Get rid of dishwasher gunk
My dishwasher is about 25 years old. Astonishingly, it still cleans the dishes, but there is a film on everything, even with the little plastic cage of Jet Dry hanging on the top rack.
I thought maybe it was from candle wax. I make my own candles with palm wax. Palm wax very easily cleans up with warm water and soap, but sometimes I get lazy and just toss the empty candle jars in the dishwasher.
Or, it could be from those rectangular pre-formed frozen hash browns, like the ones McDonald’s makes. My grandson likes them. I bake them on a glass pie plate. They’re soooo nasty greasy. Before I serve them I stick them between paper towels and press down with a spatula to coax the grease out.
But here’s the really interesting part. The pie plate I bake them in refuses to come clean in the dishwasher. There’s something odd about that fat. (oops, almost said fart) It won’t melt in that hot soapy dishwasher. Not off the glass pie plate, not off the spatula, and not off the plate they were served on. It’s like solidified coconut oil in suntan oil, but it checked the label and there’s no coconut oil.
Point being, I think the inside of the dishwasher must be coated with it and that’s what the hazy residue is on my dishes.
Oh, and I stopped feeding him those hashbrowns. Can you imagine? If a hot, hot soapy dishwasher can’t get them clean, then neither can a 98.5 degree body. It’s coating his little 6-year old veins and artieries.
I only recently started making homemade lye soap and thought maybe I could find a recipe for homemade dishwasher soap. Most everything I’m finding says to mix borax with baking soda, but then one eco-friendly person chimed in and said borax may clean, but it’s not biodegradable.
Another person said to not fill both compartments with dishwasher soap. He said you don’t need that much soap. It’s sorta like the oil changing shops telling you to change the oil in your vehicle every 3,000 miles, whereas the manufacturer says 5,000. Or the latest scam I’m seeing on TV for a razor. When the colored stripped turns white, it’s time for a new razor. Yea, right. I’ve got two long legs and I can use a razor for weeks and weeks. People, don’t buy into that marketing bullshit.
Anyhoo, the guy that suggested using one compartment of dishwasher soap said to fill the other closed compartment with vinegar and your dishes – glass, plastic, and all – will come out sparkling clean. I was worried the vinegar would just run out of the compartment, but it didn’t. The little door on it has a silicone weather stripping-type of seal. So the last time I did a load I took his advice.
OMG! I haven’t seen the dishes that clean in ages. The film was completely gone. I’ll start doing it for now on. Vinegar is cheap. I can get a whole gallon of it for pennies. Plus, I’ll spend 50% less on expensive dishwasher soap.
UPDATE: Don’t use vinegar if washing copper or aluminum. They will react with the vinegar. Watch those copper bottom pots, too.
UPDATE September 21, 2010: I found this article in the paper this weekend. Here’s the reason why dishwasher soap doesn’t clean like it used to – fewer phosphates. You can read about it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/science/earth/19clean.html
UPDATE December 7, 2010: I’ve been using Palmolive Eco diswasher detergent for a couple of months now and I really like. Doesn’t leave any residue, but then I don’t have hard water, either.
I tried it last night and I had to come back to tell you that it works, even on the plastic stuff. Thanks for the tip!
I have the same problem. I will definitely try this one. Thank you for sharing your tips.
I have the same problem… thank you for article
I was having terrible spotting and residue from using Cascade dishwasher detergent. The colored Tupperware was a fright. I called the company and they said that this new (in the light green box) has no phosphates. They are no longer allowed to put phosphates in it. It will not work in hard water, but it will in soft. I gave my box to my dau.-in-law and my son said they now have spots with what I gave them. The company did send me a coupon for a free, anysize box or liquid of Cascade. I did the get liquid and I still am not impressed and it spots the stainless steel and I wind up wet rewiping and hand drying it all. They also told me to fill both compartments…but that is just a marketing technique!!! I have used only one compartment for over 30 years and my dishes were always fine until now. Can you imagine the $$$ of savings!!!I also have always rinsed my dishes, all you need to do is use just a bowl of water and sort of prewash the dishes. I did try some citrus product for cleaning dishwashers and that was good….but it is expensive and you surely can’t use that all the time.