Are you getting streaks or drops of water, or lime spots on dishes and glasses after they have been in the dishwasher? This problem may be caused by too much or too little rinse aid.
Dishwashers use rinse aid so that dishes come out nice and dry without marks on them. They are fitted with a rinse aid compartment which is factory set to dispense a specific dosage. As water hardness varies across the UK this setting may or may not be right for you. It’s possible you might get away with using a little less which will save money, but if settings are inappropriate it can also cause the following symptoms
Too much rinse aid
If the dishwasher is dispensing too much rinse aid then it can cause sticky white streaks on dishes or a bluish film on glasses. Make sure the rinse aid is set to dispense the appropriate amount according to your water hardness. You may not even need to be using rinse aid if you are using multi-tab detergent (see below). Check the instruction manual.
Not enough rinse aid
If the dishwasher isn’t dispensing enough rinse aid it can leave drops of water or even lime spots on the dishes and glasses.
How to adjust the rinse aid dosage
If experiencing any of those symptoms you can try adjusting the dosage selector, which is usually found on the rinse aid dispenser unit next to the detergent dispenser. You can usually press a button or tab, which pops it open to reveal the rinse aid dispenser. There’s usually a small dial there that controls the dosage. Commonly there might be options between 1 and 6, and will be factory set at something like 4. If getting white streaks or a bluish film try reducing the setting down. If getting drops of water or lime spots on dishes try turning it up to use more.
If you just want to try seeing if you can get away with using a bit less then drop the dosage down by 1 and see if affects performance at all. If the dishes and glassware still come out sparkling and dry without any spots or marks on then you can leave it set there or even try dropping it down another notch. Try to read the instruction manual.
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If you use multi-tab detergent you shouldn’t need to use water softener but check out this article to make sure you have set up your dishwasher so it knows not to use it – Have you calibrated your dishwasher for multi-tab detergent?
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Margaret Carveley says
I have a Beko dishwasher 1 year old.
I have streaks on cutlery and crockery.Even washing by hand doesn’t remove streaks.I have altered the rinse aid dispenser up and down with no improvement.
There is salt in the machine.
I have cleaned all filters.The machine is reaching the correct temperature.It is emptying ok.I have run it on hot programme.
Please can you help.
Andy Trigg (Whitegoodshelp) says
Hello Margaret. All the causes of streaks on cutlery and crockery I’m aware of are described in my article. If it isn’t any of the described issues then maybe there is a fault on the dishwasher causing the rinse aid to not be dispensed into the machine?