Glass tumblers that won't go cloudy in a dishwasher

[pakora]

We live in a soft water area, our glass tumblers get a cloudy appearance after a while. There are some suggestions on the internet saying to clean them with white vinegar but this hasn't worked for us, at the moment we just replace the glasses after a while - this is a waste of resources.

I looked into this and saw the following article by doing a Google search:
"Unfortunately, if your home has soft water it can corrode your glassware over time, and this damage is irreversible. Glass corrosion can also be caused by long dishwasher cycles, heat exposure and poor-quality glass. In short, the wear and tear of time will affect your glass."

Has anyone found any not too expensive glass tumblers that will withstand dishwasher use on a regular basis. Alternatively a method of washing them in a dishwasher that doesn't discolour them, we don't want to wash them separately at the moment we fill the dishwasher and run it at the end of the day the glasses go on the top drawer.

Mods, if this doesn't belong here please move to a suitable location.

[biggiles]

Same problem with wine glasses (and probably much more online discussion if you google).

I don't think the problem has been 100% solved, but many decent manufacturers now offer better crystal which resists dishwasher damage. E.g. Kwarx glass; Schott Zweisel and Reidel have similar offerings.

Have a look at the Nisbets website to get an idea of what is available.

[deckster]

I know you've said you don't want to, but you should always handwash glasses. Dishwashing them ultimately ruins them, as you've seen, and also from a personal perspective leaves them feeling awful. I hate dishwashed glasses, handling them is like somebody running their nails down a blackboard :shudder:

[Vasco]

I thought that glasses should never go in dishwashers ?

[Last Visit]

Not a solution to the problem but we hand wash nice glasses and dishwasher the every day cheap ones such as tumblers the kids use for water/juice.

[Evoluzione]

Vasco said:

I thought that glasses should never go in dishwashers ?

Not your reading glasses.

[geeks]

I was about to say we have never had an issue with glasses in the dishwasher and then realised you live in a soft water area where as our water is as hard as nails! Salt, rinseaid and good quality tablets seems to work just fine for us, rinse aid stops the nails on chalk board feeling as when its running low thats when we can tell.

ETA - If you have soft water it is possible your DW is chucking in too much salt as well, have a look and get it dialled down a little most have instructions on how to set this to the right level.

[bigdom]

pakora said:

Has anyone found any not too expensive glass tumblers that will withstand dishwasher use on a regular basis.

I've found Ikea tumbers don't suffer from this issue, we go through a few as the missus is very clumsy. The nicer glasses never go near the dishwasher.

[otolith]

Life is too short to handwash everyday glasses, but the nice ones don't go in the dishwasher.

[trashbat]

One of the most indulgent things we own is a pair of Jancis Robinson wine glasses.

https://richardbrendon.com/collections/jancisrobin...

They were about £70. They're lovely.

Anyway the guidance for these is put them in the dishwasher, do not handwash. We've been doing that and they have stayed in perfect condition.

We do live in a soft water area, so we don't use salt in the dishwasher beyond whatever's in the tablets. However cheaper glasses still go cloudy.

They do tumblers. I don't know what they're like.

[Simpo Two]

If your tumblers have only had juice or gin in them, they don't really need two hours in a dishwasher - that's a waste of resources too...!

I mostly rinse mine under a tap and save the dishwasher for tougher tasks.

[Actual]

IKEA VARDAGEN Glass, clear glass31 cl

Tempered glass

Dishwasher-safe.

Only certain items in the IKEA range of glasses and other cookware are Tempered glass.

Ours are good as new after a couple of years daily dishwasher use.

They are also "unbreakable" but when I dropped one on to a tiled floor on second bounce it shattered into 1000 of safe'ish pieces.

[Swervin_Mervin]

bigdom said:

pakora said:

Has anyone found any not too expensive glass tumblers that will withstand dishwasher use on a regular basis.

I've found Ikea tumbers don't suffer from this issue, we go through a few as the missus is very clumsy. The nicer glasses never go near the dishwasher.

I'd recommend these as well. Our shave gained scratches over the years, from clattering together in the dishwasher, but are still clear. And we live in an area with the very softest of water.

Also as someone else has mentioned, make sure your dishwasher is setup for the soft water. Ours had a table of values and settings, and you just needed to get the water hardness values off the local water company website. Ours is set down to 0.

[take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey]

Does this happen in hard water areas too?

All our glasses have become cloudy over time, despite using the best tabs, rinse aid and monthly descaling.

ETA think it might be us not using salt. The marketing blurb for the tabs suggest you don't need salt. I've ordered some salt to see if that sorts it.

Edited by take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey on Thursday 9th June 10:43

[Simpo Two]

Swervin_Mervin said:

Also as someone else has mentioned, make sure your dishwasher is setup for the soft water. Ours had a table of values and settings, and you just needed to get the water hardness values off the local water company website. Ours is set down to 0.

Good point. If you live in a very soft water area do they need salt at all?

[Finglescave]

I’ve always found glasses intended for pubs or restaurants tend to hold up better in the dishwasher than anything else I’ve ever bought. During lockdown we bought a load of Pepsi Max glasses from eBay which were clearly intended for that market and the glass is very thick on them compared to shop bought variants. Been through the dishwasher many times now and look as good as new still. Even glasses with graphics/ colours eventually wear away, but it takes a fair amount of time.

[mikey_b]

The glass is corroded by the dishwasher detergent and heat - dishwasher detergent is brutal compared to Fairy liquid.

As already mentioned by several others, the glass itself varies and some is much more prone to damage than others. We have a pair of red wine glasses made by Dartington Crystal (they came free with a case of wine, and are etched on the base so I know who made them), and they go through the dishwasher a couple of times a week and after probably 10 years are still cloud-free. So it's clearly possible for 'fairly nice' glassware to resist the damage, if made of the right stuff.

[otolith]

Simpo Two said:

Good point. If you live in a very soft water area do they need salt at all?

The salt is there, I believe, for refreshing ion exchange resin which swaps calcium and magnesium ions for sodium ions. If your water is soft it won't need recharging.

[Leithen]

Schott Zwiesel. Their "Tritan" Crystal really does prevent clouding.

We have 15 year old glasses - wine and tumblers - that have been through the dishwasher every week over that period. No clouding at all.

[geeks]

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:

Does this happen in hard water areas too?

All our glasses have become cloudy over time, despite using the best tabs, rinse aid and monthly descaling.

ETA think it might be us not using salt. The marketing blurb for the tabs suggest you don't need salt. I've ordered some salt to see if that sorts it.

Edited by take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey on Thursday 9th June 10:43

Same with salt for us as rinse aid, you can see what comes out of the dishwasher when the salt is low. Our tablets say the same thing "no need for RA or Salt" but we use both because if we don't we get cloudy squeaky glasses and plates etc.