DaffodilDreams Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Okay, Hive, I'm trying the recommendations listed in another thread for dealing with the loss of phosphates in dw detergents. If that doesn't work, I'm selling the dw and putting in another cabinet. This is getting ridiculous! I'm having to pull stuff out and handwash it after it's already gone through a cycle in the dw. I never thought I could do without a dishwasher, but if I'm handwashing this much, anyway, I'd rather have the cabinet. :glare: Okay, end of venting session . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Okay, Hive, I'm trying the recommendations listed in another thread for dealing with the loss of phosphates in dw detergents. If that doesn't work, I'm selling the dw and putting in another cabinet. This is getting ridiculous! I'm having to pull stuff out and handwash it after it's already gone through a cycle in the dw. I never thought I could do without a dishwasher, but if I'm handwashing this much, anyway, I'd rather have the cabinet. :glare: Okay, end of venting session . . . I was about ready to give up on my dishwasher, but tried 2 things that I learned from previous WTM threads, and it's working much better now. 1. I switched to Cascade Action Pacs instead of the powder. 2. I keep the Rinse Aid compartment filled. I check it daily and need to top it off every couple days. Makes a huge difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Look for a product called LemiShine, sold at Target and Wal*Mart, maybe other places as well. Put it in the bottom of the dishwasher, or in the extra soap dispenser, and use it alongside your detergent. It cuts down on the hard water deposits that cloud your dishes and make the detergent not work properly. Also, make sure the dishwasher arms are not clogged; otherwise they won't spin, and junk gets deposited back on the dishes. But the LemiShine is the most important thing, in our experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullia Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 1. What dw detergent are you using? I ask because after years of using Costco's brand it stopped working for me. 2. Do you have hard water? Sometimes I see problems if the softener needs to regenerate or in summer when my water co-op draws on wells with harder water. 3. Do you ever use dw cleaners? We just replaced a 7 year old Kitchen Aid because of a spectacular control panel failure, but after reading the manufacturer's recommendations about periodic cleaning of the new one, I've decided that with the phosphate free detergents plus our hard water I probably should have cleaned the old one more often. I sure don't see myself doing it 1x a month, but maybe several times a year. Awhile back Costco was selling a dw detergent labeled "environmentally friendly" which I exchanged for their regular powder because it did not clean the dishes and left a gummy residue on the dishes and inside the dw. Eventually even the regular Costco gel and powder stopped working too. I am getting good results with Cascade Advanced Power (no phosphates), and also Finish Powerball which is what came packed in the new Bosch. I agree with a pp who said to keep the rinse aid compartment filled even though some detergents say you don't need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 Thanks for the suggestions. I bought the Cascade tab thingies yesterday. I'll probably get to try them out tonight. I didn't get these replies in time, but if this doesn't work, I'll press on with your suggestions. We don't use rinse aids. I do run an empty dw with white vinegar every now and then. We used to use a liquid Cascade, and it worked great until all of a sudden it just didn't seem to work anymore. Then we tried one brand after another - all liquid. Nothing works. Either the latest is the worst (Target's up and up) or I'm out of patience. Anyway, looking forward to seeing if this tab thing works. I don't like the price, but if they work, that's a plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swirl Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 LemiShine was working ok for me for awhile. Now it's not even working. :glare: I've had it with this no phosphates detergent nonsense. I asked DH yesterday to pick me up a box of TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) at Lowes. I'm going to put the phosphates back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) The January 2011 issue of Consumer Reports rates non-phosphate dishwasher detergents. The lack of phosphates is the culprit. I spent months handwashing my dishes because the dw would not get them clean, so I sure was glad when this article was published. The 2 top-rated detergents were Finish Powerball Quantum (78) ($0.30/load) and Finish Powerball Tabs (77) ($0.22/load) . We use them now, and our dishwasher problems have been solved. Cascade Complete All In 1 Action Pacs (74) ($0.28/load) (these are not the Action Pacs with Dawn) came in 3rd. The numbers are the overall rating out of 100, and all three are "very good". Edited March 1, 2011 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I like the Finish Gel packs of the Finish Quantum packs. The later is more expensive, but not to much. Either one