How to Improve Dishwasher Performance

Do your "clean" dishes come out of the dishwasher covered in water spots and with last night's dinner still attached to them? While they may be sanitary, they certainly don't look "clean" sometimes. Try a few of the following tips to improve the performance of your dishwasher.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Turn on the facet to the hot tap water until it reaches its hottest temperature before running your dishwasher. You will bring hot water to the dishwasher faster, improving its speed and performance.
2. If you have a garbage disposal in the sink the dishwasher is connected to, run the garbage disposal until empty before running your dishwasher to ensure water drainage.
3. Try a different dishwasher detergent. Many of the troubleshooting technicians at Whirlpool recommend Electrasol. Quixtar also sells a quality dishwashing detergent.
4. If you consistently notice water spots on your dishes, be sure that you are using the heated drying cycle. If that does not resolve the problem, try a commercial rinse aid, such as Jet Dry, available in the dishwasher detergent section of your local store. Electrasol also sells 2-in-1 tablets which include the detergent and the drying agent in the same tablet.
5. While you don't need to wash your dishes before placing them in the dishwasher, you may want to scrape particularly stubborn food particles before placing them in the dishwasher.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't have any success with these tips, you can always consult the troubleshooting section of your dishwasher manual or manufacturer's website for further suggestions.