Anyone have some advice re: Dishwashers??

[Quakerfriend]

We've had 2 dishwashers by Bosch. One in our last house and now a second one in our new house. I just cannot believe that these HUNKS OF JUNK get top ratings from Consumer Report!

The dishes come out with food still on them and everything (glassware, china, and even stainless steel) gradually gets a white film on it. This happens after 3-4 washings. This white film does NOT come off- even after hand washing.

Should I be using rinse aids or enzyme tabs? Do these really make much of a difference?

Any advice would be most appreciated.
;-)

[NMDemDist2]

1. i get the white film too from very very hard water. pouring vinegar in there

before starting the wash and rinse aids help

[Stinky The Clown]

2. Rinse aids are your friend ......

I can't speak sepcifically to a Bosch, but it sounds like you have hard water film. The rinse aids stop that from happeneing. As to the remianing food, it will actually help with that, to some degree, at least. It causes the water to 'sheet' off and essentially run off the glass or dish before it dries, carrying minerals and minute food remains with it.

Once you have the hard water deposits, hwoever, I'm not sure how to get rid of it. It is an issue I am fortunate in never having had to face.

The rinse aids change the surface tension of the water itself. (No one wants to say this in their product literature, but they're a weak soap solution with other additives. The technical term is 'surficant'.)

As to brand, I've had Kitchenaids for decades. We just replaced our old one, which had about twenty years on it and it still worked just fine. The new one is stainless, a look we wanted and, more importantly, is **far** quieter.

[Warpy]

14. If it's really a hard water film

then products like CLR will get rid of it.

Boston had soft, surface water and people got that film, also. It looked like the glassware had been sand blasted, and I'm wondering if that isn't part of what's at work.

I'd wash fine glassware by hand if I had a dishwasher.

And fine glassware.

[eleny]

3. I have a Bosch and hard water

Bosch recommends using a rinse aid with this model. In fact, according to the manual, it's a must.

We're just two people in the house and the dishwasher is big. Sometimes dishes don't get washed right away. Then I use the 10 minute "rinse and hold" for those dishes that will sit for a day until I run a wash cycle.

The service guy came out this past August for the yearly check. The machine wasn't emptying out properly and causing odors. He raised the hose under the sink to correct the problem.

He also asked what detergent I used. He cautioned that the little pillows of powder and liquid soap were probably too much soap. He urged me to use a powdered detergent and to only fill it up to the line. Too much soap can also cause filming. He ran the machine empty and there were some suds. He said that if I see some suds like that again, I should put a very small amount of olive oil, maybe a teaspoon, on the bottom of the d/w and run it empty. He did that with a short cycle and it cleared out the residual soap.

Frankly, I think I had the sudsing problem because it wasn't emptying out properly. Suds were backing up into the washer trap. When I have a large wash with many dishes and pots n' pans with stuck on bits I use the pillows of detergent and run the longest cycle. No residual suds - ever.

This is my first dishwasher. I don't have enough experience to compare brands. But I love this Bosch now that it empties out as it should and I know what detergent and rinse aid to use. Now, if a dish or lid has some grunge left on it, it's because I didn't stack it right in the washer or didn't use the right cycle for the job.

I sure hope this helps you.

[Kolesar]

4. I had a whirlpool that left food on the dishes. I sold the house and moved away.

I think that there was just something lame about the model. Perhaps you could look into the water temperature. If the house has odd plumbing and the water is cold when the water gets to the washer, you may be able to install an inline demand heater to heat the water.

My dishwasher had a water heat cycle that ran the drying element for a period to heat the few inches of water in the pan on the bottom. Does the Bosch have that as an available feature?

Another thing is that the washer may not be getting enough water. You could stop the load and open the door and look.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Oooo! Oooo! Oooo! ........ you just reminded me .....

..... the instructions with our new Kitchenaid specifically suggested you run the hot water before starting the dishwasher. The point made in the explanation was that it sometimes takes a good bit of time for the water to get hot. Running the water ensures the dishwasher starts with the hottest water available.

[Kolesar]

6. is that the subject line for being scalded?

:evilgrin:

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Huh?

[Kolesar]

12. Oooo oooo oooo sounds like what someone would say

when they got scalded. I know. lame joke.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. Not so lame .......

