Advice with coffee/tea stains

[frigidareu]

True, the LCB will inactivate enzymes in the detergent. However, when I have dumped LCB in the dishwasher my dishes still came out spotlessly clean. And my dirty dishes sit in the dishwasher a few days before I have enough to run it. I'm guessing the detergent has other cleaning agents in it other than enzymes.

 

[qsd-dan]

If one has a mechanical timer or a digital countdown timer, you could add bleach the last 5-10 minutes of the main wash cycle like a top loader washer. It doesn't take long for bleach to work its magic.

 

[johnb300m]

Update

Hi all.
First off the KA23 cycle sequence is as follows:
Normal Cycle(Heat on)
PW-6min(heated) / MW-15-20min, thermal hold 140F / Purge / FR-6min

I did some experiments.
While manually controlling the timer, I ran it on MW first with detergent.
Let it drain. And reset it to MW again this time adding LCB filled halfway in the dispenser.
Let it finish the cycle.
I had various coffee stained items.
Upon completion, results varied from 100% clean to a couple mugs still with stain, but very light.
There was a noticeable improvement vs my past runs with detergent alone, or even Lemishine added.

 

[thomasortega]

Cascade or Finish doesn't completely remove coffee stains here

Cascade fryer boil out removes everything.

I don't care if it has or not one or other ingredient. the only thing I care is that Fryer boil out works beautifully and the others don't.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate is what used to be the bleaching agent in the old chlorine-based powders.

I think it was also used in the old gel-liquids (the opaque white-coloured ones). It gave a lovely aroma of chlorine, and usually tended to whisk away tea/coffee stains in one wash.

The modern bio/enzyme powders and pods, are generally oxygen bleach-based, and have a bleach activator or two. These tend to leave the stains behind, or allow staining to build up over time. I find these very often give unsatisfactory performance.

 

[johnb300m]

I’m not buying Boil Out which is selling for $45-90 A Box.
Anyone here want to sell me a box for $10 plus shipping ???

What about Bubble Bandit? I remember that being all the rage for a while.
Any experience with that in older machines with stains?

 

[DADoES]

 
It's a commercial-market product.  The typical packaging is a carton of six 85 oz. boxes.

RestockIt, $67.95 + 8.95 ship = $12.82/box + sales tax.

Choices on Amazon.
- Six 85 oz. boxes, $73.52, $12.25/box, 14.4 cents/oz.
- Nine 20 oz. boxes, $41.99, $4.66/box, 23.3 cents/oz.
- One 85 oz. box, $22.99 (+ shipping, or free ship for $25+ order total)

Found another source, six 85 oz., $63.66, free ship.

And another source, six 85 oz., $58.58 + ship.

 

[circlew]

Gordon Food Service sells that product in some of their stores. They have several locations in the Chicago area.

 

[johnb300m]

Thanks for the tip about Gordon’s!
I haven’t been there in a while. I’ll have to check them out.

 

[iheartmaytag]

I have had good luck with

Cascade Platinum getting all the stains out of my cups.

As for the Boil Out, Previously know as Commercial Cascade, it does do a good job of "bleaching" the stains, but I found that it doesn't seem to work that well with my newer Kitchenaid.

I am only relaying what I was told, so it might be inaccurate: The Boil out requires a target temperature between 140-160F to activate the ingredients. Newer dishwashers are operating more in the 125-130F range with the exception of the sanitize where it may reach 155. Hence unless you are using an intensive wash with heat boost, the Boil out will not do a job as expected.

My personal experience is the boil out leaves a white residue on the dishes. There are occasions, not always, I have a sudsing problem with Platinum, but for the most part I have had good results. Of course as in any situation, time, temp, machine, and water quality will cause results to vary.

 

[cam2s]

Boil Out Temp

I did not realize that Boil Out needs 140 degree water to work properly. The last time I got a box was with my Potscrubber III. Being an older machine designed to have 140 degree water fed to it, the heating element really only maintains the temperature it doesn’t increase it. Even on the extended main Wash in the Potscrubber cycle the water temperature really only increased a few degrees. The apartment I was in at the time had fairly low hot water temperature. I was not getting satisfactory results, especially for the price of boil out so I didn’t get anymore. However after reading this thread I bought another box and used it the Ultra Wash that I acquired since then, which can raise the temperature to 140 and that made all the difference. It wiped the tea stains out of the brewing pitcher and the drinking glasses. So if you are looking for a product that will remove tea/coffee stains without any additional work or rinsing, boil out is the answer, just be sure to use High temp Wash. And also if you want to make a box last longer, use a cheaper store brand for the pre wash and only put the boil out in the Main Wash.

