Comments on: Hard Water In Dishwashers: How To Prevent Hard Water Stains

By: Sue Morton

Sue Morton — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 14:20:21 +0000

Buy citric acid powder (the active ingredient in Lemme Shine, cheap in bulk). Put a teaspoon or two in the detergent cup and fill with dishwasher powder or use tablet, etc. This keeps both the dishes and the inside of the dishwasher clean and sparkling. Cheaper and easier than vinegar.

By: Sue Morton

Sue Morton — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 00:06:12 +0000

I ditched dishwasher soap, rinse aid, etc. years ago. I fill the cup 1/4-1/3 full with citric acid powder (same as “lemi shine” – cheap in bulk) and the rest of the way with “oxygen bleach” (stainsolver, oxyclean, etc.). Add 4-5 little drops (no more!) dawn dish soap on top and close the cup. No rinse aid at all. Hottest water cycle (required for oxygen bleach). Citric acid deals with hard water deposits, oxygen bleach eats organic residues like nothing else can, and a little dawn helps it all mix and rinse away clean. Everything sparkles like new.

By: Al Seaver

Al Seaver — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 22:11:21 +0000

One more dishwasher hack if you happen to have an issue with black mold forming in any part of your dishwasher is to get a piece of soft copper tubing, the kind used for running water lines to icemakers and the like, straighten it out, cut off four 3″ pieces, and slip them over the rear tines of your upper dishwasher rack. Many places have mold problems now because most newer homes no longer have copper water lines. They have all gone to plastic, and in some cases, pex lines, so no copper to kill off any of the mold causing bacteria. If you are old enough (like me) and think back, you will remember that there never was a mold problem when copper pipe was used to plumb homes.

By: Christy Morrill

Christy Morrill — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 14:16:22 +0000

I’ll have to remember to show this to my folks. I recently had to buy a huge bottle of vinegar for the laundry room. We have extra people living with us and they go through lots of towels. I sometimes can’t get to them very fast so I had to one treatment because they were starting to stink.

By: Rebecca Herron

Rebecca Herron — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 14:40:06 +0000

Thanks for this great hint! I’ve had positive results. However, I stopped because of this question: I use my good silverware, and regularly put it in the dishwasher. It tarnishes over time, but no big deal to shine it up again. Does the vinegar harm the fancy silverware?

By: Mrs C

Mrs C — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 09:10:09 +0000

In reply to Anne from Belgium. Unless a family happens to own a BOSCH. The German company still uses a natural rubber with a vegetable oil base, apparently. And it does disintegrate, but the seals lasted us two years from installation. I don't know if would have happened even if we didn't use vinegar, but the repair man didn't mention it at all.

By: Rose - H2O Elite Labs

Rose - H2O Elite Labs — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 13:01:06 +0000

I have tried both vinegar and dishwasher and they both works when the hardness is medium or low. I have moved to the electronic water conditioner EWC Max-i now as it is a one-time installation for many years to come. No maintenance required, no salt use and definitely no more worries for alternate solutions. :) http://www.h2oelitelabs.com/product-category/residential/