It was either throw out my apple shaped dish, and several others if truth be known, or figure out how to get that ugly white film off of them. Elbow grease is not my favorite way of doing anything so desperation took over.
I read everything I could and citric acid kept coming up. Well Fruit Fresh is basically citric acid and I happened to have some so I gave it a try. I put around 2 tablespoons in 4 cups of cold water and immersed my apple dish in it, 5 minutes later I checked it. I couldn't believe my eyes it was sparkling clear. No elbow grease needed. I dried it and put it in the cupboard looking like new. You must try it to believe and save your elbows!
By Ann Winberg from Loup City, NE
This page contains the following solutions.
I have an old dishwasher and there was always a film on glasses. LemiShine worked, but was too expensive for the amount to use regularly. One day I bought Sunlight Lemonoxi complex powder. "No more film on the glasses."
The government started recommending a reduction in phosphorus in detergent back in the '70's and many dish washing detergent companies lowered the amount in their products.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I use Cascade packs. I also use Jet Dry rinse agent in the rinse receptacle. My dishes have a white film on them. How do I get rid of the film?
By Toni M
I use the same thing you do. Random film on the glasses one day, used lemon and/or lime juice (those lil plastic fruit shapes with lemon/lime juice in them that sits in your fridge forever, because you had that party that one time..) Squirted the juice in, filled with warm/hot water, let them sit for 5 minutes then swished it around in the glass and used a wash cloth. Film came right out/off. Vinegar is probably the best way to go, but the smell of vinegar makes me barf so citric acid for the win!
I have been using Palmolive dishwasher liquid in my dishwasher. I have noticed that my dishes are coming out with a white film all over them. I contacted our local water company. They told me that the problem is not with the water. The problem is with the phosphates being removed from the dishwasher soaps.
I have checked the different brands of dishwasher soaps, both powders and liquids, and they all seem to have the phosphates removed. Since the phosphates have been removed, what can I do to get the dishes clean and free from the white film when the dishes come out of the dishwasher? Thanks for your help.
By Janet Scholl from Joplin, MO
I have hard water in my area. I've used the Lemi-Shine and it works great. It's in a yellow bottle with a green top. It is kind of expensive. Found it at Wal-mart
I never had problems till we moved and we have hard water now. My dishes and silverware were a mess. I started using Lemi shine. Works great. Found it the cheapest at Walmart.
Here's another solution. CitriClean of Florida also makes a powder that you add to each wash cycle. It's all natural and contains no phosphate. The nice part is that you use 1-2 tablespoons of CitriClean and only 1 tablespoon of your normal detergent.
My mom had the problem with white residue on her glasses. She tried the vinegar trick but it didn't work. She found a product that did the trick. It was a Finish product called "Quantum". It looks like a square yin yang with a red ball in the center of it. She has only had to use it three times in the past two months. Use them as needed I guess. Looks like you use one and it cleans things up for a few weeks until you need another.
Buy Lemi Shine and add to your dishwasher detergent. If terrible the first time you may have to soak in sink with water and Lemi Shine. Worked for me.
I have used Quantum for years. Although I like how it cleans, I still get white residue on my dishes.
What causes white residue on dishes after washing in a Kitchen Aide dishwasher? It does not wash off; I must use SOS or a scratcher to remove it. (I am using Cascade packets.)
By Patty A.
Fill dishwasher with residue dishes. Pour 1 cup white vinegar into the bottom of the dishwasher and run a normal wash cycle. The vinegar naturally dissolves any hard-water residue or film without harming the dishwasher or dishes.
I agree with the previous poster; it sounds like hard water residue. Use vinegar to get rid of it. I used to put a cup of vinegar in the last rinse. You could also try different detergents. There may be a different kind that works better.
1st STOP using those packets! They are terrible; they RUINED my pots & had to throw them out. Even regular detergents may leave some residue but nothing like those horrid packets! For that other film, you can try vinegar, or I prefer the citrus based products - they not only work, for *slight* film, they smell great! Also you may want to read what someone wrote above, about phosphorous!
Everytime I run the dishwasher to clean my dishes, they always come out filmy with etching? We've tried several different dishwater tabs, but nothing helps. Why is this and are my glasses ruined now?
By Trish Babbini from Northfield, MN
I have found that for my machine the cascade gel pacs with dawn work the best and I get no residue. You may also want to try a product like jet dry that prevents residue buildup.
To remove the film, put around 1/3 cup clorox in with the wash or if you can catch the last rinse put it in then, you might have to do this a couple of times but it worked for me. Then the best combination for keeping the film from building up again in our water and our dishwasher is Lemi Shine for removing the white film and Palmolive dish deterrent jell. Every water is different and it takes a bit of experimenting to find the right combination. We have very hard water. Our appliance dealer told us to never use the gel packs, as the packaging will eventually build up in your dishwasher pump. Their repairman finds this problem a lot since the gel packs have become popular.
White vinegar works well. Run it through an empty washer, full wash and rinse cycle. It works!
I tried the less detergent route, and the vinegar, and clorox, and every detergent brand I could find, even trying the gel packs, liquids, powders, everything and my glasses still came out with that white film. Even Jet Dry didn't help. I even tried CLR to get the film off. Nothing! One repairman even told me to lower the water temperature. That didn't help either.
Finally somebody told me that no matter what I do my glasses will always come out of the dishwasher with that film. (Don't understand it, Mom's never did!). But I've started washing all my glasses by hand and they are staying crystal clear. It's more time consuming, but at least my glasses are staying nice and I don't have to replace them every time I turn around!
