The same thing happened to me! I have found that this often means you are using too much detergent. Try knocking down the amount you are using by 1/3 to 1/2. That way I get clean sparkly dishes and glasses.

Sound like me two months ago until I began doing the following:

1.fill rinser with vinegar.
2 .pour a little baking soda onto your door
3. fill with detergent
4. run your hot water tap prior to the machine and get the water running hot
5. Then turn on the machine.

the vinegar and baking soda will make your glassware shine and take away all white spots. It has something to do with the hardness of your water

Make sure you have your hot water heater turned up to the temperature recommended by the dishwasher manufacturer. This information should be in your dishwasher manual. Running the hot water at your sink before starting the dishwasher will also help make sure your water is hot enough, especially in winter.

The previous posters have some great ideas.

I have had very good luck with Seventh Generation powdered dishwasher detergent in two dishwashers now. One ancient and one new, energy star rated.

I had the same problem. What I do is:

1. When the dishwasher is full of dirty dishes, pour in about 1/2 C of white vinegar (just pour it into the bottom, under the lowest tray.)

2. Add powdered detergent -- but only fill up the dispenser 1/3 of the way (it's enough, trust me.) Make sure the dispenser is dry; if the detergent gets wet before the dishwasher starts, it will clump & won't dissolve as well.

3. Use white vinegar instead of the store bought stuff for your rinse agent.

4. Run the hot water of your tap until the water is good and steamy before you start the dishwasher.

5. Turn off any heat dry settings on your dishwasher.

As others have noted, the problem starts with hard water. Our water is really hard -- some of the worst I've ever seen -- and doing the steps above fixed the problems we had. Previously, our dishes were COATED in white powder; glasses looked like they were frosted & beverages had a weird after taste. Blech. Much happier now. And the vinegar makes our dishes sparkle like fine china. :-)

I forgot to add -- if the deposits are really bad right now, do two or three "empty" loads with no dishes & nothing but vinegar (lots and lots in the bottom -- it won't hurt your dishwasher at all) to break up the mineral deposits.

I use Seventh Gen's dishwasher liquid with white vinegar as the "rinse agent". I only fill the soap tray to the first line to avoid using too much which I hear is a very common problem.

I'm happy w the results but the only problems we've had is with butter knives. They get brownish-red spots on them even if they were rinsed off really well before being put in. I just wash those by hand now, the other silverware comes out perfect. It's weird.

thank you so much for posting this. the white residue has been driving me nuts! i can't wait to try the vinegar solution.

I've had this problem as well. The above suggestions sound good, but somewhat complicated to me. All I did was switch to gel dishwasher detergent -still "natural" and made by the same company that made the "natural" powder stuff. I haven't had problems since I switched from powder to gel.

We had a similar problem with our new dishwasher. The dishes weren't drying properly, either. Turns out the drain pump was defective and had to be replaced under warranty. Until that happened, the machine continually circulated the dirty (although probably sterile) water, left water standing in the tub, and occasionally leaked a bit. It was maddening until we got it figured out. Good luck!

I'm glad to read these tips. We have a really old dishwasher and very hard water, and a whitish residue all over everything. I'm so sick of it! Also, the lid to the rinsing container (the one where you're supposed to put Jet Dry or alternative) is broken so we can't use it. I might have to try putting WV in the bottom and BS on the door...

something to also keep in mind is the water quality in the area. if you have very soft/hard water, that can leave deposits, no matter how awesome your detergent is.

In addition to checking the temp of the water, make sure that the water pressure going to the dishwasher is correct....

We were told by a plumber and a serviceman to be cautious about using vinegar, as it dries out tubes and seals, leading to cracking. Just wanted to pass that along.

I have found that the liquid products are less prone to leave residue that the powder types.

To the poster that mentioned red spots on butter knives. This may be a significant consideration when using the vinegar remedies - Did you know that two types of stainless steels are used in stainless flatware? Usually blade type of stainless uses type 400 stainless steel which is less corrosion resistant. Forks and spoons are 300 stainless which is more resistant to corrosion. The red spots may be pitting/rusting of 400 stainless and will be more likely in the vinegar situation.

You can check with a magnet. Magnet sticks to 400 ss, does not stick to 300. Moral of the story - if the magnet sticks might pit in acid/vinegar conditions.

