Cloudy glasses from the dishwasher – what to do?
Difficulty: Easy · Time: approx. 30 minutes
When glasses come out of the dishwasher milky or cloudy, there are exactly two suspects: a limescale film, which can be removed – or glass corrosion, tiny scratches in the glass itself that unfortunately stay. Before you buy anything, find out which one you're dealing with using a simple test.
The vinegar test costs you ten minutes and a glass of vinegar. Afterwards you'll know whether you just need salt, rinse aid and the right hardness setting – or whether it's about protecting your remaining glasses from now on.
What you'll need
- Clear household vinegar and a container for the test
- Dishwasher salt
- Rinse aid
- Dishwasher cleaner or pure citric acid
- Your local water hardness (your water supplier will tell you)
Step by step
- 1
The vinegar test: limescale or corrosion?
Place a cloudy glass in warm vinegar for ten minutes. If it turns clear again, a limescale film is to blame – you can get rid of that, continue with step 2. If it stays cloudy, it's glass corrosion – skip straight to step 5.
- 2
Top up the salt
Open the salt container in the floor of the machine and top it up with dishwasher salt until it's full. The salt keeps the built-in water softener working – without salt, limescale settles on glasses and the heating element.
- 3
Set the softener to your water hardness
Ask your water supplier for your local hardness – a look at their website is often enough – and set the hardness level on the machine; the manual tells you how. If the machine is set too soft, limescale gets through despite the salt.
- 4
Top up rinse aid and run a hot empty cycle
Fill the rinse aid up to the maximum mark. Then run the machine empty on the hottest programme with dishwasher cleaner or two tablespoons of citric acid – that gets the limescale out of the machine's insides too.
- 5
For glass corrosion: protect your glasses from now on
Corroded glasses won't turn clear again – but you can protect the rest: wash glasses on the glass or gentle programme at 45 to 50 degrees, don't set the softener softer than necessary, and wash delicate or inherited glasses by hand.
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Upload a photo →Frequently asked questions
- I use all-in-one tabs – do I still need salt?
- From medium water hardness upwards: yes. The softener component in the tabs isn't enough with hard water, and the built-in water softener only works with salt. Rule of thumb: as soon as limescale shows up, use salt and rinse aid as well.
- How do I find out how hard my water is?
- Your water supplier publishes the hardness for your area, usually right on their website. Alternatively, cheap test strips are available at the drugstore. With that value you can set the machine's softener precisely.
- Why does glass corrosion affect the good glasses first?
- Thin-walled, high-quality glasses have more delicate surfaces. High temperatures, very soft water and aggressive detergents gradually dissolve the finest glass components out of them. So: use the glassware programme or wash special pieces by hand.