A real pill(s)
rroger
messed up somehow and you end up with those mini balls called "pills"
on the surface of the fabric. I don't know for sure but I think it's
called "pilling". I have a weird problem with the automatic dishwasher
that came with the apartment that I live in. Sometimes, after I've run
it with a load in it, the dishes have a mini, sticky version of those
"pills" on them. I have *NO* idea why or how it happens or where the
sticky "pills" come from, which, basically, is my question. What
causes the sticky "pills"/where do the "pills" come from? Also, how
can I make it stop? When you answer, please keep in mind that I am
*NOT AT ALL* mechanically inclined and I *DO NOT* know how to repair
an automatic dishwasher. Thanks for your help! : )
Greg Goss
For fabrics, the pilling sometimes comes from using too "low a thread
count" fabric. I used to use really cheap sheets, and the fairly open
weave could grab onto pills drifting around in the laundry water.
Better (tighter weave = higher "thread count") sheets don't do that.
Somewhere around here I've got a shaver designed to remove pills from
fabric.
In your dishwasher, it sounds like you're getting bits of leftover
soap stuck onto the dishes. Last April or so, they changed how much
phosphate was allowed in various kinds of household products in
several states, and national-brand dishwasher soap has sucked ever
since. Try different brands of soap -- maybe a gel version or a
tablet version.
--
Tomorrow is today already.
Greg Goss, 1989-01-27
rroger
I use liquid soap. I may be full of it, but I've always thought that,
by using liquid soap which is already dissolved, I won't possibly end
up with powder residue left on the dishes. Ironic huh? I should say/
add that the sticky "pills" aren't cloth, duh, and they're just little/
mini sticky "pill" balls. What they're made of I have *NO* idea.
rroger
Sorry, probably should have said that I use the kind of liquid/gel
soap that's *FOR* automatic dishwashers, (versus the kind you hand
wash dishes with), instead of using the powdered kind.
plausible prose man
Switch to that, that should solve the pilling problem. the detergent
mixture is slightly different, and it will take away some of the
surface tension, which is what's letting little pills stick to
everything.
Dutch "I know it's only rock and roll, but I like it, like it, yes I
do..." Courage
rroger
Are you saying to switch to the powdered type of machine soap? I ask
because I once learned that one is *NOT* to use hand wash dish soap in
a dishwasher because if you do, you end up with MASSIVE amounts of
suds that somehow get out and go everywhere.
Nasti J
You need to use a rinse agent to make the dishes more "slippery" -
there should be a dispenser for it in the door of your dishwasher. You
can use plain white vinegar - it works just as well and it's a lot
cheaper than Jet Dry or the other commercial products on your
supermarkets shelves that are supposed to prevent spotting.
Xho Jingleheimerschmidt
>
> I use liquid soap. I may be full of it, but I've always thought that,
> by using liquid soap which is already dissolved, I won't possibly end
> up with powder residue left on the dishes. Ironic huh? I should say/
> add that the sticky "pills" aren't cloth, duh, and they're just little/
> mini sticky "pill" balls. What they're made of I have *NO* idea.
What do they taste like?
Xho
danny burstein
As others have mentioned, you're probably seeing "soap" residue.
You might try double checking the water temperature,
bth in the pipes _and_ also what's hitting your dishes.
The water needs to be _hot_.
Just about all dishwashers nowadays include a heating element
inside to heat the water to the desired temperature in
case it's not hot enough from the tap.
Could be yours is broken.
So... take a looksee and, well, see...
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
Greg Goss
>> > Sorry, probably should have said that I use the kind of liquid/gel
>> > soap that's *FOR* automatic dishwashers, (versus the kind you hand
>> > wash dishes with),
>>
>> Switch to that, that should solve the pilling problem. the detergent
>> mixture is slightly different, and it will take away some of the
>> surface tension, which is what's letting little pills stick to
>> everything.
>
>Are you saying to switch to the powdered type of machine soap? I ask
>because I once learned that one is *NOT* to use hand wash dish soap in
>a dishwasher because if you do, you end up with MASSIVE amounts of
>suds that somehow get out and go everywhere.
I'm not sure if George is really suggesting a change to powder, or if
he mis-read your comments about gel.