Also, if you have an old machine with some damage to the coating on the racks, the vinegar remedy may cause additional rusting to the racks in the damaged areas. For the remedy mentioned about cleaning an empty dishwasher with vinegar - you might want to remove the racks before doing this.

To those who mentioned running the hot water. Many washers have a heat cycle where the built-in heater in the dishwasher raises the water temperature to the desired amount.

I live in an area with VERY hard water. The only thing that I have found to work is a product called LemiShine. You place about a tablespoon in to your dry powder dispenser, close it, and place your dry powder soap just on the door. I buy LemiShine at Walmart, but they have a website too if they do not sell it in your area.

If you are using liquid detergeant, try switching to powder. I know it sounds counter-intuitive (liquid should dissolve easier) but that helped me. Also, use Jet Dry and also try those dishwasher cleaners where you run a cycle with the bottle turned upside-down in the utensil tray. Last year my dishwasher was a nightmare and it took many months and many different ideas to fix it.

I ran into the same issue when we switched to the eco-friendly detergent. We solved it by mixing our powder detergent with Borax. Half-detergent/half-Borax makes our dishes sparkle!

Help! My dishwasher makes my dishes dirtier!

http://thesweetest3.com/

I had that problem with a couple different natural dish detergents (both gel and powder). Now I use Method Smartydish tablets, and I haven't had white residue since I switched!

To the poster who said that a serviceman told them not to use vinegar, that's interesting because our dishwasher serviceman actually told us TO USE vinegar because it keeps the washer running more cleanly. We use vinegar as our rinse agent and run an empty cycle with just vinegar once a month or so per his recommendation.

Has anyone else heard one way or the other? I don't want to be breaking my machine when I'm just trying to keep it clean...

Some great tips so far. The biggest keys are use a rinse aid, make sure the water temp is right, and run water in the sink till it comes up to temp. Also the softer your water the less detergent you need to use.

Vinegar WILL dry and crack the lines if used too often. There is a product made called "Dishwasher Magic" that does a great job at cleaning. That however is tough to find, kind of expensive, and is just citric acid. A cheap substitute from you local grocery store? Tang, yes the drink mix for astronauts. Dump a cup in the tub and start a cycle with an empty dishwasher and it will clean everything out.

I second the lemi-shine. I have an old dishwasher, and REALLY hard water.

This stuff is magic. And I find it works better with powder detergent than with gel. I never run a cycle without it.

Dumb question, but happened to my parents. Did the water supply to the dishwasher get turned back on at full strength? Theirs wasn't turned all the way and there wasn't enough water pressure to remove residue.

1 - Liquid detergent
2 - Only fill the covered main-wash cup - no need to fill the pre-cleaning cup at all.

I suspect you have hard water. I had the same problem. I would prefer to use an ecologically safe detergent, but after researching the problem, I found out that the only detergent that would really cut through the hard water is Cascade Complete gel. I'm not crazy about using it, but it did solve the problem. Also, you need more soap and not less. I have to fill both the main and prewash compartments. Eventually, I hope to install a whole-house water softener and that will probably fix the problem.

simplify your life. get the cascade gel packs. you just drop in the pack and that's it. and jet dry.

i have very hard water a new yet crap machine and tried everything mentioned above. forget eco brands in this one instance. do everything else in your life green like i do and have this one vice. my neighbor had same problem and i gave her a few samples and she's sold. a coworker turned me on to them and before i always turned my nose up at prepackaged stuff. but this stuff works.

@phoxx It did look like rust but I was able to clean them off quite easily, and I didn't think you could just wipe off rust. Weird. Thanks for the heads-up though!

I've got super hard water, too, and I've found two "natural" products that work- Method Smarty Dish Cubes and one that I just found on Etsy. Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40963719. She sells sample sizes, too, if you want to try it out first. Good luck!

I had this same problem, but about a month ago I asked all my Facebook friends to weigh in, and I ended up with a great solution: I use the same detergent (eco-friendly) and add 1 cup of white distilled vinegar poured in on top of the bottom rack right before I start the machine. Absolutely no more white stuff. Cheap, and easy.