By the way, I"m not talking about crystal glasses, I'm talking about regular everyday glasses.
I just read my manual for my new dishwasher and the troubleshooting section said you may want to try using a rinse aid and less detergent when this happens. I only half fill the receptacles and it seems to help.
(Hi! from Gina also in Northfield, MN)
Try Lemi-Shine. It's in the dishwasher section. It's a dry powder type stuff. It is especially good if u have hard water. I had the same problem and my dishwasher was brand new. Was told about about his and it works great!
Clean your dishwasher with vinegar or CLR which you can purchase at the hardware/grocery store. Hard water. Make sure you wash when you know your household use of soft water is good. We forget aftet alot of loads of clothes, showers.
Search for CitriClean of Florida. They make a powder that you add to each wash cycle. You need to use only 1 tablespoon of the cheapest store brand detergent plus 1-2 tablespoons of CitriClean. So your cost per wash does not increase! All natural product that contains no phosphate.
This is a super old post but I just wanted to say that its the same for me. I even tried wd40 and CLR. I feel like throwing everything out and buying plastic!
Does anyone know of a way to remove the milky haze (stain) that accumulates on glass's after being washed in the dishwasher repeatedly? It scrapes of with a finger nail, so the glass is not etched. Is there a home remedy, or a product I could buy? Please help.
For the person who wants to remove the milky look from glasses after using a dishwasher. I put vinegar in the dishwasher where the expensive store stuff goes. It works great some of my glasses improved right away and some did after several washings.
- Bea in WI
While working on a dishwasher that needed repair, the man working on it told me that most everyone that uses a dishwasher, uses too much detergent and causes the haze on the glassware. He suggested only quarter filling the detergent cups. It will do the dishes just as well as filling them full, and I found this to be true. It saves money on detergent, saves your dishwasher and septic tank and also helps to eliminate the haze
- Carol
I have never tried it, but I have been told that vinegar will remove the stains. Good luck.
- Cheryl
Oooooooh I loved this one and it worked so well... I had a problem once where a plate blocked the soap dispenser in the dishwasher. The dishes came out completely dull, cloudy, and with a nasty texture, not to mention the ones that had food particles and other junk on them. I read that soaking the dishes in your sink in warm vinegar for 1 hour would do the trick. Well, obviously I didn't have enough vinegar to submerge all my dishes, so I improvised. I filled a tall pot with warm tap water all the way to the top, added about 2 cups room-temperature vinegar and submerged the glasses in it for one hour. It worked well, but I reused the water for the next batch of dishes, kept them in for 30 minutes and worked just as well. Then all my cutlery for 30 minutes with the same water and it did wonders. After each batch I hand-washed the dishes and set them out to dry. They are now sparkling clean. I heard baking-soda does the same (haven't tried it).
I use (for safety reasons) plastic cups, toothbrush holders, etc., in the bathroom. When I put these articles in the dishwasher, they come out with an ugly coating. Some plastics are more prone to this problem. Any suggestions for keeping the plastic crystal clear?
By Sylvia from Great Neck, NY
I just always wash this stuff by hand. Being it is hard for me to stand I fill a bowl with hot soapy water and take to my table to wash the items, then I go back to the sink, dump that water and get clear water to rinse, then dry the items and they go right back to the bathroom. I never have trouble with my plastic food storage containers getting a film on them when done in the dishwasher.
Is it a hard water film or a greasy film? If it is hard water, try a cup of vinegar in the final rinse. Also, try different soaps. Some are very prone to leaving a film, and may react differently in different types of water. If it is a greasy film, it may be coming from other dishes that are in the dishwasher at the same time, something like a plate with a lot of bacon grease on it, for example.
Plastics are very toxic for your health.. Especially if they are reused because there are specific types of bacteria that grow in plastics that soaps don't kill. Also, as plastics keep getting used over time, their toxins begin to leech out more and more into your food or water.
All of my clear glass drinking glasses have a film on them from the dishwasher. I have changed detergent from Finish to Cascade, but no help. What else can be done besides hand-washing?
By Nolasandy
It sounds like you have hard water, the only thing that helped me, was to get a water softener. Before I had the money to do that, I never let the dishes go through the dry cycle, and I added sea salt to the rinse cycle. This helped, but did not eliminate the problem. Do you have a "rinse aid dispenser"? To save money instead of adding Finish or Jet Dry, add vinegar.
My dishwasher is leaving a cloudy film on the glasses.
By Vickie
Several things can cause this--too hard of water, water not hot enough, debris in the drain hose, and some gel detergents. Change some of the above and see if that helps. Also, you can add jet dry.
I hand wash my dishes and there is a film on my glass bowls, but not on glasses. I have been using Dawn. Is there a solution to getting rid of this film?
By Geri M.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
My daughter did not let me know that we were out of dishwasher soap and proceeded to use the liquid Jet Dry as soap. Every dish had a chalky film on it.
How do I clean my dishwasher? My dishes have a film on them.
How do I get my glasses to come out of the dishwasher clear instead of with this milky looking film on them? You can't feel the film or taste it, but it makes my glasses look terrible.
I am using the borax and washing soda dishwasher soap mixture as well as white vinegar in the rinse aid holder. My dishes are still coming out with a white film on them. I have tried the light wash, the normal wash and the pots and pans wash settings on my dishwasher. Nothing is helping.
How do you get white film off glasses from the dishwasher? It's a new machine and the glasses look foggy.