But it might be worth finding the phone numbers of the PR people for
some of the big brands of dish soap, and phone them to say "I've got a
problem with my dishwasher, and want to try sample packs of a bunch of
your product lines. Can you send me a bunch of sample packs so I can
see if one of them doesn't cause this problem I've been having."
Trying a bunch of different brands is at least something different.
It's worth trying, even trying a powder instead of a gel. The powder
formulation includes a very mild abrasive that does a scrubbing
action. I don't know if the gell actually includes these soft
granules even though it looks like a liquid. if it does, then these
scrub granules might stick if your water softness or something is
different or if the dish soap is badly designed.
I found horrible lime (white coating) deposits from whatever
Electrasol changed their name to. I bought Cascade powder and Moria
bought Cascade gel. Both versions of Cascade don't seem to deposit
lime on the dishes.
For most dishwashers, there is a second tank that dispenses a
tablespoon or so of "rinse agent" at the appropriate time. The idea
of a rinse agent is to make it so NOTHING can stick to the dishes at
that point of the cycle. I'm skeptical that it will make any
difference, but it's worth trying.
bill van
danny burstein <dan...@panix.com> wrote:
> [snippeth]
>
> As others have mentioned, you're probably seeing "soap" residue.
>
> You might try double checking the water temperature,
> bth in the pipes _and_ also what's hitting your dishes.
>
> The water needs to be _hot_.
>
> Just about all dishwashers nowadays include a heating element
> inside to heat the water to the desired temperature in
> case it's not hot enough from the tap.
>
> Could be yours is broken.
>
> So... take a looksee and, well, see...
If I were him, I'd try the easiest way first. Find the little
compartment for rinse agent on the inside of the door, and put white
vinegar in it.
bill
Nick Spalding
on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:22:43 -0700:
And use less of the soap than recommended. Both my daughter and I use
the tablet sort and someone told her to try using just half a tablet and
she found it works just as well as with a whole one so I have adopted
the same method. We both have the same model of dish-washer.
--
Nick Spalding
Heather
wrote:
The "pills" are residue from the dishwasher detergent. Perhaps a rinse
aid might help.
--
Heather
Greg Goss
>And use less of the soap than recommended. Both my daughter and I use
>the tablet sort and someone told her to try using just half a tablet and
>she found it works just as well as with a whole one so I have adopted
>the same method. We both have the same model of dish-washer.
Some of it depends on the calcium content of the water. Living in
Vancouver (and pre-2010 formulations) we got by with about 1/3 of the
amount of soap. Living in Calgary, I add MORE soap than the space
allows for in the first soap cup.
(bottled water from near here includes what percentage of your daily
calcium is proviced by the bottle of water. You don't get that in
Vancouver.)
N Jill Marsh
Thank goodness I read ahead, and I wasn't the only person who thought
of this.
nj"well?"m
--
"All I can say is that the work has been done well in every way."
Mac
Correct. (As usual, King Friday.) It's also worth noting that some
people think that less load means far less soap, and that's only true
up to a point. The cleaning water has to get enough detergent, and
enough acidity, to keep any grase knocked free in solution completely
enough not to re-attach. Otherwise you just get these little
greasballs floating around. If they pick up solids, including
precipitates from hard water, they can make little pill-like
cling-ons.
So, rroge, you gotta think this one through, and think like an
engineer or a maintenance mechanic. (1) All the advice you've gotten
here -about undissolved cleaner, about operating temp, about cleaner
load - is good, you just have to add a couple more factors, and then
troubleshoot.
Dishwashers have drain sumps, which sometimes don't drain properly. If
so, you can harbor a premanent store of floating crud in them. This
will often be inside a plastic cage near the cetral rotator; it's
usually held down by a few screws. Get a nut-driver if you can, they
make the job go very fast, and magnett and a cup, to grab and hold
the crews. Take off the cage, and clean out the drain. At the same
time, clean and inspect the cut-off. It's a piece that floats up when
the thing is full of water. If you get a ring of greasy crud in it,
it can hang up sometimes, and convince the machine that it's full whel
it's actually got very little in it but the sump water. It can also
hide an unsettling amount of floating crud. You might want to take
the cleaning arm off alt look at it, it spins from the water jets, and
if they are clogged, it moves sluggishly.
