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Thread Number: 93712
/ Tag: Modern Dishwashers
My apartment dishwasher isn't cleaning very well. Any advice? |
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Post# 1183545 6/27/2023 at 10:47 (306 days old) by RyneR1988  (Indianapolis) |
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Hi all,
Subject basically says it all...the dishwasher that came with my apartment isn't cleaning the greatest and I've noticed this issue for a while but it's gotten really bad lately. I'm not really sure what to do, and apartment maintenance here sucks, as I've written about before. A couple days ago I washed a pretty nondescript load of plates, bowls, silverware and cups. There were only a couple difficult items in there. One of them was a baking sheet, placed along the side and facing towards the middle, that had a bit of cheese gunge from some stuffed mushroom caps I cooked on it. The cheese did not come off at all and I used the pots and pans cycle for that load. There was also a muffin tin, used to make some from a box banana muffins, only had a bit of dregs from the muffin batter on it and again, this was not removed. These are just a couple examples of what has been happening often lately. I did notice that it seems like the brushes aren't moving very much during the actual wash portion of the cycle, they seem fine on rinse cycles. Could it be that the brushes are stuck but only on one part of the wash program? that doesn't seem very logical to me but I guess anything could happen. I can get you guys a model number if anyone can let me know where it might be located on the machine. It's one of those 18-inchers with a row of buttons at the top of the machine, has programs like normal wash at the very left, followed by pots and pans, china/crystal, etc. It was in the apartment when we moved here in 2015 and at that point apartment complex was about a year old, so I'm guessing machine is about 9 years old currently. Just trying to figure out if there's anything I can troubleshoot on my own, short of calling apartment maintenace. I know I likely will have to do that eventually but maybe there's a more deep-clean I can do in the meantime or something? I have washed the filter and it didn't seem very dirty, as well as running some baking soda and vinegar through an empty machine. Thanks for any help guys. Ryne | ||
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Post# 1183568 , Reply# 2 6/27/2023 at 16:21 (305 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Model number and brand would help....
Eighteen inch dishwashers in past only came from one or two sources. One was "Frigidaire" (also sold as Sears/Kenmore) which was a DM design. Miele, and maybe a few other European appliance brand offered them as well. Then came China invasion first with Danby and now several others. IIRC however despite their brand names many of these Asian 18", table/counter top and even portable dishwashers pretty much all come from same few or single manufacturer. Market for 18" dishwashers in past wasn't very huge, thus only a few manufactures bothered. Had a Sears/Kenmore 18" dishwasher (portable) for several years until the thing broke. While yes it beat washing things by hand, but only just. Upper rack often saw inside of glassware or cups with yibbles. Even outside of things on upper rack had bits of food or whatever remaining after cycle was done. This no matter how well one scrapped dishes before loading. Was *not* going to pre -rinse dishes before loading, though that likely would have vastly improved results. | ||
| Post# 1183583 , Reply# 3 6/27/2023 at 20:19 (305 days old) by washdaddy (Baltimore) | ||
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you mentioned that you've cleaned the filter which is a good start but have you also taken the wash arm out of the unit and checked to make sure there isn't anything possibly blocking the arm? | ||
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Post# 1183612 , Reply# 4 6/28/2023 at 06:37 (305 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Definitely need a model number
There are certain things that go wrong with certain appliances. It’s very helpful to have a model number.
