Dishwashers & milky glasses
 

Ive got a Bosch Excel (think thats mid range) for about 3/4 years now. Some of the cheaper glasses are now milky/cloudy around the middle of the sides. Ive read the manual and says water softner (i.e. salt) set too low. Ive got it on top whack as according to Thames Water website the water in my area is as hard as it gets:

Thames Water Official Website - Check water quality in your area

Manual also says that glasses may not be fully dishwasher proof. As the cheaper glasses are the ones affected Id go along with this (some stella ones I have are probably built for pub trade i.e. washed several times a day and are fine) but recently some wine glasses from Debenhams have also gone the same way.

Ive also got the rinse aid set to the highest value. Anyone had this problem and worked out what is the main cause?

Cheers,
Simon

You need to look closely at the glasses. Are they actually "scoured" ie: is there some damage?
If so, it's softer glasses, and the only way round it is to handwash them, sorry:(

If they aren't damaged, but there is a layer of milky deposit, your rinse aid could be turned up too high.

I got this when I changed Rinse-Aid brands.:rolleyes:

Alcazar

ive just got rid of my Bosch dishwasher, had it for 10 years, never a problem. got a new one (A rated) and now my glasses look pants :(

i live in a very hard area but i dont think its the water thats damaging the glasses :confused:

They all do it eventually. Every dishwasher I have ever had makes glassed go cloudy.

I think the main thing to do is make sure the salt level is kept at the recommended level.

Both salt and rinse-aid are critical.

You need to experiment until you get the right combination.

Also remember that tablets and pouches contain both water softener and rinse-aid, so use of them will upset the dosing done by the machine;)

I use powder, (Sainsbury's own brand), plus separate rinse-aid and salt.

Works out cheaper too;) and I've not had any problem other than changing rinse-aid brand when Sainsbury's ran out of their own brand:(

Alcazar

We had the same problem, it was only after checking the salt cap and found it was not tight enough, tightened it up 2 washes later glasses were back to spakling, hope this helps.
Cheers
Colin

I was all mine by hand with "mild cream fairy liquid" (TM) :smug:

Buy new glasses :D

Don't be ****ing with my head. Please tell me that the jingle went "Mild GREEN fairy liquid"

One of us has been living a lie.

..... so was it not "hands that do dishes can feel soft as your skin" :Suspiciou .... which is ironic as your hands are actually already made of skin :confused:

It was "mild green.." Double deffo :smug:

*Goes off to Google...*

Back :D

"Fairy is a popular brand of washing-up liquid produced by Procter & Gamble in London, United Kingdom. Fairy liquid is traditionally green, prompting the well-known advertising jingle "Now hands that do dishes can feel soft as your face, with mild green Fairy Liquid"

:smug: :D

If it is actually a milkyness to the glass itself (rather than a deposit) then it is due to the agressive detergent actually damaging the glass. For crystal with lead in it the detergent will leach the lead out, leaving zillions of microscopic cracks that look like swirls and clouds. For non-lead glass it can still cause a lot of surface damage. It is a form of etching, just like some types of frosted glass.

Higher wash temperatures make it worse. There is nothing that can be done to restore the clarity of the glass after it happens.

Thank god for that. :D

Try reading "Now hands that do dishes can feel soft as your face, with mild green Fairy Liquid" without singing it. It can't be done :eek: :D

Why would anyone want hands as soft as their face :confused: ........ and if I used mild cream (also known as green) Fairy Liquid (TM) on my face what would it then become.... " hands that do dishes can feel........soft as a babies arse" :mad:

This just goes from bad to feckin worse!

Simon,

Its possibly erosion of the glass, rather than a deposit, as mentioned above.

Happens in soft water areas too where salt is not required.

FWIW, you should never wash crystal in a dishwasher.

Too much rinse aid, or too much salt can have a similar effect as too little - cloudy glasses

So its catch 22 then. I like the dishwasher as it generally makes the glassware sparkle whereas its a PITA washing by hand and never look as tidy.

