Inside: Dealing with a white film on dishes from the dishwasher? Check out these super easy tips on how to remove white film on dishes. It's quick and easy to do. Get rid of white film on dishes in dishwasher and keep it from coming back!
Normally I buy my dishwasher detergent from Aldi or I make my own. But, recently I was at a different store and bought their generic dishwasher detergent.
The first time I used the dish detergent I realized it left a white film on all of my dishes. We have hard water so that does happen occasionally.
I threw out the dishwasher detergent and then spent some time removing the white film from the dishes.
Even though the white film doesn't really hurt anything and your dishes are clean it is annoying to me. I want my dishes to look clean and pretty.
So, if you are like me and dealing with the film on dishes from the dishwasher check out these easy tips on how to remove white film on dishes.
How To Remove White Film On Dishes
Before you get rid of the white film it helps to know what it is. The white film is usually from phosphate-free dish detergent.
The phosphates in dish detergents would help deal with hard water and minerals in the dishwasher, but now they are slowly being removed from dish detergents.
If you have a lot of minerals in your water then this will tend to make your dishes very cloudy. Certain brands seem to do better with hard water than others.
If you are constantly getting a white film on your dishes try cleaning them and then switch to another brand of dish detergent.
Getting Started
There are three main ways to get rid of white film on dishes from the dishwasher. All of them are pretty easy to do and won't take a lot of time.
Depending on which method you use you will need some of the items below.
- Citric Acid (it's easy to buy from Amazon)
- vinegar
- or vinegar gel (you can see how to make your own here)
Just choose the method below that works best for you!
Use Citric Acid
If you don't have a lot of build-up of white film on your dishes you can usually wash them in the dishwasher to remove the film.
This is by far the easiest way to get rid of white film on dishes.
Place all the dishes that are filmy in the dishwasher. Make sure they have plenty of room and aren't piled on top of each other.
I also recommend only doing this with clean dishes. You aren't trying to clean the food off, just remove the white film.
Fill up all of your soap dispensers with citric acid. It can be bought in some stores or on Amazon. Then add some more citric acid to the dishwasher. I like to add at least a cup.
I sprinkle some on the bottom of the dishwasher and put some in a small bowl on the second rack of the dishwasher.
Then, run your dishes like normal. The citric acid will remove the film from the dishes and they should come out looking like new.
This trick works great if you just have a little bit of a film on your dishes. It is quick to do and doesn't take much of your time. Plus, the citric acid will help clean the walls of the dishwasher too!
The downside to using citric acid to remove the white film from your dishes is that you might need to do it twice.
Soak The Dishes In Vinegar
If you have months or years of white film build-up on your dishes you may need to soak the dishes in vinegar to remove white film on dishes.
This takes a little longer than quickly washing them in the dishwasher, but makes a big difference on heavy film.
To clean the white film you will need to fill up your sink with enough water to cover some of the dishes. It doesn’t really matter if you use warm or cold water.
Then add about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of vinegar to the water and mix. Then add your dishes to the water. Make sure you don't put too many in at a time. You want them to have plenty of room to soak in the vinegar wash.
Let the dishes soak for at least an hour in the vinegar and water mixture. I usually just put them in before I run some errands so they soak for about 1-2 hours.
After you have let them soak remove one and wash it off. Even when it is wet you should be able to see if the hard water film is gone.
If it is you can remove all the dishes from the sink, rinse them off, and wash them in the dishwasher or how you normally clean them. If you still notice some film put them back in to soak for a little longer.
This is a great way to do dishes with a heavier film, you can get them clean and looking like new again.
You can also do this method using citric acid if you prefer. I personally think they need a little less soaking time with citric acid than with vinegar. Just make sure you use warm enough water for the powder to dissolve.
Use A Vinegar Gel
Using vinegar gel to remove white film on dishes isn't the easiest way, but works great on large items that can't soak in the sink. It also works well if you have a spot or two that remains on your dishes after using the dishwasher method.
You will need to use some vinegar gel to soak on the dishes. You can either buy this in the store or use my recipe for homemade lemon vinegar gel.
Apply a small amount of the vinegar gel over the area with the film. Let it soak on there for about 1-2 hours. Then rinse the vinegar gel off.
Because it is a gel it will stick to the areas you need it to without getting too runny. It has the power of vinegar with a gel form.
With these 3 methods of removing white film on dishes, you can get your dishes looking great and free from the white film in no time at all.
No more nasty white film covering your dishes. They will look clean every time.
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If you want to prevent the film from gathering on your dishes in the first place there are a few things you can do.
I love these homemade dish tabs for preventing white film on dishes. You can also use a little citric acid in every load of dishes you run. It does a great job of preventing the film.
You can easily prevent the white film in the future with these tips so you never have to remove it again.
Want some other easy cleaning tips? Check out how to get hard water stains off of glassware.
The cloudiness or white film from dishes can be easily removed using vinegar, citric acid, or vinegar gel. Just pick the method that works best for you.