Quick, look, something not about "Monk"! ...

[bizarreoptimism]

So when I got back from Thanksgiving on Friday evening* and unloaded my dishwasher, and three or four dishes and bowls had this odd, light, brown, speckled spatter in the bottom of the bowls or across the dish. I figured it had to be food particles -- maybe from a lump of peanut butter or something -- that had been flung all over the dishes during

Comments

[sheepykins]

do you have a garbage disposal? we discovered the dishwasher drains through our disposal, so it needs to be run before starting the dishes

[bizarreoptimism]

I do have a garbage disposal, but I'm not USED to having a garbage disposal because I _never_ had one before, and I don't really get how they work, so forgive the ignorant question, but: isn't that kinda bad? By which I mean, if the water going into the dishwasher funnels through the garbage disposal first, isn't it picking up all the garbage particles and blasting them onto the in-theory being-cleaned dishes? Or does it work differently from how I'm thinking?

(... so asks the germaphobe.)

[sheepykins]

It doesn't BLAST it through, they just both exit the same way so junk can get into the dishwasher. So you run it before running the dishwasher to make sure nothing is stuck in there.

And your dishwasher probably gets hot enough to sterilize, anyway!

[alby_lion]

If you're talking about the rubber on the racks in your dishwasher, they make these little plastic caps that fit over spikes for that. Good as new. You could also try running some CLR through an empty cycle. That stuff is magic.

Also, as sheepykins said, most dishwasher connect to the drain through the garbage disposal. Try running some cold water down that and running it for 15 seconds. When you use the garbage disposal, always use cold water, because warm water encourages rust.

[bizarreoptimism]

The dumbass at the front office* got the note to the repairman wrong, so all he did was come here, acertain that the dishwasher itself isn't broken, and leave. I spent some time fiddling with the top rack and the bowl that had gotten all stained, and I was able to work out that the problem is definitely the rust on the racks -- the spots on the rack matches up perfectly to the spots on the bowl when I put the bowl back in. I had no idea about those little plastic caps and I am totally going to buy some -- _after_ I call the complex people back, explain that it IS DEFINITELY A RUST PROBLEM, and get them to replace my racks. They can jolly well fix stuff when it breaks for that insane amount of rent they charge (not that I am bitter :P