Problem Solved! How To Eliminate Hard Water Spots From Your Dishes

The focus of today’s post also happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves: hard water spots on my clean dishes. The high mineral content of our water here in the mountains of Utah can make it nigh impossible for dishes to come out of the dishwasher without those dreaded spots.

It’s easy for me to get discouraged and start thinking, “Oh, woe is me—it must be nice to live somewhere without hard water!” But while I was doing research for this post, I learned that having hard water is not as uncommon as I had assumed—one site claimed that up to 85% of the U.S. has hard water! It doesn’t necessarily solve my problems, but it does make me feel less alone in this particular struggle.

But luckily for all of us who struggle with hard water, there’s a simple way to solve the problem of spotty dishes. Today I’ll be showing you how it works, how I discovered it, and how you can do it at home to get sparkling clean dishes too. :-)

How To Get Rid Of Hard Water Spots On Your Dishes

Part 1: The Problem

It’s disheartening to pull your clean dishes out of the dishwasher only to find that they don’t look very clean at all! Some dishes (especially plastic ones like food storage containers) used to come out of my dishwasher looking so spotty or cloudy that I would leave them in the dishwasher to go through another wash cycle, but that never really made it any better.

In fact, in some cases it made it even worse, because those mineral deposits would just continue building up. Even after scrubbing them with steel wool, that cloudy film just would not budge.

Part 2: The Solution

This problem continued to drive me crazy up until a couple of years ago, when I stumbled across a little tip online that ended up making all the difference. I read a comment somewhere that recommended using white vinegar as a rinse-aid in the dishwasher, and I had vinegar on hand, so I figured it was worth a shot!

I loaded my dishwasher like usual, then placed a small ramekin in the center of the top rack. I filled the ramekin with plain white vinegar, then gently shut the dishwasher and turned it on to run a wash cycle.

Part 3: The Results

The results of my little experiment were nothing short of miraculous! Once the cycle had finished, I opened my dishwasher to find many of my drinking glasses looked as clean and shiny as the day I bought them. And on top of that, the dishes affected by that cloudy film of mineral buildup came out perfectly clean too.

All of that came from putting less than a cup of white vinegar into my dishwasher. Ever since that first test, I have added vinegar to the top rack of nearly every load of dishes I’ve done, and it continues to work just as well today as it did the first time.

If hard water spots have been plaguing your dishes, I highly recommend giving this tip a try. Not only is it a brilliantly simple solution, but it’s cost effective as well. Walmart currently sells a 128 ounce container of white vinegar for $2.72. If you add 6 ounces of vinegar to each load of dishes, that’s just $0.13 per load to virtually eliminate hard water spots.

Related: 50 Amazing Uses For Vinegar That You’ll Want To Know

And if your water isn’t terribly hard, you could opt to put vinegar straight into your rinse-aid dispenser instead. It will dispense a small amount of vinegar into your dishwasher during each load, which is perfect if you just need a little boost of cleanliness instead of a full-fledged hard water intervention.

A Note About Dishwasher Door Seals

I share my “vinegar hack” with people as often as I possibly can, and the vast majority of the time, I hear nothing but good things from those who have tried it. But I did want to mention that a few readers have told me their plumbers have actually advised them not to use vinegar in their dishwashers.

Apparently, the acidity of vinegar can slowly wear down the seal around your dishwasher door, which could potentially lead to a leak down the line. Out of curiosity, I looked up how much it would cost to buy a replacement dishwasher door seal/gasket on Amazon, and most cost between $10-20. Personally, I’ll gladly eat that cost down the line if it means I can continue to enjoy spot-free dishes.

I realize not everyone may agree with that approach, but that’s alright! This is a decision you get to make for yourself. :-)

Do you have any brilliant tips for dealing with the woes of hard water?