From your description it’s most likely one of the newer Chinese built 18 inch machines. Most common problems of these are clogged filters and clogged washarms if the filters are precisely installed, debris gets into the washrooms pretty quickly and clogs them up on these. It also greatly helps to use a good detergent and the high temperature washing option. Don’t bother running vinegar and baking soda, etc. through it it’s just a waste of time water, baking soda and vinegar. Use a commercial dishwasher cleaner if you’d like they can help a lot. Does the dishwasher have a mineral buildup inside or is it shiny and look like new? It should always stay shiny like new if it’s working properly again and being used properly. John. | ||
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Post# 1183618 , Reply# 5 6/28/2023 at 10:47 (305 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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my apartment dishwasher My apartment Kenmore 630 dishwasher does great cleaning the dirtiest of dishes. I'm not sure why yours isn't doing it. What detergent and rinse aid are you using? It is a Bosch built unit. | ||
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Post# 1183619 , Reply# 6 6/28/2023 at 10:50 (305 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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dishwasher cleaner I use Cascade dishwasher cleaner and it does great. | ||
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Post# 1183625 , Reply# 7 6/28/2023 at 11:51 (305 days old) by RyneR1988 (Indianapolis) |
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Post# 1183626 , Reply# 8 6/28/2023 at 11:54 (305 days old) by RyneR1988 (Indianapolis) |
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Post# 1183629 , Reply# 9 6/28/2023 at 12:01 (305 days old) by luxflairguy (Wilmington NC) |
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IF we KNEW who manufactured it we'd be able to tell you where the info is! | ||
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Post# 1183633 , Reply# 10 6/28/2023 at 12:22 (304 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Post# 1183658 , Reply# 11 6/28/2023 at 16:15 (304 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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| Post# 1183659 , Reply# 12 6/28/2023 at 16:30 (304 days old) by qsd-dan (West) | ||
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Post# 1183676 , Reply# 13 6/28/2023 at 19:28 (304 days old) by RyneR1988 (Indianapolis) |
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| Post# 1183723 , Reply# 14 6/29/2023 at 06:14 (304 days old) by Pierreandreply4 (St-Bruno de montarville (province of quebec) canada) | ||
do not know if you have the brand in the us
do not know if you have that brand in the us but i would reccomend sunlight advance dishwasher detergent here a link from amazon.ca if you went to check the brand www.amazon.ca/SUNLIGHT-Ad...
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Post# 1183808 , Reply# 15 6/30/2023 at 10:44 (303 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Hi Ryne
What is the water hardness where you live unless you have soft water three grains of hardness or less do not use powdered or liquid detergent in this or any dishwasher unless you’re going to add water softening chemicals along with the detergent. Pods are the best thing to use and all dishwashers unless you have perfectly soft water at this time. John | ||
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Post# 1183812 , Reply# 16 6/30/2023 at 11:23 (303 days old) by RyneR1988 (Indianapolis) |
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John,
The water here in Indianapolis is very hard, 274 PPM. I live in an apartment, so there is no whole-house water softener here. I'm guessing that can be contributing to my dishwasher issues, but I've never been sure what to do about hard water challenges. It's just something Indy residents kind of accept. Ryne | ||
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Post# 1183814 , Reply# 17 6/30/2023 at 12:07 (303 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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At the risk of being wildly unpopular here I’ll make a suggestion that worked well for me. Five years ago when my DW crapped out I began washing the dishes by hand while I waited a month for the DW to be repaired under warranty. By the time the repairs were completed I’d learned to like washing the dishes by hand and I haven’t used the DW since April of 2018 and probably never will again.
The dishes are always spotlessly cleaned to my satisfaction and they are always clean and in the cabinet whenever I need them, instead of in the DW waiting to be cleaned. I never have to stop and wash a pan, bowl or utensil that I need when I’m cooking. Problem solved. I’ll duck and cover my head now. Just my two cents worth. Eddie | ||
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Post# 1183821 , Reply# 18 6/30/2023 at 13:11 (302 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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rinse aid I am currently using Cascade power dry rinse aid and it does wonders. | ||
| Post# 1183831 , Reply# 19 6/30/2023 at 15:50 (302 days old) by nmassman44 (Brooksville Florida) | ||
Well for starters after reading the posts here is the detergent choice. Cascade Action pacs in hard water will not clean well. When I lived in Mass the water hardness was on the soft side and I used Cascade Complete powder and got great results. Now moving here to Florida and our water being hard I found that same Cascade powder did not perform like it did back in Mass. Even with a rinse aid it left a residue on the dishes and tank of the dishwasher. I switched to Cascade Platinum and that performs extremely well in my water conditions. Don’t bother with the insanely pricey Cascade Platinum Plus pacs since they clean no better than regular Cascade Platinum. Another detergent that works well is Finish Quantum Hard Water pacs. They do a good job but not as well as Cascade Platinum in my opinion.
The other thing is when you are cleaning the filter on the dishwasher is to not just run it under water but to take a good medium toothbrush and scrub the screen til you can see thru it. I do that once a month with my LG dishwasher and I do it when a new month is about to come I clean the filter. Finish also makes a Hard Water rinse aid that does really well in hard water conditions like yours. | ||
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Post# 1183840 , Reply# 20 6/30/2023 at 18:41 (302 days old) by RyneR1988 (Indianapolis) |
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Post# 1183857 , Reply# 21 6/30/2023 at 21:36 (302 days old) by jamiel (Detroit, Michigan and Palm Springs, CA) |
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Post# 1183873 , Reply# 23 7/1/2023 at 00:17 (302 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc) |
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Before anything---CONTACT YOUR LANDLORD and tell them your apt dishwasher won't work.Had this a couple of times-they simply replaced the old dishwasher with a NEW ONE! | ||
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Post# 1184046 , Reply# 24 7/3/2023 at 10:24 (300 days old) by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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Please run the water at the sink to ensure it is HOT.
