Why has my stainless steel cutlery blueish/mauve marks all over it?

[TinyGang]

It's from Ikea. Plain stainless steel and I have been putting it in the dishwasher, but it always has these funny marks all over it these days.

It's just a set of small knives and forks that the children use; they are a perfect size but don't look very nice these days.

Anything I can do? Maybe the stainless steel is coming off.

No they'll be solid s/steel but it could be the chrome content is low and is affected by the salt in the dishwasher. Think the change is actually in the metal but you could try a polish like Peek's.

My dishwasher book says if there are streaks or a bluish coating on things you should decrease the rinse aid dosage

Aah interesting about the rinse aid. Thank you I'll ask dh if we can use less in it.

Maybe I'll have a go at polishing them.

Also keep the knives separate from the rest of the cutlery. Knives apparently have a different metal content to the others which can lead to defects appearing.

suedonim , that can be true but is generally not for cheaper cutlery where the knives are made in one piece rather than separate handle and blade. On knives with a separately cast handle (stainless steel or silver plated) you normally see pitting on the blade first because the metal used is a different compound so it can be sharpened.