Hard Water-dishes with Film on Them

Add a cup of vinegar to the bottom of the washer every time you are going to run a wash cycle.

The vinegar works great, but if you can, have a water softener installed. What you see on your dishes is also happening to all of your major appliances (water heater, dish washer, washing machine, etc) and if you don't have softened water, you will be replacing these way too frequently.

Yes the VINEGAR WORKS. I used to have to do it to every load in my dishwasher. I would add a splash of vinegar to the bottom of my dishwasher and run it through a rinse cycle first and the and a tiny bit more and run it through the wash cycle and my dishes came clean with no white film on them anymore.

I can attest to all the vinegar responses already posted---it's a miracle product! So super cheap and so amazing! I love www.vinegartips.com , we dont even use any chemical cleaners or detergents in our home any more, it's mostly Vinegar and baking soda. And boy do they WORK! Good luck :)

Hey...I saw when you asked this question months ago & I saved it to see what the answers were. I have the same problem. We recently moved near Brenham, TX, and now have well water. My dishes were starting to look, not just cloudy, but flat-out gross. I tried the vinegar, like everyone said, and it didn't seem to help me at all. I changed detergents a few times, and tried multiple rinse agents. Finally...I found something that works wonders!! FINISH BRAND GLASS MAGIC!!!!!!!! Finish is the same company that makes Jet Dry. Right next to the Jet Dry was sitting a box of powder that said it was great for hard water...Glass Magic. You just dump a few shakes (2-4 Tbsp) of the powder into the bottom of your dishwasher, and then fill your detergent & rinse agent compartments with the normal amount of your usual products. That's it! I noticed a difference in the first use. Then, after several rounds of washing, using Glass Magic each time....my dishes look fabulous. It takes off the build-up and then prevents it from coming back. I just pour a few shakes into the bottom with every wash, and my dishes are great.

I found the product at HEB. Recently, we decided to start grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, and my Wal-Mart does not carry Glass Magic. After being without it for 2 weeks, my glasses and flatware are all looking foggy and gross again. I am going to make a special trip to HEB just for Glass Magic. If you can't find it in your store...heck...I'd order it online. It's WONDERFUL!!

Okay...just thought I'd share. I know how annoying it is to have your dishes look less than clean. And how frustrating it is to try product after product & see little to no improvement. So I just had to share my find, in case you were still living with foggy dishes.

C.

I agree with Sarah on the vinegar. Place a coffee cup standing upright on the bottom rack of your empty dishwasher. Fill the cup up to the brim with vinegar and run it through a cycle. This should clean out any residue that is in there currently.

The white stuff is probably just a light coating of minerals, if it's the hard water like you say. High concentrations of calcium will leave a white residue on your dishes.

If the vinegar doesn't work (as it's supposed to dissolve the mineral deposits which should remove the white), try using less detergent in your next cycle.

look up a product called Ridlyme.. invest in the 6 small bottles/ you can test it on yourself and see that it does not burn or hurt you at all. but it works wonders on everything
CLR cleans.

here's another solution to cloudy dishes. A company in Florida created a new product just for this problem. It's all-natural, contains no phosphate, bleach, or chlorine, and it works GREAT. It cleans the white film off my dishes, dishwasher....even my sink. It's a powder you add to each wash cycle (and you can use a lot less detergent so it pays for itself). not yet available in stores...see website at www.CitriClean.net

I live down the road from you and we have the same issue. It's mostly caused from well water. Every couple of months, I soak my glasses and dishes in a sink full of white apple cider vinegar (cheap) and some boiling hot water. I let them soak, then use the green scrubby part of my sponge and scrub each item inside and outside and then toss them in the dishwasher to get the vinegary flavor/scent off of them. They'll be beautiful and you'll notice a difference of the smoothness of the dish/glass on your fingers even. In two months, they'll be spotted again and cloudy.

Luckily, Vinegar is cheap.

Definitely vinegar! I have to do the same thing with my dishwater too.