Cleaning Glass Glasses

If they look cloudy, the glass may be etched which unfortunately means that no amount of cleaning will help. I had this problem once before and learned that phosphates in the detergent can etch the glass which causes the dirty, cloudy look. I use Palmolive eco + gel detergent now which contains no phospates and I don't seem to have any issues anymore.

Diamondbrite by Melaleuca works well also. I don't think anyone has mentioned that. You have some great responses so something should work!
Good luck!

It sounds like the glasses have been "etched" by hard water. There is no solution to getting them clean again. We had to buy new glasses.

Glass drinking glasses don't last forever. Overtime, hard water, detergent, acidic beverages and heat will etch the glass. The etching creates a rough surface that grabs particles. You'll get a coating of particles along the inside. You can see that the clarity of the glass is reduced compared to new glasses.

I would recycle the old glasses and buy some new ones. I recently spent $40 for 12 16 oz and 12 7 ounce glasses by Libby brand from Target. They're very nice and sturdy.

Another thing we did was install a water softener in our home. This greatly decreases wear and tear on dishes, clothes, bathroom fixtures and my hair and skin. It cost about $500 for everything installed.

To clean your dishwasher, place a cup of vinegar on the middle of the empty machine and run a wash cycle. That will take off some of the scum.

I would go back to Cascade detergent and continue to use jet dry. I've experimented and found these to be the best combination. Also, avoid lemon scented detergent, it is known to etch glasses too.

Hope your dad is doing well. Is their water from a well? My parents have well water and the glass glasses always have a dirty look caused by lime in the water. There's no getting them clean. I just think they have been disinfected with the hot water so they should be safe. And of course, we don't drink the water anymore. May be a consideration. Good luck

It helps to use vinegar and water to clean glasses. My grandma used to always have us use it to clean the windows in the house and it worked wonders. We also used newspaper to clean the windows along with the vinegar and water and never had any streaking. It's worth a try! Good luck to you.

Sounds like the same problem I was having. I could never get my glass glasses clean, or my silverware. Once I had a water softener installed though, those same dishes came out clean as a whistle! We installed a Culligan water softener that uses salt. A little expensive to install, but cheap to maintain and made a huge difference!

Try soaking them in Polident (for dentures) - it works if they are not too badly etched.

Hi-I have had the same problem. Try these 2 things. 1st clean the dishwasher-try Dishwasher magic. Its a small bottle of special wash to clean the dirt and grime that build up in the dishwasher. You just run 1 cycle w/the bottle only. You can find it around dish soap.
Also, I love Electrosol Gel Packs. Easy to use, just pop in the pack and it work wonderfully.

when my mom and dad use to own a restaurant long time ago we use to have to use bleach in rinse water to get the glasses clean and it would set upside down for dry.we also use bleach in soap washing dishes before we put them in a small drop of bleach water to rinse them. It help get the glasses shinning and clean also the cloudy can cause by dishes washer cleaner that you use. Just check out the dishing washer cleaner and see which is better. MS

It may be their water. Try rinsing the clean glasses in a diluted vinegar and water mix, maybe that will help.

PLEASE let us know...I am curious to find out if they are etched (my first thought) or if some of these suggestions make them shine.

All ladies - never run your bleach detergent (almost all of them) and use an ammonia based cleaner in the same room - toxic...will burn lungs or hurt a breathing child seriously - voice of experience, here.

Do you ever taste the bleach on your dishes?

I use Melaleuca Diamondbrite - no bleach, no phosphates, no harm and it really, really works. Less than Cascade or Seventh Generation and works better than SG by far!

J. B.
www.joyboudreau.com

I use Glass Magic, it's in a green box around the Jet Dry. My glasses were filmed and over time this cleared them up and now they look great.

Try a solution on white vinegar alone or with a teaspoon of baking soda. Also a great way to clean vases and glass glasses is denture tablets. Just fill with warm water and drop a tablet in, wait until it stops foaming or leave for an hour, rinse. Hope this helps.

Whether it's mineral build-up, hard water reaction, or etching that can't be removed, let us know what you figured out and if anything worked, OK?

i think you can use vinegar maybe on a towel and wipe them down. I've heard vinegar can cure all evil :)

Over time, the chemicals in dishwasher detergent will etch the glass. There really isn't anything you can do to fix them. They are clean, the finish just isn't clear and glossy like it used to be. Good luck to you and your family

If the water is hard at all you should use the powder detergent. Liquid detergent is not meant to be used with hot water. My dishwasher seems to not work all that well even though it is pretty new. I use Electrosal tabs which seem to clean very well.

M.

The glasses are clean and safe to drink from. The etching is (as others mentioned) a result of the minerals in hard, hot water interacting with detergent. One suggestion I found online was to use less detergent. Also, in the past I read up on this and found a suggestion to soak the glasses in vinegar to remove the etching. Good luck!

Try a product called LemiShine. You find it in the aisle with the dish detergents. If the problem is not etching but just a sort of film from hard water, the LemiShine will have them looking like new. Also, if you throw some vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher before running it, that helps with hard water. Good luck, and good for you for being there when your folks need you!

Try a product called Lemonshine it works amazing! It is sold at Harris Teeter by the clothes detergent in a small box that contains 3 packets of the crystals. The directions say to use it to clean your dishwasher or laundry machine. How I use it is by adding about a tablespoon of the crystals to the spot in your dishwasher that has a an open hole next to where you add the detergent (make sure you use detergent too) then wash as normal. Add a little bit to every load and you will notice a huge difference. The film you are seeing on the dishes is calcium that our water contains. Nothing else seems to work on the calciumm for me except the lemonshine. It pretty cheap too, only about $2.00 a box.

I don't have a dishwasher, but I'll tell you what I use in my dishwater when I want my dishes to really sparkle - bleach. I put about 1/2 cup bleach in my dishwater and boy, do my dishes and glassware sparkle!

I don't know if you can do that in your dishwasher or not, but if there's a product that containes bleach, or a way for you to add some, I'd try that.

Good luck!

Our glasses get that way in the dishwasher too. I just use them anyway, but if it really bothers you - I would try soaking the glasses in Vinegar for a few hours - maybe even overnight and then wash them in the sink with the scrubbing side of the sponge. I have never tried this myself, but have soaked other glass items that have had hard water residue on them. We have a lot of problems with hard water in Kentucky - in my particular area our water comes from an underground spring and has a lot of limestone in it. Good luck and let me know how it well it works.

Try vinegar. It polishes glass well. You can put it in the dishwater or use it straight.

.

Hi C.,

It sounds like the glasses may be etched and no amount of washing will change it. It's likely caused by the water. Since they've been through the dishwasher, they're probably safe to drink from.

Good luck!

my guess is that it is the water. when we lived in georgetown ,ky. ours did this. the glass was etched.or they may need a new washer. if they get new glasses it will happen again over time. you will need to wash them by hand. good luck. r. uhls