little bits of limescale, grease and crumbs of food get stuck in the jet holes which means that they don't spray as well, and therefore don't clean and rinse as well as they should. I know it seems odd to clean something that is full of hot soapy water everyday but it does build up with grease and limescale and these things really do help. A cleaner dishwasher means cleaner glasses. My glasses seemed to get cleaner when I switched tablets and used cleaners. but my glasses weren't 'scratched' cloudy they were just not being properly cleaned by the dishwasher.

[traceukw1]

This article should be of use to you

www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=225

[Tinkjon]

elmoandella, the manual I got with my dishwasher said not to use the 3 in 1 or 5 in 1 products. It said they don't perform as well as separate products. Thanks for that article traceukw1 - will have a read.

[Tinkjon]

picvklepie, that makes sense about the grease getting into holes, I guess. As for the cloudiness, it's odd, it is neither scratched nor not cleaned - it's sort of in the glass itself.

Just read that article and it does seem to be due to incorrect dosage - but my machine tells you how much to add, it's all electronic, so no idea how I could be getting it wrong. Will switch to the multi-products and see if it makes a difference. Thanks everyone!

[AMumInScotland]

I assume you're not putting lead crystal glasses into the dishwasher - they can go cloudy because of a reaction with the detergents. Does the cloudiness come off if you hand-wash them?

[misdee]

we use seperate salt, rinse aid, and also 3 in one tabs as well.

glasses only go cloudy when the salt is running low. we are in a hard water area. i fill up the salt chamber with almost a whole bag every time it needs doing.

[Tinkjon]

MuminScotland, I don't know if it comes off as I haven't washed anything by hand since we got the dishwasher

[AMumInScotland]

If they are lead crystal ones (but you'd probably know because they'd be your "posh" glasses) then it won't come off, because it's a chemical reaction inside the glass(with the lead I guess).

If it's to do with the detergents and rinse aid, then it would come off if you washed them by hand reasonably vigorously, because it would just be a layer on the surface.

[CaptainKarvol]

I'm (almost) sure that I read somewhere that if you wipe the cloudy glass with vinegar, and it comes clear, it's something you can fix by changing your dishwasher powder/rinse aid ratios. If it doesn't come clear, it's scratching and you can't fix it. not for those glasses, anyway.

[bran]

I just went and replaced all our glasses with white glass tumblers from Ikea. I'm pretty slovenly though.

[wattene]

Seems quite an old thread, but it would appear that phosphates have been removed by law from detergents, and this is resulting in cloudy glasses. If vinegar does not remove the cloudiness, then it is the detergent which has etched the glass and there would appear to be no current remedy. I guess it al qaeda throwing the tabs at folk:)

[Dbhud90]

What to do when dishwasher does not have salt dispenser?

[PigletJohn]

What to do when dishwasher does not have salt dispenser?

I have never heard of such a thing.

Are you in Australia?

What is the make and model of your dishwasher?

[iMe]

our cheap ikea glasses have not gone cloudy.

[Rozbox]

This will really work if it's anything like my experience:
Firstly, make sure you do the basics. Always make sure you have enough rinseaid. Most dishwashers will indicate this for you. Huge, huge thing is enough salt. If you don't have a dishwasher the will tell you, you need to be checking once a fortnight for 2-3 folks in your family to once a week for anything bigger. Obviously this will depend on the hardness/softness of your water. I'm in London, so it's very hard and I try to look every Sunday knowing I can forget now and again but now too often. CRUCIALLY, if you are in a hard water area, go to your local pharmacy and ask them for a packet of citric acid monohydrate and fill the tablet pocket full of this powder and run it through the economy (or probably any other cycle) once a month. This has REALLY worked for us. However, be sensible. If you have cut glass, engraved, antique or stuff you really treasure, take the time to hand wash, washing and rinsing in the hottest water you can bear and then leave to dry naturally without rubbing it with you tea towel. I hope this helps some of you.

[Backingvocals]

This is very timely for me. I had a neff dishwasher for sux years with no problems. I just bought the exact same model to replace it and after two months my glasses (cheap ones that went in the old dishwasher a million times) are going cloudy.

Same everything obviously. Perhaps the model has subtly changed and now does this when the old one didn't. Will try the citric whatnot thing and extra rinseaid and salt although I never needed to before.

[shovetheholly]

I had this problem - it was caused by too much salt! Check that your levels are calibrated correctly to the water hardness in your area - there should be info on how to do this in the manual. If you're in a soft water area, you might not need any salt at all (and you might only need half tablet to wash)

[KoalaDownUnder]

Umm. Mine does this. It's a brand new Bosch so I thought it was odd.

I haven't been using salt. Didn't think it mattered. Whoops!

[MrsJayy]

Get a cleaner scum can build up and also open dishwasher after its finished let steam out stops cloudy glasses