A very boring thread about dishwashers and crockery

[thenewaveragebear1983]

After months of my dishwasher constantly leaving silt on everything (well, almost everything) I have tried literally every suggestion- salt, rinse aid, no salt, no rinse aid, top quality tablets, run the hot tap before switching on, tried all the cycles, don't wash any pans or really dirty stuff or massive things in there, I can only conclude that it's not the dishwasher, it's the actual dishes, causing the issue.

Granted, everything is old, I think my plates are too big, but the backs of the plates especially have lost their shine and that's what seems to get gritty. Bowls (I have nice straight edge deep bowls from habitat) - all absolutely awful, never ever get clean. Cutlery is always fine, plus I have 6 berylware side plates , these are also always clean. So it can't be just the dishwasher.

I need to buy new plates, it's driving me bonkers and I end up handwashing 50% of the dishes. Any recommendations that the glaze will survive dishwashing and they will come out actually clean? Extra points if the plates aren't absolutely huge!

Do you clean the dishwasher itself, clear the filter etc.? At least once a month.
And check that your machine "knows" your local water hardness, so it uses the right amount of salt (assuming this can be set on your model). Other than that, I do think plates and cutlery do get worn out by dishwashing.

Could it be the spray arm that washes the bottom of the dishwasher? That's the one that often gets blocked for me.

Give it all a good clean, clean the filter, take the spray arms off and make sure all the holes are clear, check the drain pipe is running freely, do an empty hot wash with a cleaner. I don't think the dishes can make themselves mucky, but if they are rough to the touch they may be harder to rinse off if the washer is blocked up, circulating fine debris and not effectively rinsing. Have you checked on line if other people complain about that particular dishwasher model?

Not all crockery is dishwasher safe, especially old crockery, and I suspect you are degrading the glaze.

Buy a new set of plates if you want to use the dishwasher and either bin/charity shop the old stuff or hand-wash it. Most will mention on the label if it is dishwasher safe, or microwave safe, or ovenproof.

My dishwasher is exactly the same. I think the pump has gone though as if I open the door as soon as the cycle finishes, then there's still water in the bottom. So I think it's just throwing dirty water everywhere. Waiting until Black Friday sales to find a new one.

Next do great plates that are good size and dishwasher friendly. Also try Aldi dishwasher tablets the silver packet ones... Game changer

Do you put your dishwasher on the hottest/longest cycle often to give the pipes etc a good clean?

Have you stripped it though? You should take the spray arms off and remove the filters. They all need a good clean. Then run a dishwasher cleaner to degunk everything.

Mine can build up a lot of sediment in the crevices.
Every few months I take the shelves out up to the bath then shower/ brush them clean, check the spinning arms and corners of the machine and put it on for a rinse while totally empty.

It makes a massive difference.

That happened to mine and it wasn't the pump. I had to pull the filter out and give it a good clean. Then I ran a couple of washes on hot and all was absolutely fine.

Mine did this. Turned out the filter wasn't fitting in quite right so gunk got around the edges and sprayed on the plates. And the gunk then blocked the spray arms making things worse. So double check that the filter is clean and fitted right.

Thanks all, some great tips here.

I'm fairly confident it's not the filter or the spray arms, I've pulled it apart so many times And cleaned it all. It's weird that not everything comes out gritty as well, I definitely think the texture and shape of certain dishes isn't helping the cleaning.

I looked in Tesco today and virtually every range only has bowls that are either really deep like flowerpot shape, or flat bottomed with a sort of inch high rim, almost like pasta bowls. The ones that I actually think I need are clearly desperately unfashionable!