Well, I asked my appliance repairman about it, and he sent me something that he wrote up on how dishwashers work more efficiently. I want to share it with you all. Hopefully this will cut down on the amount of dishwasher repair requests. Here it is:
1. Do not wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Scrape off the big stuff, but leave the salad dressing, gravy, sauces, etc. The detergent needs something to work on. Without food, your dishwasher is only left with water and detergent which could be abrasive and contribute to film build up.
2. Make sure you are not using really old detergent. Old detergent doesn’t dissolve well and can stick to dishes looking like dirt or grit on your dishes.
3. The water coming into your dishwasher should be about 140 degrees. The hot water does three important things:
a. Activates the detergent.
b. Breaks down the greasy foods.
c. Aids in drying the dishes.
What I did, was take our food thermometer and ran the hot water over it. My water was only about 120 degrees, so I turned my water heater up higher and tested it again until it was 140 degrees. That did the trick on my dishwasher. I also learned that before you start the dishwasher, you need to run your hot water in the sink until it gets hot. Then turn on the dishwasher to run it’s cycle. My sink takes about 2 or 3 minutes before the water gets hot.
4. Load the dishwasher in such a way that the water coming out of the jets can get to all dishes.
5. If your dishwasher has a filter or screen at the bottom, make sure it is cleared of all food, labels from jars, broken glass or anything else that is obstructing it.
6. If the dishes come out cloudy, or the inside of the dishwasher has a chalky film, there is a great product you could add with the detergent called Lemi-Shine. Lemi-Shine is a detergent booster that is added to the detergent cup when you start a load. It can be found at most stores such as Walmart or Target.
These tips really helped my dishwasher. I probably didn’t need to buy the new one if I had known these tips. I hope they help you as well.
Kendell Anderson
