To throw my dishwasher out of the window?

[KenAdams]

Physically, I understand I may struggle.

I've been trying for about a month to get my dishwasher to start washing stuff properly. Salt and rinse aid are full, I've tried various different dishwasher tablets, the food trap thing inside is clean yet everything comes out either dirty or with a horrible coating on it. I've tried all the different wash cycles too but it's still the same, I'm getting increasingly frustrated with loading and unloading a dishwasher then having to wash it all by hand anyway!

Has anyone else had this or am I not doing something glaringly obvious? Or am I going to have to get someone out to look at it? I realise I sound irrational about this but it's been a month.

Is it a new machine? How old is it, what make and model? Which programme are you using and what detergent?

YANBU

Mine does this. We inherited it when we bought the house.

I have cleaned it, topped it up with various rinse aids/salt, changed tablets, replaced the spray arms and still everything comes out (more so on the top shelf) with a layer of what can only be described as grit, all over.

Are you scraping food remnants off before loading it in? Have you checked that there is nothing blocking the holes on the spray arms and that all internal pipe work is attached correctly? My DS pushed the upper basket in too hard and popped a pipe joint open. Nothing was coming out clean so I had a look and once remedied everything worked fine again.

Also do you use dishwasher cleaner from time to time?
I have found some detergents grittier than others, what have you tried?

Make sure the filter is seated properly, mine needs a twist after it's been placed back in its hole.

Too much rinse-aid can leave a weird film-like coating on glassware.

^ How can you use 'too much' Rinse-aid though? Doesn't it dispense automatically?

Try soda crystals on a rinse wash -

Or get some cotton wool and white vinegar and wrap around the spray arms overnight - this should clean them (works with shower head as well)

I read that as throw my dishwater out of the window!

I had a mental image of you living in a tower block and soaking innocent people below

Have you run an actual dishwasher cleaner through it?

You can get a 'dishwasher cleaner' solution from supermarkets (like everything else, cheap from Aldi but they might not always have it, or more £££s everywhere else) that you put in and run an empty cycle and that cleans out all the spray arms etc.

What is your water hardness - could it be limescaled up. I live in a very soft water area and think this is one of the reasons why my appliances last a long time despite poor treatment (dishwasher on about 5 times a week, nothing ever rinsed, always cleaned, bog standard mid range dishwasher lasted 13 years, washing machines at least this long too).

Friend lived in a very hard water area and had loads of problems with dishwasher, she used more salt in a month than I used in a year, spent a fortune on Calgon and machines lasted 3/4 years if she was lucky.

How are you loading - another friend complained his dishwasher didn't get things clean, but I watched him putting long knifes upright in the cultery basket and this was stopping the bottom spray arm spinning properly - moving the knives to flat on the top rack solved the problem.

Oh God, has dishwasher cleaner become the new 'cancel the cheque' while I was typing my post?

You could try a dishwasher cleaner?

:)

Sounds like your spray arms are blocked. Have you checked those?

Re: rinse aid.

Both dishwashers I have had have had a '1 to 9' dial on the rinse aid dispenser, presumably to set the amount of rinse aid dispensed (I rarely use it as I use all in one tablets, usually from Aldi, as they are much cheaper than Finish even when supposedly 'better than half price' and seem to do the job perfectly well).

Sounds like it needs at least one super clean with a special detergent.

Is salt REALLY full and are you washing on hottest wash to clear the pipes?

Our dishwasher was spotlessly clean, filters clear etc, but cutlery and glasses still came out streaky.
One session with dishwasher cleaner fixed it. Now working perfectly again.

YY check the spray arms. They are really awkward to remove and can fill up with the most horrendous crap.

Have you checked the spiny arms?

We have rice and watermelon seeds get into the spiny arms, and then block the holes so the DW became super ineffective.

I stuck limescale remover onto the sprayers, particularly as much down into the holes as I could get and left it for a few hours then ran it empty on a hot wash twice - no detergent or anything that might react. Then I ran it empty again with one of those bottles of dishwasher cleaner.
That seems to have sorted it - mine was driving me crazy too!

Salt?! What salt?

I didn't think you needed to bother with salt or rinse aid if you are using the all in one tablets. Maybe you are using too much.
I've never used seperate rinse aid.

Scummiest part of dishwasher is usually the inside rim under the door.

Yy to not using rinse aid and salt if using the all-in-one tables. I found my cutlery, tbh nasty cheap stuff, was getting rush spots, stopped using rinse aid and salt and rust spots disappeared; likewise the streaks on glasses.

I've never used salt and rinse aid with all in one tablets, and for some time didn't use them with normal tablets because I didn't realise that they weren't the all in one kind - everything still came out clean.

I'm using some Finish powerball ones. It's a Beko DWD5414W and we've had it for about 7 years.

I have not checked the spinning things. I knew there was something obvious that I would need to do so I'll have a go at that, thank you.

I've tried dishwasher cleaners but they made no difference although I'm willing to try again if someone can recommend a specific one?

Thank you for all the suggestions so far.