seems to work well, but my dishwasher is only about 4-5 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) I like the Finish Gel packs of the Finish Quantum packs. The later is more expensive, but not to much. Either one seems to work well, but my dishwasher is only about 4-5 months. Consumer Reports score for these was a 58 out of 100. Finish Quantumatic's score was 63. Finish Powder got a 38, and Finish Gel got a 34. With all these Finish options, I suppose it is no wonder that even though I exactly specified what I wanted, and attached a photo of the box to my grocery list, that I am now the proud owner of Finish Gel -- the poorest of the detergents tested by CR. Edited March 1, 2011 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Cornelia Snook Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 LemiShine was working ok for me for awhile. Now it's not even working. :glare: I've had it with this no phosphates detergent nonsense. I asked DH yesterday to pick me up a box of TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) at Lowes. I'm going to put the phosphates back in. Yeah, you go, girl! I love your attitude! Let us know how it works! DH is ready to go buy a new dishwasher, but I don't think that would solve our problems at all. Still no phosphates. I'm going to find the Finish Powerball Quantum things at Target tonight. ETA: How exactly does one clean the dishwasher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 I read and re-read those posts a few months ago. Lemi-shine helped a little. It got to the point where I was hand washing everything, putting them in the dishwasher to air dry. A bunch of things came together, each helping a little bit. We'd recently moved, so we tweaked the water softener so the water wasn't as hard (or as soft, it depended, lol). Dh soaked various dishwasher parts in something to remove minerals from the hard water. We now use the Quantum Tabs. You can find coupons online all the time. They are expensive. But I figure it's worth the time I spent hand washing. (The second time I used the tabs, it didn't dissolve in my detergent cup. If my cup is wet at all before starting the cycle, I toss the tab into the bottom of the dishwasher instead. This was the suggestion by the Finish customer service rep.) I prewash virtually everything before putting it in the dishwasher. Gone are the good old days of scraping dishes and popping them in. But it sure beats hand washing. We ran every cycle for two months using the Hi-Temp wash feature on the dishwasher. Now I just run the faucet until the water is hot before starting the dishwasher. :grouphug: Good luck. It was one giant pain. I thought we would never have clean dishes again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 The January 2011 issue of Consumer Reports rates non-phosphate dishwasher detergents. The lack of phosphates is the culprit. I spent months handwashing my dishes because the dw would not get them clean, so I sure was glad when this article was published. The 2 top-rated detergents were Finish Powerball Quantum (78) ($0.30/load) and Finish Powerball Tabs (77) ($0.22/load) . We use them now, and our dishwasher problems have been solved. Cascade Complete All In 1 Action Pacs (74) ($0.28/load) (these are not the Action Pacs with Dawn) came in 3rd. The numbers are the overall rating out of 100, and all three are "very good". Woohoo! The Cascade All in 1 Action Pacs are what I bought! I ran a load tonight. We'll see what the morning has in store for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 It has been several days since I posted about hitting a wall with my dishwasher problems. I have been using Cascade Complete Allin1 Action Tabs since my last post. I'm happy to report that I haven't had to rewash a single item since the switch! It seems my issues have been solved! I am so happy I don't have to turn the dishwasher into another cabinet. :001_smile: This is such a trivial post, I know, but maybe the results of this experiment will save someone else some extra effort and expense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Hah, I don't think your problem is trivial at all! It was extremely frustrating to me to expect that the dishes would be cleaned, only to find that I had to re-check, re-do every single thing. HOORAY that your dishwasher is back to doing its job!!!!!:party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Kimmie--I hate to say this, but when our dw has gotten to that point over the years, it usually means the screen is full and clogged. You have to take the sprayer arm off the bottom and clean the screen. Then things get back to normal. On our older unit you had to do a service call to get this done. Now our dw (2 yo) has finger screw tabs where you can do it yourself. I use the Cascade tabs, have somewhat hard water which we intentionally don't soften, and have NO problems. Clean your filter screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I've been using Amway's dishwasher detergent, and it's working just as well for me without phospates as it did before when they were in there. Glad you dishwasher is all better, BTW. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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