Substitute and Solve – Improper installation of dishwasher causes big headaches

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/04/2012 (5010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hello Reena,

My dad just told me about you. I was telling him about the problems we have had with our dishwasher(s). We actually just returned a brand new dishwasher which we had bought because we thought our old one wasn’t working anymore and we had already exchanged the new one once!

Now we know that it is another problem but we don’t know what it could be. On our white dishes, we get really ugly brown stains (looks like old banana) and on our dark black and green dishes, we get whitish stains all over which will not even come off with vinegar. I had to use TKO Orange Cleaner (straight) to finally get the white stuff off. We live in a big city and we do have a carbon water filter in our house which gets rid of chlorine and some other toxins. My husband wasn’t diligent about back flushing the filter regularly and we thought maybe that was the problem but he has had it back flushing every night for almost two weeks, and that did not help.

My sister has the exact same dishwasher which we just returned and she uses the same detergent that we used but she lives in the country and has well water. She is very happy with her dishwasher. My husband is just in the process of re-installing our old dishwasher (which we had kept just in case) but we don’t know what to do to get rid of these stains. My dad said you come up with the most amazing solutions! Therefore, I thought I would ask you for ideas. Thank you so much for your time! Juanita

Dear Juanita,

I want to share with you that I had this same experience. After trying a variety of dishwasher detergents, fiddling with water temperatures, iron filters and water softeners. We ended up purchasing a new dishwasher and giving the fairly new one to my sister. She said it worked perfectly. Our new dishwasher had the same problems and after calling in the professionals, we were told that the dishwasher hose was installed incorrectly making it impossible for the proper amount of water to hit the dishes. The moral of the story; no amount of vinegar or other products will fix the issue if the dishwasher is not installed correctly.

Dear Reena,

I bought a pair of black suede sandals. Every time I wear them they turn my feet black. Is there any way to set the dye so I don’t get black feet? With summer just around the corner I would like to wear them. Enjoy your column and very helpful tips. Susan

Hi Susan,

Let’s start with the easiest solutions and then move towards a more aggressive solution. Coat your feet with petroleum jelly before wearing your sandals. If these were boots you could purchase Dr. Scholl’s shoe liners and put them inside your boots. But since your challenge is with sandals, purchase acrylic matte varnish at a craft store. Consider painting the inside of your sandals, being sure not to miss any areas. Let dry before wearing (test on an inconspicuous area first).

Extra Tip: People often purchase suede protector to lengthen the life of the footwear exterior and this can also be applied to purses as well.

Dear Reena,

A friend of mine has suede covered bar stool seats that need to be cleaned. I assume the material is a synthetic fabric. What would your suggestion be for cleaning these seats? Thanks, Anonymous

Dear You,

Here are a few tips for general suede cleaning, if the stools get muddy, wait until the dirt dries and then use a nail brush and brush the seats all over in the same direction to remove the dirt. Get rid of scuff marks by rubbing the marks with a pencil eraser and then wiping the nap with your nail brush. If the bar stools become wet, dampen the entire seat and then sponge off the water. If you just want to give the cushions a general face lift, sprinkle cushions with baking soda and then brush the nap back and forth with a damp nail brush. However, if the suede really is a synthetic fabric, you will be able to clean the cushions with plain old water and dish soap. Rinse and let dry.

Dear Reena,

Several months back you gave advice to a lady to clean a stainless steel pot with steel wool. The manufacturers of those pots all say not to use steel wool of any kind on them, as I believe it can loosen small particles of steel which none of us want in our food. I do remember that my mother in law (more than 40 years ago) always cleaned her stainless steel pans with an abrasive cleanser. I like to heat water and dish soap or dishwasher detergent (if the burnt food is very stubborn) and let it stand for several hours.

I also wanted to send you a tip for cleaning the newer glass stovetops! When my daughter was moving into a rental, the stovetop had burn stains and for some reason (I was cleaning the oven too) I decided to use the spray on oven cleaner on the top of the stove. The stovetop looked like new! After almost 4 years I finally got around to purchasing some oven cleaner with a pump spray to use on my own stove. I had been using a razor blade type of device to scrape most burnt stuff off and then some gentle liquid abrasive cleanser. That took lots of elbow grease and it did not deal with the plastic bag that accidentally got melted onto one of the burners. Even though I scraped what I could off and used the cleanser, there was still a residue.

This evening I sprayed the stovetop with the oven cleaner and several minutes later wiped it up and much to my surprise the plastic residue was totally gone and the stovetop looks just like new! I know that this is not an “environmentally friendly” solution, but it does do the trick and is not recommended for everyday use. Gloria

Reena Nerbas is a rural Manitoba home economist is a lab coat – and she’s not afraid to use it. Keep your questions coming:

» householdsolutions@mts.net