Is anyone having trouble with their dishwasher? (house, water heater)

[Septgirl75]

My dishwasher keeps leaving this horrible soap residue all over the dishes. My landlord has sent two repair men to the house and both have said there is nothing wrong with the dishwasher. He has said he will do nothing about it either, because he said that it is the soap, because they have taken the phosphates out of it. He also said I should buy a certain soap, but I still think it is the dishwasher. I am now just washing everything by hand.
Is anyone else having problems with their dishwasher?

[L210]

Have you filled the Jet Dry reservoir? The water is very hard here. I only use Cascade Complete with Bleach (or just Cascade Complete if that's all that's in stock); the liquid version. But some dishwashers are just better than others. Your dishwasher is also connected to the sink, so I hope the repair men checked that too.

[Stabart47]

We have the same problem and have tried all the suggestions, but the water is so hard. I also notice my clean laundry doesn't smell as good here even though I've used Gain for 20 years.

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by Septgirl75

He also said I should buy a certain soap,

Same problem here. What was that soap may I ask?

[Hedgehog_Mom]

You need to use a rinse aid like Jet Dry, and better dishwasher soap will help. This is what I use: FINISH® QUANTUM® Dishwashing Tablets - Dishwasher Products | FINISH® It's expensive, but everything comes out of the dishwasher sparkling clean.

The other thing is, make sure you're not putting any grease down the drain, like draining cooked hamburger meat into the sink. That will make your dishwasher not work as well over time. I line a bowl with foil and pour the grease into that, then once it's cooled and solidified, I throw the foil and grease in the trash.

For the laundry, if you add about half a cup of Borax to a large load along with your regular soap, the clothes get cleaner and they come out smelling like your laundry soap.

[TexasRedneck]

One other thing - check to see if they have a water softener on the boilers (hot water heaters). Softened water needs less soap - if you use the "normal" amount of soap, you'll see similar results - use about 1/2 to 1/3 the amount.

Cascade was one of the best for both hard and soft waters, but they reformulated to comply with the Fed guidelines, and right now there's no clear "winner" in the dish detergents. Give 'em another year or so, bet they'll come up with some new (and better) formulations.

[Camper1]

Put Lemonaide in the tub area with the door. Just a plain little packet of the cheap stuff ( maybe $.08 each at HEB). It works just as good as all the Citris products for hard water.

Just try it, you'll be glad you did.

[Camper1]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom

You need to use a rinse aid like Jet Dry, and better dishwasher soap will help. This is what I use: FINISH® QUANTUM® Dishwashing Tablets - Dishwasher Products | FINISH® It's expensive, but everything comes out of the dishwasher sparkling clean.

The other thing is, make sure you're not putting any grease down the drain, like draining cooked hamburger meat into the sink. That will make your dishwasher not work as well over time. I line a bowl with foil and pour the grease into that, then once it's cooled and solidified, I throw the foil and grease in the trash.
ur laundry soap.

I keep forgetting about the borax. Thanks for the reminder.

[guyd78]

My mom had a problem like that. She realized the water heater was set too low after being replaced. Took her a while to connect the two. It was getting hot, but not hot enough. Anyways, she incresed the temp on it, and ever since her dishwasher has been fine. Might be worth checking.

[RGJ]

The only problem I have with my dishwasher is that she complains too much