Is there a secret with dish washers?

[Angiel]

I don't understand why half of my stuff is still dirty when I get it out of the dishwasher. Am I loading it up wrong, is it not working properly, are they just not that good?

Any help please because it's driving me mad. TIA.

[FairyMum]

Do you rinse your plates off before loading the dishwasher? I know I have to do that with mine....

[fio2]

would love a dishwasher, lucky you Angiel

[marialuisa]

Think you definitely need to rinse things off. have also found that for a very full load the express cycle isn't enough, you need to do a full eco-nightmare wash.

Sad, but dishwasher has changed my life....

[FairyMum]

Marialuisa, I cannot remember what my life was like pre-dishwasher......

[handlemecarefully]

*Make sure you are keeping your dishwasher salt topped up

*Are you using a rinse cycle before you do the main wash cycle?

*Periodically (perhaps once every couple of months) use a dishwasher cleaning solution - its in a small container which you invert in the cutlery drawer and then run the wash programme.

*Check the cutlery drawer and the 'crap' receptacle at the bottom of the dishwasher, and clean out the odd bits of food occasionally (only takes a couple of seconds)

• and yes, its all in the stacking. You need to leave room between the cereal bowls for instance for water to circulate freely (not like my dh who piles them on top of each other and wonders why they are still dirty)
  
  love from the domestic goddess!
  
  P.S. my dishwasher cleans efficiently but only if all the above are followed. I've had bad washing cycles but its usually due to one of the things above.

[Enid]

Salt! Mine stops cleaning well if I let the salt get too low. Also don't use the three-in-one tablets, plain tablets and rinse aid work much better.

Have you got a good make of dishwasher? Some of the cheaper ones are a waste of money IMO as they don't work very well.

[alibubbles]

My Bosch says not to rinse the plates before putting them in, just scrape them of large food particles. If they have not washed properly I normally find it is salt or rinse aid that needs topping up,

I also find three in one tablets not very efficient.

[Tortington]

i married my dishwasher - he broke down immediatly. so i produced 3 dishwashers who do the dishes nightly - however they often fail to complete their task and i end up doing it anyway.

[CountessDracula]

Angiel, I only ever put mine on the "Intensive" setting. If I don't then it all comes out dirty. It's a Bosch btw. Don't rinse first unless it's porridge or something c

[suedonim]

A friend had this problem recently so I asked if the filter was blocked. She didn't even know it had one, lol! Once she'd located and cleaned it her machine was back to 100% efficiency. We don't rinse off the dishes, just scrape any food off and it works fine.

[Issymum]

Can't believe I'm writing a message about dishwashers, but here goes.... It's really easy to stack the dishwasher so that something fouls with the blades/twizzly thing that goes round and dispenses the water. The handles of Tippee cups in the top shelf or tall wooden spoons in the cutlery rack do it for us every time. So just before you close the door, give the blades a quick twirl to make sure they are moving freely.

[Podmog]

Message withdrawn

[Demented]

I don't believe you should have to rinse first either, defeats the purpose if you ask me (although I do scrape the solids into the bin). I never use the economy wash (false economy if you have to do them twice), make sure the dishes aren't so tightly packed that the water can't get between them, sometimes a heavy dish leaning against your stacked plates can be enough to do it. Every two to three months I remove all the filters and the arm thing that dispenses the water, give them a good scrub in the sink, pop them back in and run a cleaning solution through the machine (2 for £1.49 in Aldi ). As Issymum says make sure nothing is stopping the blade/arm revolving. Can't think of anything else but I do pride myself in my dishwasher loading skills !

[Twink]

Glad it wasn't just me SueDonim !

I knew about the little filter which I cleaned every week or so (ok, month or when it smelled..) but only found out accidentally about the big one which should be done monthly according to the manual - by then I'd had the machine 5 years and it was like something out of a horror film.

[zebra]

Judging by the length of this thread, there are lots of secrets with dishwashers!!

Glad I just have to keep mine (DH) well -supplied with butter.

[hoxtonchick]

Never EVER buy an indesit is my only tip, i'm still regretting it 2 years later. We use 3 in 1 tablets, but with salt & rinse aid added as well. And quite often the bloody thing doesn't work anyway. I am campaigning for a new one.

[magnum]

Must just say how fantastic it is to have a dishwasher. I now class mine as an essential along with the washing machine. I can't believe how much time in the day it saves me. I have a Bosch and it didn't clean properly once. I discovered it was because there was a stray teat that had gone down below the spray arm stopping it from rotating properly. (I wouldn't advise cleaning babies bottles in it though as they will discolour and I don't feel it cleans them properly. I only tried the once!)

[Angiel]

Thanks for all your advice. I've emptied the filter at the bottom, which was pretty gross. Unblocked the holes in the spray arms which seemed to have stray bits of food stuck in it.

I have been using tablets so I've now stocked up on salt, rinse aid and powder and hopefully that will do the trick.

It's so annoying, you buy these things to save you time and then they drive you up the wall!!

[roberta]

hmm - I'm having the same problem with mine (Bosch) - glasses always have a residue of stuff in them and it's driving me crazy cos I always have to wash up the things from the dishwasher. I've topped up salt and rinse aid, run 2 cycles with just dishwasher cleaner, checked filter at the bottom of machine and stacked carefully. Any more ideas? What's all this about a big filter?

[handlemecarefully]

roberta - new dishwasher!!!!

...although its odd because Bosch is known as a good make.

[FineVintage]

Our glasses also get gritty bits of sediment in them, I was told that was down to the salt (ie it needs topping up), but it sounds as if you have done this to no avail. Also wondering what this 'big' filter is ? I have a 4/5yr old Hotpoint which is generally great but I'm thinking that it would be fantastic if I located this mystical big filter (we don't have the manual anymore) !

P.S. Does anyine find that their DH is completely incapable of loading the dishwasher correctly ??? Mine either loads it in a way that it only takes 1/2 a load or he overfills it to the point of stacking stuff on top of stuff already crammed into the racks ! He also has a habit of putting DD's drinking cup valves in a full bit of the cutlery holder so that they come out and fall onto the hot element. They are generally melted and ruined when the cycle has finished. Drives me mental.

[suedonim]

On my Bosch there is a small filter, about 2inches across and that sits within a perforated metal disc, about 10 or 12 inches across. The big platey thing lifts out as well, so the crud can be cleaned off. HTH.

My dh tussles constantly with the d/w, FV. He seems to regard it as a challenge to his manhood if he has to hand wash anything, and he'd rather spend 10mins restacking everything to get a single glass in, than spend 30secs washing a glass by hand! Also, I'm not allowed to load it when he's home, which is fine by me.

[susanmt]

My dh says I am incapable of loading the dishwasher properly so now it is his job. I just wish he would do it earlier in the evening, not right before we go to bed, as we are right above the kitchen and it is an old, noisy machine. Well, better than having to do them by hand I suppose.

[monkey]

My dishwasher was doing such a crap job I gave up on it for months, then thought I'd give it one last attempt so I

• took off all the arms scrubbed them thoroughly (lots of holes were blocked)
  
• got out the manual & checked the recommended salt & rinse aid settings for the hardness of the water in your area (they weren't correct)
  
• cleaned all the filters.
  
• refilled all the salt & rinse aid.
  Changed tablets (agree - not 3 in 1)
  
  Now it's fine. i think the setting for how much salt & rinse aid vs. hard water is a big one & easy to overlook.
  Also, as other have said, make sure nothing sticks up too far/hangs down, preventing the arms spinning properly.