I had a problem with residue but also with my dishes not getting clean. The 20 or 30 year old dishwasher I replaced worked fantastic but it was not tall enough to use both racks effectively so I laid out $700 for a new one. After much research I was told that because the new washers are so "efficient" that to keep from using lots of electricity to heat the water, it only uses enough to keep hot water hot.... SO, since they use so little water unless you are very close to the water heater the water it pulls in never gets to the hot stuff. SOLUTION: Turn the water on in the kitchen sink all the way to hot until it is coming out completely hot just before you turn on the dishwasher - that way the water that comes into the dishwasher is hot instead of cold. What a pain in the butt when you spend all that for a dishwasher!!

Sadly, we have VERY VERY hard water where I live. I have tried every 'green' detergent and only the bad stuff really works -- in fact only the baddest works! I use Cascade Complete. Everything else results in less and less clean dishes until, before I have gone through a package of detergent, glasses look like I dipped them in milk then left them to dry that way. I think the inner workings of the machine become so built up that pressure is also affected.

I do a lot of other 'green' things and have to accept that one can only be so perfect.

Finally, I also run the kitchen sink water until it's warming up so I know the d/w will get truly hot water in that first and second cycle. I catch the water in a pitcher and use it to water plants.

I find that Ecover dishwasher tablets are the best. I recently tried switching back and forth between Ecover and the Method Smartydish tablets and decided Ecover works quite a bit better.

Have always had this problem living in the Bay Area and I recently switched to the Method Smartydish tablets...they are GREAT. The spotty-white residue issue is now gone.
I'm definitely going to give the vinegar rinse-aid idea a go too...sounds great.

Thanks muirne81, we have been having so many problems with our dishwasher and I was at my wits end! So I googled the question and came across this wonderful site and read yours and it worked! I am no longer afraid of using the dishwasher! lol... My husband laughed at me and I almost woke up our daughter.

I don't use eco-friendly detergents (Palmolive's version turned me off because of the nasty residue), but I've had wonderful luck using Lemi-Shine with my regular powdered detergent. And I've read several articles touting powders over any other formula, and I can say that is very true. I've used liquids, packets and tablets...and the powder always works best.

I always have terrible luck with powders. If you have a white residue on your dishes it's almost always because of two things: 1) You're using too much soap or 2) Your dishwasher isn't draining properly before the rinse cycle and needs to be cleaned out.

This is becoming a common problem in hard water areas. You might know that many state governments have passed laws that changed the ingredients in dishwasher detergent. Now the detergents are not effective at removing hard water deposits. I created a product that solves the problem. Please search for "CitriClean of Florida"

I didn't read all the posts (too many) and this one may never be read either. However, the reason that ALL of our dishwashers have suddenly begun leaving white residue is because the FDA outlawed phosphates in dishwasher and laundry detergents. I still haven't found a cure, I guess I'll have to read all the comments anyway! My solution was to just wash them by hand (yuk).

I didn't read all the posts (too many) and this one may never be read either. However, the reason that ALL of our dishwashers have suddenly begun leaving white residue is because the FDA outlawed phosphates in dishwasher and laundry detergents. I still haven't found a cure, I guess I'll have to read all the comments anyway! My solution was to just wash them by hand (yuk).

Hi All,

Try adding lemon juice to the dishwasher detergent. It is worked for me already couple times - no white spots. It workes as the replacement of the phosphates which as correctly stated in the previous post were outlawed by FDA.

I have found that adding a tsp of tri-sodium phosphate helps....In a lot of states, they have banned tsp, and I know all the dishwasher detergents have quit adding phosphates (which are what clean) to their products...you can buy the TRUE tsp online...People have been using it for years.

The problem is that manufactures have taken the phosphates out of the detergent. I add a teaspoon of TSP along with the detergent and my dishes sparkle again. You can buy TSP at the Hardware store.

What about debris? I just removed a quarter, tab from bread bag, plastic strip from a gallon of milk, stink bug, plastic or tape(?), rubber band and other unknown lint/dirt. I removed parts of the water sprayer in the bottom and cleaned everything I could reach easily. I hope that's all it needed. I blame all that gunk on the kids, of course! They can't defend themselves. :-) lol

Well, no wonder your dishes look so crappy.... you're putting "BS" on the door!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)