Dishwasher not cleaning properly - HELP

[ShizerMinelli]

We have a dishwasher integrated in our IKEA kitchen (went for the middle of the road choice) - have only had it since June, and already it's getting pretty shoddy at cleaning. Everything seems gritty.

Have tried - salt, rinse aid (do these all time), taking apart and cleaning g thoroughly, various dishwasher cleaners, rinsing plates before they go in.

Before I go back to IKEA, is there anything obvious I'm missing?

have you had the spinny arms off?? They often get blocked with peas/sweetcorn and it's the devil to find. Also, they sometimes unscrew the wrong way...not rightytighty, letyloosey. ;) but sometimes they just clip in and out, so check before wrenching anything off!!

I never even thought about the spinny arms! Thank you!

Have just looked, they are gross - now to figure out how to get them off!

"Have just looked, they are gross"

Don't you scrape your plates and dishes clean before you put them into the dishwasher? We always give our dishes a quick rinse before loading the dishwasher.

We do scrape and rinse - maybe we are just wildly disgusting and unsanitary?

In other news, still can't get the spinners off.

ahhhh the curse of the manky spinny arm!

did you try the unscrewing the wrong way? Have a google for the manual if you have lost the one that came with

My other top dishwasher tip is to vary the programmes...it's probably nonsense but I think it works. I rarely use the rinse and hold, but am very fond of the quick program (5) and otherwise tend to use the everyday one (2) but sometimes for the hell of it I'll do an Eco, but only if I am going out, as it seems to take for ever to do and i panic that the washer is broken.

I think it gives the machine something to look forwards to....a bit of variety. dh thinks i am crazy

You shouldn't rinse stuff before it goes in the dishwasher - makes the dishwasher less effective. I read it somewhere. Also it's a waste of water.

My dishwasher isn't washing well either.
I've cleaned out the filter trap, and topped up the (empty) rinse aid, but I'll check the spinny arms in the morning.

My sons new dishwasher hasinstructions also say not to rinse before putting stiff in which I find most weird. I only need to leave the tiniest bit of eggshell in mine & it can cause chaos! The filter & spindly arms can get quite disgusting in no time!

We rinse because we use the eco wash programme. Our stuff comes out spotlessly clean. It's a Bosch BTW.

Don't rinse, but should scrape. I wouldn't put plates with peas and corn stuck to them.

I'very discovered one of our plates stops the spinning arm on the bottom level from spinning. It is oddly shaped but I never thought it was big enough to stop the arm. Worth checking there's not something like that going on.

We rinse because we use the eco wash programme

Rather negates the point of the eco programme.

I'm having the same problem with my dishwasher!!! Everything is checked, salt, rinse aid, Spinny arm things and things are still coming out gritty. I've done everything I can think of! Any other ideas are welcome please before I call John Lewis. Fortunately it's still under warranty.

Have you emptied the filter/food trap?

I know Little bear but old habits die hard, and OH insists. He is in charge of the dishes 90% of the time and I just let him get on with it.

I managed to clean the spinny arms in situ, but still things had grit on them when they came out.

Awaiting the look on DMs face, who told me buying integrated was asking for trouble

I hate this dishwasher grit! It is usually crap in the spiny arms. Also for us switching to Fairy Platinum tablets helped a bit.

I think ours is when we make smoothies, even though we do rinse I guess there's still a few seeds, etc, on the blender/glasses.

Do you live in a hard water area, OP?

@Ifailed I hadn't thought of that - we live in a soft water area. Would this have anything to do with it you think? Have done everything!

ShizerMinelli
I know hard water can clog things up with limescale, hence I always run one of the washer cleaner things through once a month. If you are still having problems, have you tried one of them?

@Ifailed have tried a few - tried a cheap one at first, then splashed out. Still getting the dreaded grit. Think it's back to IKEA I go. Thank you!

Our spiny arms have a centre fixing that turns to drop them out or allows them to lift off. I find when this happens on ours they need a really good clean (very hot water and all blockages poked out with a toothpick) before the problem improves. I then run the hottest wash with the dishwasher empty

I had a Rangemaster integrated dishwasher. Got it free with our cooker. It was crap and cleaned nothing no matter what I did. Eventually we chucked it and bought a Bosch one. Still integrated. It is fab and cleans brilliantly. Sometimes some dishwashers are just crap! What sort is yours?

I think that dishwasher powder has recently changed to remove phosphates. Better for the environment, but now all my glasses and cutlery are covered with a white film. Annoying.