Why dishwashers might cloud glasses
Q: Please help me. My husband and I are at odds as to what’s slowly ruining all ofmy wonderful clear glasses and heat-treated glass items inmy kitchen. Each time I remove them frommy dishwasher, they lookworse. My husband states it’s just hardwater.
I tried soaking some of the ruined things in hot white vinegar, and therewas no change. It’s got to be something else, but I can’t figure it out. Can you shed some light?
A: The clear drinking glasses inmy own home are slowly getting ruined just as the reader describes here. I’ve got lots of experience with dishwashers, being a master plumber.
Many years ago Iwas first introduced to this strange conundrum bymy mother-in-law. I was a brash young man and she showedme one of her ruined small drinking glasses. She asked me if I knew whatwas going on.
“Sure, it’s just hard-water deposits,” I said. “Letme take it home and restore it.”
I tried soaking it in white vinegar, a mild acid that has no trouble dissolving hard-water mineral deposits. Therewas no change. I then got outmy toxic bottle of muriatic acid and tried it full strength. Therewas no change. Iwas flummoxed.
As time passed, I deduced the issue had to be with the actual dishwashing detergents, be they powders, gels or pods. In allmy years ofwashing glasses by hand they never suffered frometching, so whateverwas happening was happening inside the steel box with the thrashingwater spray.
This summer, I finally had it. I reached out to what I believe is the largestU.S. manufacturer of automatic dishwashing soap, Procter& Gamble. They make the Cascade product I use. Since I’m a member of theworking media, theywere kind enough to accommodatemy inquiry.
A senior scientist fromP&G explained that a perfect glassetching storm can happen inside a dishwasher if you have these four things: softwater, lowsoil
load, high temperatures and chelating agents. Shewent on to say, “Chelating agents, or chelants, are a major part of auto-dishwashing formulations because they form soluble complexes with calcium and other metal ions, enabling them to remove food soils and limescale, softenwater and boost hygienic cleaning action.”
When you softenwater, as I do atmy home, you remove the calcium fromthewater. Uh oh!
To prevent glass etching, she suggested not rinsing dishes and glasses, wash in shorter cycles, not using the pots-and-pans or sanitizing settings, and using a dishwashing product that contains zinc.
The bottom line, inmy opinion, is that if youwant your clear glass to remain clear, you better do what I had to do as a kid: wash them all by hand with normal liquid dishwashing soap. Your other option is to just keep buying new glasses after they get etched should you notwant to wash them by hand.
Q: I’m atmy wits’ end. My builder thinksmy newhouse is finished, but there are numerous defects. He had the building inspector through, and this government official issued a certificate of occupancy.
The builder says this is proof everything isOK. I knowthere are numerous items that are against the building code, and I hired an engineering firm to produce a report to verify this. Howwould you settle this scrum?
A: Ohmy, this plight is a common one. I receive identical emergency requests fromhomeowners all across the country onmy AsktheBuilder.comwebsite each week. The problem is growing and it’s very troubling.
I’ve done expert witnesswork in situations like this for the past 20 years. The last case Iworked on had me crawling over the roof of the Brazilian ambassador’s house in Antigua. Itwas a mess!
As I see it, there are two problems in this case. Let’s assume the reader is right and there are
numerous code issues. If that’s the case, the building inspector who issued the certificate of occupancy has made a mistake.
The building code is not a document of recommendations. It’s a pass/fail document. Something either meets code or it doesn’t. There’s no gray area.
Theway I prevailed in allmy past caseswas to ignore quality issues for the most part and just stick with code violations.
I’d go page by page through the code, and any section that had a measurement requirement, I’d go measure that item in the house. I’d then take a photograph or two to prove that the item didn’t meet code.
You don’t have to hire an expert to do this. You can read the code and take measurements. If you do discover lots of things that don’t meet code, then schedule a meeting with the head building official and present your evidence. She/ he should rescind the certificate of occupancy and only reissue it after all thework in the house complies with the code.