Are you using detergent in BOTH cups? If you choose to use a pod in the closed cup, use powder in the OPEN cup. TWO charges of detergent works best when the machine has TWO washes. (Or two charges of ordinary powdered detergent works well also. ) A DW can't remove all baked-on food items. It is ok to let the machine do 90% of the work then do a quick scrub of pots and pans. If a load is particularly greasy, you can do a pre-wash of sorts or a "rinse and hold" if it exists. Simply start the machine with detergent. When it pumps out, cancel the cycle. Start again with two charges of detergent on any cycle BUT "NORMAL" ( This cycle tend to be focused on saving resources, not getting results.) Hopefully (to save time, water and effort) there is no pre-rinsing or pre-washing by hand involved, before loading the DW. . Leftover dishsoap can be catastrophic to good results in a DW. Hope this helps. | ||
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Post# 1185954 , Reply# 25 7/27/2023 at 11:41 (276 days old) by RyneR1988 (Indianapolis) |
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I think I figured out what the problem is
I believe I may have been pre-rinsing the dishes too much to compensate for the issue noted above, however it might have actually been the contributor to the problem.
Last night, I made quesadillas and they didn't turn out quite right, leaked all over the place and made a pretty big mess in my skillet. I could not get all of the mess rinsed out no matter what I did. There were also some really dirty plates with butter on them as well as a couple days' worth of breakfast bowls with oatmeal sludge on them that I couldn't rinse off. I ran this load in the DW on the pots and pans cycle and all came out perfectly clean, I also noticed on the wash portion of the cycle that the spray arms sounded normal, not deadened so to speak as they had been sounding previously. The only thing I can figure is that my DW has a soil sensor that determines how dirty the load is and adjusts cycle strength accordingly. So, I might have been unintentionally making it harder for the machine to clean the load properly by pre-rinsing, so there were still dirty spots on my dishes after the cycle in that case. I knew of course that higher-end DW's have this feature, but perhaps that's just standard on most modern machines now and I wasn't aware of this. Just didn't occur to me that my little apartment DW would have this feature. Time will tell of course but I really think maybe this is what was happening. Any thoughts? Ryne | ||
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Post# 1186352 , Reply# 26 7/30/2023 at 22:08 (272 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI) |
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Scrape but do not prerinse dishes. Modern detergents need soil on dishes to work properly. | ||
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Post# 1197224 , Reply# 27 1/16/2024 at 08:44 by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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pre-rinsing Also use a rinse aid, and quit pre-rinsing. | ||
| Post# 1197462 , Reply# 28 1/20/2024 at 11:32 by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
I'll chime in and say that, unfortunately, once you land on a good combo of detergent for your water conditions, sometimes the detergent brand will "reformulate."
You'll then get weird results you're not used to. I've had this happen in the past. Procter & Gamble is NOTORIOUS for constantly futzing with their formulas. Sometimes I have good luck with Cascade pods. Sometimes not. Cascade powder is pretty consistent, but it doesn't work well in all water conditions. I've had better luck with Finish products in the past, which are more affordable too. But they also like to change things up once in a while. Finish powder WAS working best in my 90s era KitchenAids, especially with coffee stains. But my local stores have all stopped carrying Finish powder :/ Even when I've moved addresses, the differences in water source chemistry often forces me to re-calibrate what detergent to use, and what machine I have. It's a fun game. This of course is always dependent on wether your flavor of machine is functioning properly. And from what era. Older machines tend to not like the pods. Newer machines are programmed to work best with pods. But SOME older machines can work with pods, but not all brands. | ||
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Post# 1197693 , Reply# 29 1/22/2024 at 13:47 by Toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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I would say, be sure the water at the faucet is hot. (both portables and built-ins) Use a good powdered detergent in BOTH detergent cups. Chose a heated wash cycle.
DO NOT USE THE NORMAL CYCLE. That is where the govt tests for water/energy efficiency. Even the "1-hour cycle" will provide better results. And as mentioned, clean the filters often. The OCCASIONAL capful of chlorine bleach should keep the machine shiny and odor-free. Best wishes! | ||
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