Dishwasher does not wash clean - 12 reasons why it can be

• The most common causes
  • cleaning
  • Salts and tabs
  • Wrong admitted
  • Flushing and temperature
  • glasses
  • Einfüllfach
  • spray arms
  • Kinked hose
  • Machine defective

With the dishwasher, the unpleasant rinsing of the dishes can be avoided daily. Every day cutlery, pots and jars of food leftovers, cleaned, polished and dried, so you can easily enjoy a fresh wash-up. However, if you notice that the dishwasher is not flushing the dishes more and more often, it may be due to a variety of causes.

As soon as the washing power of your dishwasher decreases and the dishes come out of the machine with deposits, calcified or even dirty, you should get to the bottom of the matter. Depending on the age of the machine, the last cleaning and the wrong dosage of the cleaning agents, problems can occur in the dishwasher which strongly impair the cleaning performance. If nothing is done to prevent these problems, you usually need to rinse the dishes or dry them by hand, which in turn nullifies the benefits of a dishwasher. However, before you can do anything, you must first check what the possible cause is.

The most common causes

Since the dishwasher is used daily to clean dirty dishes, dirt, food waste and lime accumulate in the machine over time. But not only a clogged sieve is to blame, there are many more causes:

• insufficient cleaning
• no or too little dishwasher salt
• not enough softener when using dishwasher tablets
• Dishwasher given wrong
• wrong rinse
• no pre-washing by hand or program
• too low temperature
• Rinsed glasses together with other dishes
• Filling tray blocked for detergent or opened during program
• Spray arms clamped
• Sewer hose kinked
• Machine defective

Dishwashers often suffer only from one of these causes, so it is quite easy to systematically check them. In a few moments, you can see what the cause of the problem is and act, for example, on a sieve clogged with food waste. Therefore, when checking the individual items of the dishwasher, you should take care to look at them thoroughly so that you do not forget anything. This is the only way to prevent further problems when rinsing.

cleaning

The dishwasher should be regularly cleaned due to its function, so that fats, food particles and small parts do not get stuck in the machine and begin to rot. This is especially important as soon as you have washed a large number of dishes over a long period of time, but failed to clean the dishwasher. It is important that the interior of the machine remains clean, especially the following components:

• Sieve and filter
• canteen
• grid suspensions
• rubber seals

In all these places, more dirt can accumulate and should therefore be cleaned regularly. Coarse food particles should be removed immediately after each rinse, preferably before you place the dishes in the machine. Pasta, minced meat or onions just do not belong in the dishwasher and should have no chance to rot in this. In general, every two months you should put a machine cleaner, preferably from Miele, Bosch or Finish, in the empty dishwasher and run it in a program with at least 60 ° C.

Tip: You will always detect a heavy soiling of the dishwasher first on an unpleasant odor. Since many organic substances are deposited here, they begin to rot and then smell bad, which you can prevent by regularly cleaning and emptying the machine.

Salts and tabs

For the dishwasher to work effectively, it needs the right dosage of different cleaners:

• rinse aid
• Dishwasher salt
• Tabs or powder

It is typical that consumers who use powders instead of multitabs automatically add rinse aid and dishwasher salt to their dishwashers. These products are also necessary when using tabs, as the amount of rinse aid and salt is never sufficient to work effectively. While the tabs and powder work as soap, the salt regulates the hardness of the water and the decalcifier works against any limescale that can be found on dishes and glasses. Although the detergent can be used alone, the cleaning performance is without salt and descaling but only inferior. Therefore, you should never give up this.

Wrong admitted

Often the wrong placement of dishes leads to poor cleaning results. These are either too close to each other and the water jet can not be used effectively or the positions of the dishes inside the machine are wrong. This should be arranged as follows:

• heavily soiled: down
• slightly soiled: upwards
• Glasses: definitely up
• Cutlery: in the cutlery box, with the handle upwards

Since the dishwasher has no brushes or other cleaning utensils, it is necessary that the individual plates, cups, casserole dishes, pots and cutlery are arranged so. This allows the water jet to clean it more easily and then dry it. Never stack the dishes in the dishwasher. Thus, you only do more damage.

