Have you been feel­ing like all your efforts are in vain when it comes to get­ting your dish­washer to clean your dirty dishes?

–You put your dirty dishes in the dish­washer. (After scrap­ing them off of course.)

–You add the appro­pri­ate amount of deter­gent. (The same deter­gent you have been using for years.)

–You make sure the rinse aid com­part­ment is full. (You should, even if you have a water softener:)

–You run the hot water in the sink before start­ing the dish­washer. (Your par­ents never needed to do this.)

–Finally, you start the machine. (A dish­washer should.… Wash Dishes.)

Only to find…

So what’s the next step…

You toss the dish­washer or start eat­ing off of paper plates?

Well before you go build­ing a wine rack in the hole where your dish­washer used to be, lets look at a few recent changes that may be hurt­ing your dishwasher’s performance.

1) The Great Algae Debate (Stay with me.)

I real­ize the ques­tion “What does algae have to do with my dish­washer not clean­ing like it used to?” prob­a­bly just popped up in your head.

Well, the short ver­sion of the story is that the phos­phates that have been a key ingre­di­ent in dish­wash­ing deter­gents to help fight dirt and grime have also been linked to increased algae growth in water bod­ies. The phos­phates caus­ing increased algae growth ulti­mately cause harm to wildlife and our water sup­ply.  As a result, the phos­phates used in dish wash­ing deter­gent has been banned in many states from being used in deter­gents mean­ing the grime isn’t being fought in your washer the same way.

2) The Great Energy Debate (Are you still there?)

In order for dish­wash­ers to meet the newest Energy Star guide­lines, new machines must use less energy and water than ever before.  It’s not uncom­mon to have a new machine from a top man­u­fac­turer run for over 2 hours per load while using less water. (Some even run for 3.)  In order to con­serve energy, dish­wash­ers spend less time heat­ing the water once it’s inside the unit.

3) Hard Water

Hard water is hard on dish­wash­ers.  Hard water can block the spray jets with lime scale and cause deposits on the dishwasher’s heat­ing ele­ment.  This can and will reduce the clean­ing power, effi­ciency and life of your dish­washer. Not to men­tion hard water can cause spot­ting on dishes and reduce the deter­gents abil­ity to clean your dirty dishes.

Now you may be ask­ing “What can I do to make my dish­washer clean my dirty dishes?” 

Well, for­tu­nately, Idler’s is here to help.

Here is the break­down of what Idler’s rec­om­mends that you do to get the best per­for­mance out of your High-Efficiency Dishwasher:

1) Scrape off your dirty dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

If you are going to wait for more than a day before run­ning a load of dishes, it is a good idea to pre-rinse your dishes. This pre­vents odors and bac­te­ria from build­ing up.

2) Use a high-quality HE dish­washer detergent.

Since phos­phates are no longer an option. High enzyme count deter­gents are now rec­om­mended. We rec­om­mend Excel­sior HE Dish­washer Deter­gent.

This HE Dish­washer Deter­gent is Enzyme Based, 100% Phos­phate and Chlo­rine Bleach Free, Biodegrad­able and Sep­tic Safe. One bot­tle does 66 loads and *Excel­sior HE Dish­washer Deter­gent is avail­able at all Idler’s store locations.

3) Use a high-quality Rinse Aid.

(You should be using rinse aid even if you have a water softener.)

Rinse Aid basi­cally causes water to sheet off your dishes and leaves your dishes spotless.

Idler’s rec­om­mends Excel­sior HE Dish­washer Spot Free Rinse Aid. Like Excel­sior HE Dish­washer Deter­gent, this rinse aid is Biodegrad­able, Phos­phate Free and Sep­tic Safe.  Just one bot­tle lasts for 133 loads!  *Excel­sior HE Dish­washer Spot Free Rinse Aid is avail­able at all Idler’s store locations.

4) Use a hard water remover

(If you do not have a water soft­ener).  Idler’s rec­om­mends Lemi Shine.

Lemi Shine keeps hard water min­er­als such as lime, cal­cium, and iron from build­ing up in the inter­nal com­po­nents of the dish­washer.  Just a lit­tle goes a long way.  (Ask us how we rec­om­mend using it in con­junc­tion with HE dish­washer deter­gent.) *Lemi Shine is avail­able at all Idler’s store locations.

5) Pre­heat the water before start­ing the dishwasher.

Run the hot water in your kitchen sink and let it get hot right before start­ing your dish­washer. This allows your dish­washer to fill with hot water, sav­ing you money in energy costs while increas­ing your dish­wash­ers per­for­mance.  (For bonus points save the water from the sink and, once it cools, use it to water your plants or animals.)

6) Clean your dish­washer once a month.

A com­mon myth is that your dish­washer cleans itself dur­ing the wash cycle.  Clean­ing your dish­washer will remove any grease and lime scale deposits which can build up on the inside of the machine.  As an added bonus you will get that “New Appli­ance Smell” after each clean­ing.  Idler’s rec­om­mends Dish­washer Magic.

Dish­washer Magic removes hard water and rust build–up from spray arms, hoses and fil­ters and is the only EPA–approved dish­washer cleaner cer­ti­fied to kill 99.9% of specif­i­cally tested bac­te­ria.  *Dish­washer Magic is avail­able at all Idler’s store locations.

The team and Idler’s would like to thank you for tak­ing the time to read our post. If you have any ques­tions, please con­tact us.