one of life's mysteries

[ramtops]

why does a dishwasher need a cleaning cycle every now and again?

I mean, every time it's run, it has water at 70° hot, and a tablet which is basically caustic soda, and yet every now and again, the inside of the beast gets greasy, and I have to donate it a cleaning tablet and a hot wash.

all very odd.

Comments

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

icky filters, usually; gunk gets stuck in the filters and comes back out. the rinse cycle is aimed at the plates rather than the walls and doesn't flush it all back down?

[ulygan.livejournal.com]

I have to donate it a cleaning tablet and a hot wash.

I just sling mine in a hot bath a couple of times a week with the offer of a hairwash and a back scrub if he's really good...

[brisingamen.livejournal.com]

To which we might add, why am I supposed to want my plates and cutlery to emerge from the dishwasher smelling of lemon. I personally like my plates to smell of nothing but 'clean' as this ensures that my next meal is not lemon-tainted. I read an hilarious review of dishwashing products recently which rejected all the preparations which did not make the plates, etc. smell sufficiently lemon-y. (Another black mark to Sainsbury's, who no longer make 'plain' dishwasher powder, apparently. Their loss, as the branded one I now buy actually cleans everything better any way.

[tanais.livejournal.com]

Ecover is odourless (and because we have a septic tank and private water supply) we need to be very careful what goes its way....

[spride.livejournal.com]

I've not had that problem in a year of running mine. I do scrape and rinse things that go into it first, however.

[tanais.livejournal.com]

Ahh yeah.... I leave that job to Galen and Bella "the pre-wash cycle" as they are known... (unless its curry/spicy/sugary)....

[brisingamen.livejournal.com]

That's good to know ... I need to check whether it's available locally. From the supermarket I'm already using Ecover washing-up liquid, which is much nicer, but I can't recall whether they do the dishwashing stuff. (And I moved washing-up liquids for not dissimilar reasons, not to mention using hypoallegenic fabric softener because I do not want my clothes to reek of 'spring haze' or some such nebulous scent. Why do people feel their clothes must be cleaner if they smell of this rather than of 'clean'?)

[brisingamen.livejournal.com]

I have a a four or five-cat pre-wash cycle too. I often wonder if it's really hygienic (I don't normally mention the workings of that part of the household in public) but figure the dishwasher should take care of it. And they are awfully efficient.

Between them and the worms we do rather well with waste disposal.

[tanais.livejournal.com]

With the ecover detergent (which is still a detergent, just not crammed as full of phosphates and anionic surfactants) , the excessive heat (enough to distort plastic) and the sheer length of time it takes to wash at those heats I'd save it is very hygenic... Mebbe not an autoclave but its very hot!

...also saliva is antibacterial

Water is not a shortage up here....