Tip: Be sure to wash sensitive glasses for wine or other drinks alone. These could be additionally contaminated by food particles due to their bulbous shape.

Flushing and temperature

Heat effectively counteracts any form of dirt in the dishwasher and is defined in the appliance by the particular program. Many people want to save water and for the most part use the eco-function of the dishwasher, which rinses at a temperature of 40 ° C. Although this is sufficient for rinsing light soiling, but against fats and stubborn dirt that affects only moderately, the result is unpleasant odors and dirty dishes. For this reason, you should always rinse with at least 60 ° C, so that the dishwasher is cleaner. Likewise, the following programs should be used for certain types of dishes:

• Standard program (60 ° C): works well against normal soiling and for cleaning glasses
• Auto program (40 ° C to 70 ° C): here the s of the machine are detected by sensors and then the temperature is set
• Short program (45 ° C): not suitable for heavy soiling
• Eco program (below 40 ° C): only suitable for lightest soiling

Also, be sure to always pre-wash by hand or choose a rinse that has a pre-wash stage. This helps to soak stubborn stains and so remove the dirt, especially fats. As mentioned above, you should always remove coarse food particles before rinsing, so you can avoid soiling. The car program is highly recommended here as it adapts the current rinse to the amount of dishes. So this takes over the necessary heat development to effectively tackle stubborn dirt.

glasses

As mentioned above, glasses suffer greatly from too much dishes, coarse dirt and not enough descaler. You can easily prepare your glasses for a rinse by pre-cleaning them and then placing them in an empty dishwasher. Especially red wine glasses belong to this category, as they often form edges. However, glasses should never be rinsed too hot as otherwise they could break easily and thus they do not belong in the same charge as the baking dish after the macaroni casserole. Please note that glasses become naturally dull with use and are no longer "brilliant". This is not a dishwasher error.

Einfüllfach

The filler often has to do with dirty dishes. If you find a half-used tab or powder in the machine, or if the dishwasher smells of water and dirty dishes, it is likely that the filler compartment door did not close properly or is blocked. Pay close attention to this, as it can often happen that the flap will not be closed because, for example, you have to get to work quickly. If the powder runs out, it will be washed away in the pre-wash cycle. You should definitely avoid this, as you are wasting water. If the compartment is blocked, no detergent can be added to the water.

Note: Be sure to close all other compartments securely to prevent spills from leaking. This can also lead to stains from the detergent on the dishes and cutlery, as this can be deposited there.

spray arms

The spray arms are essential for an effective dishwasher because they distribute the water in different pressure levels. Without functioning spray arms, the dishwasher may not work properly. If only one side of your dishes is clean, this is often an indication of problems with the spray arms, as they only clean a portion of the dishes. Although all the dishes get steam in the machine, the cleaning effect is not sufficient just by steam alone. Often the spray arms block because of too much dishes in the dishwasher. For this reason, you should never stuff the machine.

Kinked hose

The drain hose is an essential part of the dishwasher, because it forwards all contaminated water and tiny food particles from the machine into the drain. If this kinks, water and particles accumulate in the area and dirt can be returned to the machine. Theoretically, the water is whirled up again and, after the rinse, a layer of fat droplets often remains on the dishes. Another indication is unpleasant odors, even on a clean machine. It is best to store the hose in an elevated position so that it does not bend.

Machine defective

Another reason that often needs to be taken into consideration is a dishwasher defect that severely limits the cleaning performance. This can have many causes that should be best checked by a professional. Some typical defects are:

• Heating elements damaged
• Sensors damaged
• Door mechanism does not work
• Dishwasher can not open the fill tray with a command
• Spray arms do not work anymore
• Control unit damaged

These symptoms are often difficult to detect, but defective heating elements can be recognized by the fact that after the rinse no steam is produced, the dishes are cold and wet. Once the dishwasher can not generate enough heat, thorough rinsing is impossible and you should hire a specialist. For example, if the control unit of the dishwasher is damaged, it may happen that the water is not pumped out or even routed into the machine.