Drinking glasses
A cloudy glass is two different faults with the same appearance, and only one of them can be cleaned. Telling them apart takes about a minute.
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What this is, what goes wrong with it, and where CleaningHQ can help.
What tends to go wrong
A hard, chalky calcium carbonate deposit left by hard water. Dissolved by acids, essentially untouched by detergents.
Why it is difficult: Water hardness, Crystallisation, Adhesion and cohesion
What hard water leaves behind when it evaporates instead of being wiped away. A mineral film, not dirt, and the fix is at the drying stage.
Why it is difficult: Water hardness, Evaporative deposition
- Cleaning product residue· no method established yet
What the last clean left behind. It attracts soil, so the surface gets dirty faster — and the usual response is to use more of what caused it.
Why it is difficult: Residue and resoiling, Soil shielding, Why different surfaces get different dirt
In detail
Glasses that come out of a dishwasher cloudy have either a deposit on them or damage in them, and the treatments do not overlap. A deposit is limescale or a mineral film left by hard water, sitting on the surface — it dissolves in a mild acid and the glass comes back clear. Damage is etching: the alkaline detergent and heat have leached components out of the glass surface over many cycles, leaving a roughened layer that scatters light. Etching is irreversible, and no product reverses it, whatever the packaging says. The distinguishing test is simple. Soak one glass in a weak acid such as a citric or vinegar solution for a few minutes; if it clears, it was deposit, and if it does not, it was etching. Preventing etching is the only useful response to it, and the levers are the ones the dishwasher manufacturer already provides: keep the salt reservoir filled so the machine softens the water, use rinse aid, avoid the hottest programmes for glassware, and do not over-dose detergent in soft-water areas, since excess alkalinity with nothing to buffer it is what attacks the glass. Older and thinner glass etches faster.
Related
- Drinking glasses is commonly affected by Limescale
- Drinking glasses is commonly affected by Water marks
- Drinking glasses is commonly affected by Cleaning product residue
Sources for this page
Sources
Owner's Manual: Dishwashers GSD4500, GSD4800
GE Appliances · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the manufacturer specifies detergent formulated for automatic dishwashers and addresses water conditioning and film on glassware. (states this directly)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — 'Caring for the dishwasher' and the film, cloudiness and marks entries in Troubleshooting Tips. Supports the claim as stated.
Glass Technical Paper FB01-00: Proper Procedures for Cleaning Architectural Glass Products
National Glass Association (NGA) with the International Window Cleaning Association (IWCA), 2023 · Trade or professional body
Relied on for: That glass can be permanently damaged if improperly cleaned and that surface damage is not reversible by cleaning. (cleaninghq's interpretation of what it says)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — 'Routine Cleaning & Maintenance', including the pure-water method paragraph. Supports the claim as stated.
Last reviewed by a person on .