Appliance Repair: Getting Your Dishes Cleaner

If you have a dishwasher that isn't getting the job done, you may need to look into procuring professional appliance repair to solve a problem larger than you can handle. Sometimes, however, the problem isn't with the machine. While modern dishwashers are able to handle bigger messes than those of yesteryear, there are things you can do to make its job easier. If you're tired of pulling plates and glasses out of the racks and wondering if you should just wash them by hand, here are some things you can do to get your dishes cleaner.

Soften Your Water
Hard water can make it difficult to get your dishes spotless, regardless of whether you wash them by hand or in a machine. Have a professional come out and test your water's hardness level. If it turns out you have hard water, you may want to consider putting a water softener in your home. This interacts much more easily with soap, creating suds and getting both dishes and your family cleaner.

Pre-Rinse
There are still plenty of people who wash their dishes by hand before they put them in the dishwasher. Not only is this a waste of time and money, you may be hampering your machine by using this process. The soap in the dishwasher needs a certain amount of debris to work correctly. That said, you shouldn't put dishes into the racks when they still have large amounts of food hanging off them. This creates a mess and can make it impossible to retrieve clean dishes from the machine. If you don't pre-rinse, you probably don't need appliance repair; you just need to start doing it!

Run Hot Water
One technique that has proven successful for many homeowners is to run the sink faucet hot just before turning on the dishwasher. This ensures that the first fill of the machine is comprised of hot water. Cold or even lukewarm water won't do a great cleaning job. You may also want to give your hot water heater a check. If it isn't heating the water to at least 120 degrees, you could be fighting a losing battle. This also creates an environment where bacteria can form in your tank. Of course, you don't need it much hotter, either, as this can lead to burns and baked on food debris. If your heater isn't working as it should, this may be the right place to turn for appliance repair, rather than your dishwasher.