Look around for lime scale and such. Hardware stores sell stuff with
phosphoric acid or oxalic acid that can clear that stuff out. Some
are good for diswashers. Some ain't. RTFL.
Put everything back.
Next, pretend you are a soils engineer. Take a crud ball off a
cleaned plate, and roll it in your fingers. Is it kinda like grease?
Well, then, it is. Youve already cleaned the thing, now, you just
have to make sure it's got enough cleaner, and it's hot enough.
Like plasticine or clay? Probably thickend grease. Same fix.
Friable and sandy? You might have undisolved powder, if you use that,
or calcium scale from the piping, or even actual grit depending on
what went into it. Sand in leafy veggies aside, you'd be surprised
what people was in a dishwasher.
Kinda slimy, like jello? You might have stuff living in the sump and
piping. This almost never happens unless the water temp is way too
low.
Now run it. Make sure you put in the recommended amount of cleaner.
Make sure you add rinse water. Run it full cycle. Wait till it does
the first drain and refills. The dispenser cup should have opened,
and it should be hot. If it isn't, run it through to rinse, open and
look. It should be hot with fairly clean rinsewater. and do a heated
dry. Open it after ist's well into the dry cycle, it should be hot as
Hell, wostly drained, and water hitting the heating element, a heavy
wire loop down around the bottom, should boil right off it.
Then report back here.
(1) You, obviously, should be a ssoil eengineer.
rroger
Here's how the "pills" I'm getting feel. You know how, when the new
phone book comes, sometimes there's a lawyer's ad stuck to the front
or back cover. Well, for lack of a better way of saying/describing it,
it's like if I took a small amount of the stuff that the lawyer's ad
is stuck with and rolled it around with my fingers until it's a little
dirty and has become a mini ball.
Mac
wrote:
>On Mar 5, 1:26 pm, Mac <anmcc...@alumdotwpi.edu> wrote:
>> the cleaning arm off and look at it, it spins from the water jets, and
>> if they are clogged, it moves sluggishly.
>>
>> Look around for lime scale and such. Hardware stores sell stuff with
>> phosphoric acid or oxalic acid that can clear that stuff out. Some
>> are good for diswashers. Some ain't. RTFL.
>>
>> Put everything back.
>>
>> Next, pretend you are a soils engineer. Take a crud ball off a
>> cleaned plate, and roll it in your fingers. Is it kinda like grease?
>> Well, then, it is. Youve already cleaned the thing, now, you just
>> have to make sure it's got enough cleaner, and it's hot enough.
>>
>> Like plasticine or clay? Probably thickend grease. Same fix.
>
>Here's how the "pills" I'm getting feel. You know how, when the new
>phone book comes, sometimes there's a lawyer's ad stuck to the front
>or back cover. Well, for lack of a better way of saying/describing it,
>it's like if I took a small amount of the stuff that the lawyer's ad
>is stuck with and rolled it around with my fingers until it's a little
>dirty and has become a mini ball.
Like hot-melt glue? Cool, that's helpful. Now, the gross part. Bite
one. Still seems like hot melt glue? Do you -or did the last tenant,
if you haven't been there a while,-wash any of the recyclables in the
dishwasher? Yogurt cups, and other dairy, are often shipped on
cardboard flats with hot melt holding them in place; some labels use
heat-sensitive glue, too.
rroger
> On Sat, 5 Mar 2011 10:55:18 -0800 (PST), rroger <raust...@aol.com>
I don't know about hot-melt glue, unless it's the stuff I mentioned
that sticks the lawyer ad to the phone book. I've lived here since the
beginning of march in 2005. I only wash dishes and utensils in the
dishwasher. I don't wash the type of stuff you described in the
dishwasher. On an unrelated note, I also do not rinse things like sour
cream tubs before I throw them in the trash can, IMO it's not needed;
they're being thrown out.
Lee Ayrton
I think he's describing the snot-like 3M Gummy Glue. It remains a thick,
tacky gel at room temperature and can be rolled up like rubber cement
"snot".
Mac
Yeah, that too. You're right, I worded that too narrowly. The point
being, Double-R, that if it looks kinda gluey, worth making sure that
isn't leterally what it is.
