Dishwasher Issues

Hi L.,
I HATE WHEN THIS HAPPENS!!! Ugh! It needs to have the filter cleaned out. Have you tried running it through without dishes or soap on the hottest, most aggressive cycle (POTS & PANS). Try this a couple of times, otherwise if you don't have a removable filter then you will have to take out the water "spinner" in the bottom & clean it all out. Hope this helps gal. Take care, G

Try running an empty load with tang instead of soap. My father-in-law is a plumber and he recommended this as a way of getting rid of any build up and/or smell in the dishwasher.

Good luck

I had the same problem and my small town repair man told me I needed a new motor or just buy a new dishwasher. My dishwasher was only three years old so I refused to do either. I ran an empty dish washer with Lime Away. It sounds harsh but the bottle says you can use it to clean coffee pots and other kitchen appliances. I feeled the dispenser and ran the hottest cycle. You can also throw salt or citric acid in the bottom as you run it too. I have also heard to run a cycle using Tang but I haven't tried it.

One other thing that might help to is to replace the "flapper" at the back of your dishwasher. I don't know the real part but it closes over the hose at the back to prevent stuff from flushing back into your dishwasher.

My dishwasher is now eight years old and it is has been doing it again. Eventually, I know this trick won't work and I may have to buy a new dishwasher but I got five more years out of my dishwasher. I have a Whirlpool, and was curious what brand you have.

Good luck, I will be watching for other responses, too.

It used to happen to us all the time. We did eventually end up getting a new dishwasher, but it did help to run an empty cycle every once in a while with that dishwasher cleanser they sell. I have found it at WalMart where they have the dish detergent and such. It is called Dishwasher Magic. Maybe that will help. Good luck!

I've had this problem a lot over the years. My dishwasher is far from new. I find that the hard water can create this problem. I add 1 cup of white vinegar at the beginning of every load and it usually takes care of the problem as well as helps eliminate the film the soap can sometimes leave on dishes especially glassware. If that doesn't solve the problem. I would check to see if the holes in your sprayer arms are plugged. Hard water can build up in these over time and then the dishes don't get washed/rinsed properly. Good luck!

Have you cleaned the trap? There is a trap in the back of the dishwasher that bigger things can't go through. If it is not clean then the stuff gets redeposited back onto the dishes. All you have to do is pull out the bottom rack and grab all the junk around the trap. It should help you out.

It may be that your dishwasher is suffering from mineral build-up from hard water. Hard water can acctually shorten the life of your dishwasher and clothes washer. A water softener is a great investment to help with these problems, plus your tub and shower will stay cleaner. If that is not an option financially, then just use a dishwasher cleaner, I think that jet-dry brand makes one. YOu put it in your dishwasher and run a cycle with no dishes in it. You can also use plain vinegar and do the same thing, and scrub the inside of the dishwasher with vinegar. Good luck!

Hi L.!

I had the same issue: tried Jet Dry, and it didn't work. What did work was moving the glasses from the top shelf to the bottom shelf. It's a pain, and sometimes I really have to be creative about reorganizing things. But ever since I put the glasses on the bottom rack of the dishwasher, I haven't had the problem! Hope this helps! L.

I've had the same issue, and I saw the same suggestion in another post: did you check the trap? We cleaned ours out and it improved. Also, we run an empty load with some CLR every once and awhile, that seems to help as well. Good luck!

I had the same problem but mine was caused from not totally rinsing cornmeal out of a bowl, never did get rid of it.

What kind of soap did you switch from? You probably have already, but have you used liquid soaps?

I think it would drive me crazy too... Sorry you are going through this..

Some dishwashers have a grinder in them that needs to be emptied. You might want to check and if needed clean out the grinder

I know what you are talking about, I have experienced the same thing and it drives me crazy! I try to rinse the dishes before they go in and I use liquid soap. I've tried all the things you have and I still get gritty glasses.

Looking forward to the responses and hopefully a solution!

Check the spinner that washes the top rack of dishes. Sometimes you can get plastic/paper/food stuck in the little holes and that makes the spray to rinse off the dishes not as effective -- leading to tiny bits of food grit stuck on the glasses. I had that too and cleaning out the sprayer helped. Of course my dishwasher started leaking so I got a new one :)

don't know if someone else said this but using the dishwasher cleaner for hard water helps so much when this is happening. You find it by the dishwasher soap you just take the lid off turn it upside down and run the load.
helps a ton with hard water build up.

hi, well when mine did this very thing, what we did was clean out the garbage disposal that is built into it. we also run a full cycle with no dishes and only water and vinigar in it.

My first thought when I started reading was "Jet Dry" (the liquid rinse agent to help with spots...). But you said you already use that. One idea I didn't see mentioned was to adjust the amount of rinse agent that comes out during a wash. If you're getting spots (that aren't food deposits - that are more like hard water spots) you need to allow more rinse agent to be released (check your dishwasher manual for how to do this - if you don't have a manual, go to the manufacturer's website and put in your model number. They'll most likely give you one). If the spots are food, you either need to rinse the dishes better before you put them in the washer, or you need to clean out your food disposer in the dishwasher itself. The other posters gave good advice on that. Also, if your dishwasher is older, it may need to be cleaned. They sell cleaners specifically for dishwashers that are most likely going to clean better than any home remedy. It just depends on how you want to do it. Of course, you could always use all the suggestions! What could it hurt, right? It would be a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a new dishwasher...

I would try to put a jetdry tablet in. Sometimes after a few months the dishwasher needs a little pick me up. You can usually find these tablets in the dish liquid isle. But you just put one in when you run the machine and it cleans out the stuff that is in the middle and basically gives the machine a little washing of its own... I wish a married a maytag dude lol

I had the same problem, I started running my dishwasher on an empty cycle every other week. To start I ran an empty cycle 2 or 3 times. It seemed to clean it out and my dishes started getting clean without spots or grit.

Good luck

May I ask if you live in or around Sandy, Utah? The reason I ask is that we recently purchased a brand new dishwasher. In the last few days I really started thinking about this because my dishes all look filthy and appear to have soap residue on them. We had been thinking it was a problem with the new dishwasher not working properly, but there are reasons that made me think it might be our water rather than the appliance. I started asking some of the neighbors and lo and behold they all seem to have the same problem. So if you are in Sandy, I vote we all start calling and complaining. My dishes are getting so bad that if I ever entertain I plan to just go buy new dishes rather than be embarrassed by serving food on these.

Lemon shine works great for cleaning out the dishwasher. most grocery stores cary it and it worked for me