Wine | Spotless wine glasses: In the dishwasher

Even with the new “improved” models of dishwashers, there are still many who strongly advise against using these appliances to clean wine glasses.  But not only are the dishwashers getting better, so are the accompanying cleaning soaps and additives.

One of the biggest problems with getting wine glasses clean in the dishwasher is hard water.  And even though the soaps are formulated to cut through hard water, there is still often a residue that stays on delicate wine glasses after the dry cycle.

Then there is the smell, a terrible thing to have in a wine glass.  If the glass smells like chalk and the wine it contains is expensive, things never go well.

Getting rid of the spots and stink is where the “additives” come in.  These are poured into a special dispenser that, in newer models, precisely meters part of its contents into the wash (and maybe some rinse) cycles.  This allows the dishes and glasses to be exposed to a hard water mix that is “neutralized” against unwanted agents.

One of the best hard water values to use as an additive for our Arizona hard water is LemiShine detergent booster.  It has just enough acidity in it to nullify the effects of the hard water, even on nice wine glasses.

However, the easiest to find and cheapest type of LemiShine comes as a powder.  Because most dishwasher additive dispensers work best with liquid, you have to dissolve the powder in water before it can be used. Hey, it’s a little extra effort to save money and get results.

To do this, take a little less than ¼ cup (2 Oz. or 40cc) of LemiShine powder and add enough purified water to make up a ½ cup (4 Oz. or 100cc) solution.  Then, heat the solution for 30 seconds in the microwave on high, stir and dissolve.  Pour enough of the solution into the dishwasher’s additive dispenser to fill it up.

You may have to adjust the additive’s dispensing settings (Bosch has a digital entry in setup for this) to properly compensate for your water’s hardness, but it works.  The adjustment automatically puts the same amount of hardness compensation into the wash every time.

Be sure to test your settings with a set of relatively new, cheap clear water glasses first before exposing your good Riedel wine glasses to this!  It is also best to lightly towel off the glasses before putting them away.