..... it got me to post that picture of an injured (presumably scalded) hand! :hi:

[Warpy]

15. I had a rig like that when I shattered my right hand

Just looking at it made the old fractures hurt.

[eleny]

8. Ours requires that, too

And we have some very cold water here in Colorado. It always chaps me off that when you want to wash your hands it takes a while for the hot water to make it through the pipes. But I like a good hot water hand wash. Anyhow, I run the hot water tap in the sink until it gets hot before starting to d/w, too, even though its supposed to heat the water as needed.

[Longhorn]

9. But you get such good cold water for a drink!

I've had to turn on the heat to brush my teeth while in Colorado, the water was so cold! But in Texas, especially in the summer, the water comes out of the "cold" tap practically lukewarm! :)

[eleny]

10. You're right

When my folks moved up here from Florida, mom was thrilled. She never did get used to the warm water out of the tap down there.

[TygrBright]

11. Last couple of CRs have not had Bosch as "Best Buys"...

...we bought a Kenmore on their recommendation and have been very pleased with it. That said, when the dishes start coming out a bit less than gleaming it's definitely time to add more rinse aid.

One problem with the current generation of dishwashers is that most are designed to NEED rinse aid, because they have the "no rinse/load" feature. That is, you don't have to rinse them before you load them. All well and good, but what that means is that a lot of food particles end up flying around in the washwater, etc. Rinse aid is necessary to keep 'em from sticking.

I'd try that before I'd spend money on a new dishwasher.

helpfully,
Bright

[Bjornsdotter]

16. I have a Kitchenaid

...and I would never buy another one.

However I would recommend a Miele. Recently while visiting family, I had the opportunity to use one for a couple of months. It was great, quiet, very roomy compared to all of the others and did a great job cleaning.

Cheers

[Stinky The Clown]

18. I'm curious about your Kitchenaid ........

..... and that you're not happy with it.

Is it a new one or a few years old? What model? What's the problem you're having?

[Bjornsdotter]

19. It's a few years old, maybe 5 years

The first time it broke was 2 months after I bought it, the electrical touch pad was replaced....it has since been replaced 6 times.

The water regularly doesn't drain completely and many times the dishes are not clean. It is also very noisy compared to a Miele or my old Maytag.

The door lock has been replaced 4 times.

I would have put this down to just a lemon except that I had a Kitchenaid stove installed at the same time and have had almost as many service calls on that.

The model number is a Superba and IIRC it was top of the line when I bought it.

Both the stove and dishwasher were such a disappointment, however the Kitchenaid refrigerator is a dream.

Kitchenaid has been paying for the service calls, but the down time isn't worth it.

Cheers

[Longhorn]

17. We got a Kitchenaide last summer and it's the best we've ever had!

It's hard to get out of the habit of rinsing dishes ahead of time but they actually recommend that you don't in order to conserve water. It does an amazing job and is very quiet. We didn't get to the top of the line becaause it had some features (delayed start) that we didn't need but it's the next to the top of the line and we really like it!

We had a Bosch before and it never worked as well but to be fair, we had some extremely hard water at that time. Since then, they ran water lines into our neighborhood and we quit the well so the water isn't as hard. Mr. Longhorn does high-end remodeling, especially kitchens, and he most often installs Bosch (German,) Kitchenaide (American,) Miele (Swedish,) and Fischer-Paykle (Australian.)

Good luck! It's great to find one that works well! :hi:

[Quakerfriend]

20. Thank you all for sharing your experiences, comments and

tips! All of you DUers are a lot more thorough than the dishwasher repair guys were!

I have started using rinse aids which have helped enormously. (Where have I been for the last several years...head in sand:eyes: ). I truly thought that the rinse aids were nothing more than a gimmick! Oy.

And, running the hot water beforehand is also very helpful.

Thanks much!:9

[KitchenWitch]

21. We have a rather expensive and nearly brand new Kitchenaid that is WORTHLESS

I love washing the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher.

:grr:

[hedgehog]

22. At the risk of offering a product endorsement -

My Kenmore dishwasher came with a sample of Cascade Complete and I couldn't believe the difference. Maybe it has a bleach in it, I don't know, but it took all the old tea stains out of my tea pots. Just for kicks, I tried running the machine with my old detergent and another tea pot and didn't get the same result, so it was the Cascade Complete.

I think there are different formulations for different states. Here in the Great Lakes basin there are some detergents that are legally banned.