Bob
> I have a weird problem with the automatic dishwasher
> that came with the apartment that I live in. Sometimes, after I've run
> it with a load in it, the dishes have a mini, sticky version of those
> "pills" on them. I have *NO* idea why or how it happens or where the
> sticky "pills" come from, which, basically, is my question. What
> causes the sticky "pills"/where do the "pills" come from? Also, how
> can I make it stop?
Were you using the dishwasher for a period of time before this trouble
started, or has it been going on all along?
I'm inclined to think the problem is more likely some extraneous
matter that has gotten into the dishwasher than detergent. However, I
will note that one alkali that has been used in dishwasher detergents
has been sodium silicate, and that sodium silicate is commonly used as
a glue to seal boxes and eggs. The glue type silicate ("water glass")
is less alkaline than the detergent type, but the former could form
from the latter in the presence of enough acid.
Bob in the Bronx
Xho Jingleheimerschmidt
> On Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:41:23 -0800, Xho Jingleheimerschmidt
> <xho...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> rroger wrote:
>>> I use liquid soap. I may be full of it, but I've always thought that,
>>> by using liquid soap which is already dissolved, I won't possibly end
>>> up with powder residue left on the dishes. Ironic huh? I should say/
>>> add that the sticky "pills" aren't cloth, duh, and they're just little/
>>> mini sticky "pill" balls. What they're made of I have *NO* idea.
>> What do they taste like?
>
> Thank goodness I read ahead, and I wasn't the only person who thought
> of this.
Evil minds think alike.
Xho
--
?????? seldom differ
Xho Jingleheimerschmidt
>
> I don't know about hot-melt glue, unless it's the stuff I mentioned
> that sticks the lawyer ad to the phone book. I've lived here since the
> beginning of march in 2005. I only wash dishes and utensils in the
> dishwasher. I don't wash the type of stuff you described in the
> dishwasher. On an unrelated note, I also do not rinse things like sour
> cream tubs before I throw them in the trash can, IMO it's not needed;
> they're being thrown out.
I hope they ship you to Guantanamo and torture you to near-death, you
environmental terrorist.
Xho
bill van
<b6a787b6-cc5f-42a7...@18g2000prd.googlegroups.com>,
rroger <raus...@aol.com> wrote:
> I don't know about hot-melt glue, unless it's the stuff I mentioned
> that sticks the lawyer ad to the phone book. I've lived here since the
> beginning of march in 2005. I only wash dishes and utensils in the
> dishwasher. I don't wash the type of stuff you described in the
> dishwasher. On an unrelated note, I also do not rinse things like sour
> cream tubs before I throw them in the trash can, IMO it's not needed;
> they're being thrown out.
I'm still thinking, try the simplest and cheapest possible solution
first. Find the rinse agent reservoir on the inside of the dishwasher
door. Put white vinegar in it. Run a few loads through and see if it
makes a difference.
bill
plausible prose man
> rroger <raust...@aol.com> wrote:
> >> > Sorry, probably should have said that I use the kind of liquid/gel
> >> > soap that's *FOR* automatic dishwashers, (versus the kind you hand
> >> > wash dishes with),
>
> >> Switch to that, that should solve the pilling problem. the detergent
> >> mixture is slightly different, and it will take away some of the
> >> surface tension, which is what's letting little pills stick to
> >> everything.
>
> >Are you saying to switch to the powdered type of machine soap? I ask
> >because I once learned that one is *NOT* to use hand wash dish soap in
> >a dishwasher because if you do, you end up with MASSIVE amounts of
> >suds that somehow get out and go everywhere.
>
> I'm not sure if George is really suggesting a change to powder, or if
> he mis-read your comments about gel.
I was trying to trick Roger into making a huge, horrible mess in his
kitchen
Lee Ayrton
You get a double-word score on "solution" there, Occam.
Mac
Well, yeah, but the simplest and cheapest is I&R. Cheack the working
parts to make sure they do. Work, that is. Inspect and repair.
Make sure you are going by the instructions. If you don't wash a full
load, some people think that means they don't need to use as much
detergent. Adjust the detergent load to the local water hardness. Go
from there.
Lesmond
And this is why I love you.
--
If there's a nuclear winter, at least it'll snow.