Strange thing that all my stella, bud, reading beer festival glasses are fine. If it wasnt for my more expensive wine glasses going the same way Id blame it on cheap glass.

Looks like if I get some new glasses Ill have to handwash to be safe and leave this lot for dishwasher use. After googling it seems that high temp washes dont agree with glass so will leave on the usual 55c eco mode I try and use most of the time.

Simon

Should be on 55degrees anyway:

The only time ours gets put on high temp is if there are some very dirty oven trays or pots/pan with burnt crud on, and the Teflon has worn off.

thats every day then :lol1:

Wot? No time to cook properly, too busy trying to get to 100,000 posts?:D

Alcazar

not me you plumb, i meant Ali :D

i have done less than 1000 this last year :Suspiciou

"Ive got a Bosch Excel (think thats mid range) for about 3/4 years now. Some of the cheaper glasses are now milky/cloudy around the middle of the sides. Ive read the manual and says water softner (i.e. salt) set too low. Ive got it on top whack as according to Thames Water website the water in my area is as hard as it gets:....."

It could be that your water softening unit has packed up...

or - How often do you top up the salt, do it once a week in a hard water area

Stop burning your food then :razz:

The Mayor of the town goes to the top restaurant called Gervais's. As he's the top man the head chef, Gervais personally asks him what he wants to eat.
He decides, after much deliberation, on the dish of the day, which is Squid. Gervais takes him to the aquarium to choose a squid, he spots one, which by strange coincidence has a small moustache just like his own.
So... Gervais takes the squid to the kitchen, puts it on the board and takes out his largest knife to kill it, he raises his hand and as he goes to kill it hears a very quiet "eeeek", he looks around... nothing, so he raises his arm, goes to kill it and again hears a quiet "eeeek" .. looking down he sees the squid and it again goes "eeek".
He then finds he can't bring himself to kill the squid. So he looks across the kitchen and sees Hans, the dishwasher. "Hans! Come over here and kill this squid for me so I can prepare a dish for the Mayor". Hans is bored with his dishwashing job and thinks to himself that if he can do this job properly he can make it as a chef, I really need to prove myself by doing a job properly. So he raises his arm, knife in hand and goes to kill the squid.
"Eeeek" he hears, strange he thinks... and looks around... nothing.. so he goes to kill the squid and again... a quiet "eeeek". He looks down and sees the squid and it again goes... "eeeek" . Hans is troubled.. he wants to prove himself but is obviously having troubles, he raises his arm again brings knife down and just before he does the squid quietly goes "eeeeek".
Hans realises that he doesn't have the heart to kill the squid and the Mayor misses out on his cordon bleu meal.
The Moral of this story?
















Hans that do dishes can be soft as Gervais, with the mild scream, hairy lip squid

whats all this about rinse aid, salt and powder etc

I just use the all in one tablet things, Finish 25 in 1 they are up to these days I think :)

My glassess always come out sparkling, but the logos are slowly fading, but then no surprise as they get washed many times a week and have done for many years now :)

Top tip though, I only buy the all in ones when they are on mega offer, like home bargains currently have the new style gel ones for half price (and they have 25% extra tablets in them too) thats about 40 washes

About once every few months when the "Low Salt" indicator comes on.....

Simon

Me too, I'm currently on the Finish Max In Tab Powerwash tabs, you don't even have to unwrap them, just lob them in the machine and the packaging dissolves :thumb: :D I do live in a very soft water area though :smug:

Dunno what ours is "power powder" I think- its commercial stuff from the cash and carry, comes in a big box and lasts forever: Like washing powder, the consumer stuff from supermarkets became too expensive.

Consequentally, I can't move in the garage/shed for the gallon bottle of rinse aid, a 25kg sack of salt tablets. And for the washing mashine, 2 gallons of softner and 2 foofing huge boxes of powder. :rolleyes: