Why do my glasses come out of the dishwasher dirtier than they went in?

[Blanketfull]

The come out covered in a dried on gritty substance, slightly orange in colour.

Mugs , even on the same shelf, plates, cutlery etc all look clean.

I've cleaned the dishwasher and run one of those dishwasher cleaning products through it.

We get that, I always assume it's from another dish that wasn't clean enough when put in. We obviously rinse stuff before it goes in but there's maybe sometimes a stray.

Do you need more salt and rinse aid? I find that the cheaper rinse aids don’t work for my dishwasher… I use the expensive super duper stuff.

You're either putting tithings in that are too dirty without rinsing them first or you haven't cleaned your dishwasher properly. have you completely taken it apart including removing the rotating arms and the large metal filter? You have to do all of that before putting the cleaner through it.

Have you cleaned the drain ? Do you run a short cycle if you do run a longer one, what tablets are you using ? Also if you open the door after it is finished let the steam out and hopefully the gritty bits don't land on your glasses

Use rinse aid, and top up frequently.
Rinse items before stacking
Branded tablets will give better cleaning results we've found.
Regular thorough cleaning of machine.

Have you pulled the filter out and given that a good clean too? They get gunky really quickly and the cleaning cycles are good but won't get rid of filter goo. It's what tends to leave residue on glasses.

I always take the filter out and clean thoroughly then run it on a full hot cycle with a Dr. Beckman cleaning sachet (or two if I've been particularly lazy and it's been a while since I cleaned it)

Hmm. Maybe I'm not cleaning it properly...how do you clean the drain?

Depending on your dishwasher the mechanisms will be a bit different.

For mine:

Remove all racks
unscrew a central wheel thing which then comes off completely. It is generally disgusting.
lift off the arms and often the small holes will all be clogged and there will be a layer of grease
then you can remove the small drain filter and clean it
then you can remove the large metal filter. again the bottom of this is likely to be dirty
then you can wipe the whole inside of the dishwasher
I often also then find there is a well of water which has bits in it like grains of rice and chips of glass. Best way to clean this is with a turkey baster to remove the water and then use kitchen roll. sometimes you might need to poke something through the drain channel make sure its clear.

then put is all back together and run a cleaning cycle with the cleaner

Pull it out there might be a metal bit surrounding it but it comes away easily just empty it and wash.it, I said drain i meant the filter.

Oh the plastic mesh cup thing? Or underneath that?

Yes the round meshy thing.

Yes, I take that out and clean it at least once a month.

Thoroughly clean and scrub the filters, take the arms off and give those a scrub, put a dishwasher cleaner in and run it on the hottest cycle, use rinse aid and salt always. Never ever put anything on the bottom shelf near where the water jets come up and stack your glasses carefully.

Ah ok. I do mine weekly maybe do it more often ?

Salt to soften the water topped up
Rinse aid to help clear down
Regular fliter cleaning
Regular deep clean of dishwasher internals with specialist cleaning product

Yes, but I did it yesterday and it's still happening.

Are the holes in the rotating arms clear? No solid items such fruit pips jammed in them or similar, I have seen photos of melon pips blocking them.

Build up of gunk in the machine - you need to disassemble anything which comes out, stick it in the bath and scrub it with very hot water and some kind of detergent. It's an absolutely disgusting job and if you've never done it the smell might make you retch. If the stuff has a slimy film on it which doesn't come off easily, that's a biofilm - it needs boiling water and some friction to remove.

Things to look for - the filters, which usually separate into two or three parts, also (carefully!) put your fingers down into the hole where the filter sits and check that the little fan thing turns properly. Be careful, because bits of broken glass or other sharp things can be stuck in here.

The door seal - that's always a disgusting one. Don't take out the bottom seal where the hinge is unless you can find a YT video confirming you don't have to remove the whole door to replace it, but the seal around the edges and top should come out and go back again easily.

The spinning arms. The top one usually has a cap to unscrew, the bottom one usually pulls up. Again youtube will help. There are often things like seeds and bits of spinach and eggshell stuck inside here - pipe cleaners stuck through the little holes can help you dislodge them and push them back towards the big hole in the middle.

For even more grot/advanced ick:

Some models of dishwasher the whole plastic piping that connects the bottom to the top can clip out, to clean behind.

Take the drawers out, the wheels sometimes have gunk build up and don't turn very well, you might also want to poke around with the sliding metal parts the top drawer rests on - sometimes this comes out too. Mine was full of some unimaginably disgusting paste which made me heave.

If you can't take those things out, try using a pipe cleaner or very thin cloth or a cocktail stick pushed behind those things, or a jet of water if you have a way to do that, to dislodge grotty old food residue.

For ongoing maintenance:

Clean the filters regularly e.g. once a week. Don't expect those "4-in-1 tablets" to actually replace the need for rinse aid and salt. You need both, or just switch to a basic powder/liquid and add separate rinse aid/salt. Check manual and adjust dosing level of salt to your water hardness (not usually needed unless white salty-tasting residue is being left, or very hard water area). Clean the spinning arms about once every 1-2 months.

I usually do the cleaning cycle with the cheap cleaning tablets about once every 1-2 weeks, after rinsing the filters with some hot water and washing up liquid, and then a cleaning cycle with the bottle type cleaner after cleaning the arms.

Dishwashers are truly disgusting but I hate washing up even more than I hate the idea of whatever the dishwasher is doing to the glasses, so I will live with it.

It might be your dishwasher not working properly?

Put a shot of white vinegar in the door before sending it off every time.
It will help on the pre wash to cut through oil and limescale and your glasses will be squeaky clean.
Also check the spray arms as they can get clogged with grit that just sediments inside.

Sometimes also if the leftover water after a cycle starts to smell like wet dog, I drain this out (start a cycle, wait for pump sound to start, press cancel, wait for pump sound to stop) and then put some mild detergent like all-purpose kitchen cleaner or washing up liquid down there and boil a full kettle, then empty the kettle into the dishwasher, let it sit for a couple of minutes and then repeat that cycle start/cancel in order to get it to drain again, this usually helps - I think sometimes there is grot just past the drain inside the dishwasher and then it sort of backwashes and contaminates the dishwasher itself with bacteria.

Don't put drain cleaner down there though, because it can cause an exothermic reaction (it heats up) and the dishwasher waste pipe is probably not rated for anything over ~90C. I've sometimes done it with a little bit of bleach but I don't know if that's a good idea TBH.

Sometimes I do the kettle thing before running one of the cleaning cycles, too. If I do that, I don't add anything to it because you need to be careful about accidentally mixing certain cleaning chemicals.

I suggest.

1. Down load and read the manual
2. Check salt and rinse aid is set to the correct dose for your water hardness. (see manual)
3. Don't pre-rinse, it wastes energy and your machine pre-rinse anyway. (it usually says this in the manual)
4. Ensure salt and rinse aid are full.
5. Clean filter, pump impeller and spray arms, including the one that might be in the very top above the cutlery tray.
6. Use dishwasher powder, and fill the "pre-rinse" area, or pour a little on the door before closing (Washing machines are designed to pre-rinse, and adding a little detergent helps)
7. Check that items are still warm after cycle completes to confirm that it is heating the water correctly.

Good luck!