Glass etching from dishwasher / diswasher detergent

[peterh770]

Ran the dishwasher last night with an old glass "refrigerator dish" in the load. It came out all clouded. I'm assuming the glass used in this container is softer or something not as resistant to high temp and dishwasher detergent chemicals. Is there a way to fix the damage?

 

[gansky1]

I've had this same thing happen with some "vintage" glassware as well. I haven't found a remedy for it, being a very hard water town (12-17 grains) we see this all the time with shower doors, F/L washer glass windows and even over-spray from sprinkler systems on door and window glass. Once the damage is done, it's done.

I'll miss my Pebbles & Bam Bam juice glasses when I finally toss them out, but that's why they keep having estate sales.

 

[favorit]

No, it's no more possible. Some kind of glass can't bear high alcalinity.

Time ago I had Ikea Swalka glasses. All of them went etched and cloudy within a couple of months. The very some glasses still work fine in other places with soft water and regular powder detergent.

We've swapped to the Pokal series and have had no more etching
Also got rid of those awful all-in-one tabs with water softener included. Maybe they work well in haard water, they don't in our not-so-hard water

In case of doubt we run "mystery" glassware/crystal on the "china/glass" (low temp) cycle with two TBS of baking soda, that's less alkaline than regular detergents.

We run also fridge parts in the same way

 

[mixfinder]

My First Time

Its a trick in antique shops to oil glassware which masks the clouding look of etching. Seldom does etching occur weith just one wash. Its possible it was there all the time but unnoticed. If you want the glass piece to look good again simply rub it with a touch of canola, olive, orange, WD40 or any other oily substance and it will look like new again.

 

[maytagbear]

Or, you could try

Glass Magic or Lemishine, or just plain distilled white vinegar, heated and soaking. It might not be permanently etched.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[brisnat81]

My grandmother used to always put her Lead crystal wineglasses in the dishwasher back when Finish was chlorinated (up until she died in about 2002)Over about 25 years she never had a problem. Mum inherited the set and all was fine until about 2003 when the Bleach dissapered and the formula changed. Over time they've now all clouded over.

 

[jeffg]

I think we'll be seeing a lot of this problem, as the "new improved" phosphate-free detergents are rolled out.

People may wish to go back to handwashing their glasses and crystal stemware.

 

[favorit]

Nathan, that's the very point !
We too haven't ever had any issue until chlorinated detergents were discontinued.

Lawrence, the vinegar / lemishine trick actually works if the problem is hard water (the cloudness is limescale)

Otherwise if water is too soft, water softener contented in the detergent etches glasses cause there's no calcium in water to react with. No way to recover

 

[earthling177]

I heard that in cases like that you're supposed to wash the items with vinegar -- if it's mineral deposits from hard water, they'll wash away -- if it's actually etching because the detergent had too much phosphates/water softeners for the water you have, it's permanent.

We live in an area with naturally soft water, so permanent etching has been a staple for everyone here, if you use too much detergent (particularly the ones with a high amount of water softeners [in US that would be phosphates]), it etches the glasses, if you use too little, it doesn't clean. Very annoying.