If Your Dishwasher Is Not Cleaning Well:

It's not always the dishwashers fault if your dishes come out dirty. There are several things that factor into having a dishwasher that cleans dishes well.

General Tips:

• Always use hot water in your dishwasher. The water temperature should reach 130 degrees. This is needed to dissolve the soap, remove grease and sterilize the dishes.
• If you have hard water, fill both detergent cups in your dishwasher.
• A rinse agent will help to remove hard water spots.
• If you have hard water build up, use a hard water cleaner regularly to remove the minerals from the inside.
• Every two months, clean your dishwasher by adding 2 cups of vinegar to a washing cycle that has no dishes in it.
• Use rinse aids in your washing. These are ideal to help you to get the best cleaning possible.

Dirty Dishes:

Water temperature is very important in dissolving dishwasher detergent, in cleaning food from dishes and in the sanitizing process. You should always use the hottest water available - ideally at 130°F or 54.4°C. Hot water is important in washing away grease and other oily food.

Dirty dishes can be caused by improper loading. My kids are terrible at loading the dishwasher and try to stuff everything into it so they don't have to wash the dishes by hand. Pots, pans, bowls and utensils can block the water spray which will result in improper cleaning.

Run a test and start the dishwasher when you think it's about half full. If your dishes come out clean, it's likely being over filled or not loaded correctly.

Water Spots:

"Hard water" is hard on automatic dishwashers. If you have hard water, it's difficult to get a good suds from your soap or detergent.

Hardness of water is caused by minerals naturally present in the waster. Hard water causes spots and film on your dishes, crystal and glass ware.

A rinse agent added to the dishwasher before cleaning will make the water "softer" resulting in cleaner dishes and less water spots.

Cloudy Glass:

Crystal should not be washed in the dishwasher. That's a plain fact. If your crystal is cloudy, and the cloudiness is not due to hard water deposits (see next paragraph), it's been etched by the high alkalinity of the dishwasher detergent. The damage is permanent, I'm afraid.

Glass can become cloudy due to hard water deposits. Try soaking a glass in straight vinegar for about five minutes. If the cloudiness is gone, then the problem is "hard water", a result of minerals naturally present in water. To fix this, add approx 50% more detergent to your dishwasher when using. If this does not help, add 1 Tablespoon of baking soda to each load to "soften" the water. Baking soda is safe, and is a natural deodorizer too.

A rinse agent will also soften the water, reducing hard water spots and clouding. Rinse agents can be store-bought, or try using white vinegar or lemon juice instead.