Dishwasher Leaves White Film On Dishes

[ryan111]

My customers are seeing this problem and I have been seeing this issue on various forums across the net.

The government has new regulations that make detergent companies remove phosphate from the detergent. Phosphate was originally put into dishwasher detergent to get rid of minerals in the water and improve wash performance. Without phosphate minerals are staying behind in the form of a white film on dishes.  The best way to resolve this issue is to clean your dishes with citrus acid a few times a year. Here is an article I wrote on this issue.   http://appliance-repair-it.com/dishwasher-leaves-white-film-on-dishes.html

[AJ]

 

[PARTech]

Local store is sell an 'additive' putting the phosphates back in. Right next to the DW soap.

[ryan111]

That kind of defeats the point of taking it out of the detergent to start with. LOL

This is supposedly a temporary problem because the detergent companies are trying to figure out a way to make phosphate free detergent without this problem.

I almost didn’t write anything about this because I was thinking they would work this out soon but then I keep getting calls for this and I started seeing it on other forums across the net.

Also I hear that a water softener will also help but I don’t buy that because we have soft water in my area and we still have the problem with the white film on dishes.

[tgoods]

Good old tri-sodium phosphate is still available.  About a half teaspoon added to the detergent with each load is all it takes.  Be sure to buy real TSP, not the TSP substitute.

[schaffersapplian]

I highly Recommend a product called Lemi Shine..  Its 100% phosphate free, made from naturally acidic blend of fruits... Check their website.  I use it in my dishwasher at home, and recommend it to all of my customers.  I contacted the company and they sent me 100 trail size packets free of charge to hand out to my customers.. It can be found locally at walmart, target, wegmans and many other grocery stores.

This product is 100% septic safe, 100% eco friendly, and 100% for you and your children.   

[ryan111]

Nice, I have been hearing about this lemi shine but until now I hadn’t heard from someone who actually used the product. Thanks

[krazytech]

Thanks, I send them an email and would love to offer it to my customers..Have you hear of any other companies offering samples like this...stainless steel cleaners, laundry soap other any others we can offer to are customers?

[AZREPAIRMAN]

Lemi-shine is good. and "FINISH" brand still has phosphates

[AJ]

2/21/11 service pointer

W10388297 - All Dishwashers
Phosphate-Free Dishwasher Detergents May Cause White Film

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[HardyW]

I've used LemiShine and it works well. The best and usually the cheapest that works well is plain old vinegar. If you pour a little vinegar in there, it will prevent the minerals from sticking and building up on your dishes. No more cloudy glasses or dull dishes.

[findlayjack]

I've used Lemi-shine as well, it work very well after 2nd or 3rd application.

[ApplianceGuru]

This white film issue is a tricky one.  I have found that most often it is a malfunctioning dishwasher, and can be caused by just about anything.  (spray arm hits dish, doesn't get enough water, won't drain, spraying too weak ,intermittent electronics, etc..)

The problem is, if the something prevents the dishwasher from washing and/or rinsing well, the dishwasher will bake the soap onto the dishes during the dry cycle.  Once baked on, the soap doesn't come off during a normal wash cycle, and it appears the dishwasher is malfunctioning over and over and over.  You have to use something like white vinegar or Lemi-Shine to remove the white film on dishes in dishwasher.

This article explains how to remove the soap film:

http://www.libertyapplianceservice.com/why-are-my-dishes-coming-out-dirty/


Don't forget, if you don't resolve the dishwasher problem, the cloudy white film will only come back!

[jumptrout51]

Hard water contributes to this problem as well.

[RichPasco]

Have a look at this video.

[JWWebster]

Plan B wash the dayum thangs in the sink like Grandma did .

[haroldsappliance]

Limeshine is a proven product. It will remove white film even from blackwear. It works.

[ApplianceGuru]

Have a look at this video.

Here's another article along those same lines, but the article is almost two years old, and a little  outdated.

 http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=12598586

Consumer Reports has now done extensive testing and research on most dishwasher detergents, and they have found some phosphor-free products to be bad, some not so bad, and a few that actually work well on hard water

Here is a small article that briefly talks about their results.  Check out the photo showing the results of different detergents on glass dishes.

 http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/07/best-dishwasher-detergents/index.htm

[nolazach]

In New Orleans we have really hard water.  This is a very common service call.  I'm at the point now that if they tell me that the DW has a white residue I just tell them to make sure they are using a rinse aid, to add vinegar to the dishwasher and to use the detergent in the packs.