Dishwasher driving me mad!!

[dishwasherfrenzy]

Please help me with this nightmare dishwasher! I thought it would make life easier!!
I put it on - I've tried ALL settings and different tablets.
I have put salt in the part salt should go in. And rinse aid etc. I clean the filter regularly.
everything still comes out manky.
With little bits on like everything is covered in sand!!!
Then I have to hand wash everything.
I also use a dishwasher cleaner every month too!
Why is this happening..?!?!

Another one for giving the spray arms a thorough clean. Fill with water and jiggle from side to side so any debris comes out of the large hole in the middle.

But also make sure when you are removing the filter(s) that they are going back exactly in the correct place, otherwise when the water is recirculated your spray arms will continue to get bits of food inside. When I had a similar problem before I looked into it and realised we hadn't been re-seating the large particle filter correctly. (Ours looks like a little basket with an arm that sits at the bottom of the dishwasher).

How much gunk is on the plates when you load them? That's what the sandy stuff is, it's food residue. I wipe our plates clean (ish) with a bit of kitchen roll as instructed by an engineer ages ago.

For dried on weetabix and the like, I soak the plates first too.

@dishwasherfrenzy I've just had a visit from the guy who installed my Hotpoint dishwasher. He has said that the top spray arm isn't spinning. (You can easily check this by noting its position, letting it run a few mins, then opening the door to see if its moved).

But he doesn't know why it's not spinning. He's ordering a new spray arm, and coming back next week to see if it fixes the problem.

In the meantime, this article gives some good info on the reasons why the spray arms may not turn: howtofixit.net/dishwasher-spray-arms-not-spinning/

I did try to suggest to the dishwasher man that low water pressure due to a blockage might be the problem, but he was a bit dismissive. I'm not sure I have full confidence in his diagnostic skills tbh.

Mine was a blocked outlet pipe, which the repair man said was because we were not rinsing plates properly - oooopps. Very, very, careful now to rinse everything before putting in DW. Also, he advised using salt. DW tabs are actually not very good, especially in hard water areas. You still need salt.

This was 10 years ago, the DW is 20 years old, and never had another problem since.

My dishwasher instructions say that you need to "scrape" plates but not rinse them. Presumably it achieves the same end result with less water (but more effort) and allows them to achieve their A++ environmental rating. However, we rinse. 🙂

What I didn't say, because it's pretty disgusting, is that we went through a phase of eating chicken satay. The outlets pipes had gone yellow, and the pea-nutty fatty deposits had built up. Soooooo...... this particularly prompted me to rinse as well as scrape

Definitely rinse/swill anything really dirty before they go in. Or do a quick rinse cycle on the dishwasher first, then the main wash.

I have a bottom of the line dishwasher. I clean it out with citric acid every so often.

I soak everything in hot, soapy water amd clean all food bits off with a scrubbing brush before I load it all into the dishwasher. It gets squeaky clean in the dishwasher.

I stopped using additional rinse aid with 3 in 1 tablets and this seemed to help. I try to run it on hot and empty once a week. I clean filter often, wipe around the door . I do not over load, this seems to really make a difference. I get so annoyed when husband wedges in a last mug or something .

Aren't they then clean enough to just dry and put away?

Mine has a non return valve thingie under the filter which needs a bit of a rinse every now and then.

Have you tried clearing that?

I didn't even know it was there but mine stopped draining. I should that it was the first time I had read the manual correctly and was amazed by all the settings I didn't know I had... 😊

It's right there. In the OP.

You do, my dishwasher lights come on demanding them 😂

Shouldn't be if they're used properly.

We had the cheapest dishwasher possible and used basics tablets and never struggled.

Well, if you're basically washing your stuff before the dishwasher.... What's the point of the dishwasher???

You shouldn’t need to wash your plates before putting them in the dishwasher … surely that defeats the point?

I scrape into food bin then bung them in dwasher on a pre rinse then full cycle.

• Clean arms, drain, any removable part as PP suggested.

• Rinse/scrape off as much solid food as possible. You don't want any crumbs etc

• Use any tablet. Fairy/supermarket basics...makes no actual difference. The pods and fancy colours are just marketing. Especially if you're using the salt tray and rinse aid anyway.

• Use bog standard rinse aid... again makes no difference. No need for the £££ branded version. It's exactly the same as the basic supermarket version.

• Use the correct cycle Use the normal one. Not anything that says eco/short/quick etc.

• Use the pre-wash function properly too. (Yes, your dishwasher has a pre-wash) I tend to cut my tablets and chop off a ⅓ and put it in the bottom of the dishwasher. And the remaining 2/3 in the detergent drawer. This obviously won't work with those plastic pods (which are a waste btw).

Your dishes will be sparkly clean. Even using basic tablets and rinse aid. (Ideally I'd use powder, but it's hard to get hold of these days)

Why are some of you washing plates before putting them in the dishwasher?

The dishwasher doesn't work and you get grains of salt - so you just naturally assume that all dishwashers are shit? what a weird assumption. Clearly something is wrong and if you fix it I'm sure the dishwasher will work fine.

Your normal dishwasher cycle will absolutely have a pre-wash. It tends to spray the hot water in for a while and rinses the dishes,. Just listen to the cycle and you'll hear it drain around ¼ way through. Then it will start up again and you'll hear the drawer open and tablets drop.

If you use detergent in the pre-wash it will make that part more effective. And you'll be doing the main wash on cleaner dishes.

If you cannot bring yourself to cut a dishwasher tablet, or only have pods. Consider buying a small pack of supermarket basic tablets for that pre-wash. But ideally you only need ⅓ish for that pre-wash.

Best is powder, as you can actually dose correctly for your dishwasher and the load.... But it's hard to get hold of easily.

I found putting a slug of white viniger in with the wash stopped it. We are in a really hard water area though.

That's called washing up!! Why do you put clean plates in the dishwasher? What a waste of time and energy!

You still need rinse aid and tons of salt, fill it right up to the top, even with the 3 in 1.

We had exactly this problem.
There was food stuck in the upper spray arm. They pull off easily and you can flush them out.