Just a final aside but this product has the best smell when the dishwasher is running!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Our first GE portable with the pink interior had an interesting owner's manual. I remember the procedure for removing coffee and tea stains from dishes in those days before chlorinated detergents. After you loaded the stained items, BUT NO METAL ITEMS, one cup of bleach was poured into a glass measure which was set directly over the center of the impeller on the grid at the bottom and then the machine was run through a complete cycle. The positioning of the glass where it would not be knocked over by the water allowed bleach to overflow into each fill. I don't know how well it worked because we used a chlorinated institutional dishwasher detergent and never had stains.

I have several Rubbermaid one gallon iced tea pitchers and only one of them develops stains in the pitcher and its cover. I just take care of it periodically with a little bit of bleach and hot water and wash it out with a paper towel. The bleach eats up the paper towel. There is almost nothing to throw away.

 

[bradfordwhite]

...or you could just...

do a quick rinse of the item with cold water

and/or soak the dish in plain water before putting in the dw and starting the machine.

 

No chemicals needed.  No need to get your hands dirty.  No hot water needed.  But whatever....

 

[tomturbomatic]

I don't know if you are talking about plastics, but from the time plastics were invented, coffee and tea stains have been a problem and manufacturers of Melamine plastics cautioned against using scouring cleansers to remove stains so soaking in clear water does not remove the stains nor does washing with a non-chlorinated detergent, not even with a heavy hand and a heavy dishcloth. Does anyone remember the campaign to use baking soda for cleaning plastics?

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>...or you could just...

do a quick rinse of the item with cold water

and/or soak the dish in plain water before putting in the dw and starting the machine.

No chemicals needed. No need to get your hands dirty. No hot water needed. But whatever....</blockquote> Doesn't work on plastic tea pitchers with recurring history in the refrigerator for a week at a time between batches, or for stains on the funnel of the iced tea maker.

 

[circlew]

I remove tea stains from my plastic pitcher with Bar Keeper's Friend. I wet the container, sprinkle in some BKF, and wipe away the stains.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Using abrasives on plastics will, over time, make the propensity to stain worse because it abrades the surface. I just tried some baking soda on a damp paper towel on some light staining inside a Rubbermaid pitcher and it removed it. It is supposed to be a mild abrasive and was recommended for removing stains from Melamine dinnerware.

 

[gansky1]

I've been using this for some time now, works well for the pre-wash on loads that have staining or discoloration.   I don't care for it as a daily detergent, doesn't handle baked on soils, egg, etc. so I use an enzyme based detergent for the main wash.

 

There are two Cascade gel versions on the shelf at our local store, a dark green bottle and this lighter green.  $4.94/bottle.

 

[johnb300m]

Update and likely solution!

Figured I'd give this sunken thread a little update.

I've been experimenting with a few things and I think I found an acceptable solution!
There's a supermarket in my area called Tony's Fresh Market, and they sell select boxes of Finish Advanced Powder. So I tried that, and I had some rather positive results!
One caveat. The Finish powder must dissolve quicker than other powders I use, because 4/5 times, if I check the detergent cup for the main wash, most of it is flushed out.
Either way, if I manually add it to the main wash after the prewash on Normal, I've been getting some really nice results with coffee stains being neutralized on almost every mug.

In order to curb the annoyance of adding the powder to the MW, I've been trying the Finish Quantum pacs again, in addition with the Finish powder in the pre-wash, with equally good or better results. The pacs don't pre-flush away through the barely sealing old KA dispenser cover.
The Quantum pacs, with my water, also do not seem to cause excessive foaming in the KA23, like the Cascade Complete and Platinum pacs do.

So I'm not sure what it is. Finish has been working great on my coffee stains.
Maybe they have different ratios of bleaching agents than the others.
On the cups that had lingering stains, I scrubbed them off with BKF, and they have not returned.

 

[askolover]

This is wonderful stuff...used in my KUDI23

Palmolive ECO gel has chlorine in it too but I personally prefer the powder above.