What Happens If You Use Too Much Detergent in a Dishwasher?

More detergent is always a better clean – this can be a common mentality when it comes to any cleaning. However, while it takes a few major mistakes to really shake that way of thinking, you should still be able to note the signs when it does happen in your dishwasher.

These days, pre-measured detergent is becoming very popular for dishwashers. This means as long as you use just one tablet, you will never be using too much. However, if you are still using a boxed detergent that you measure yourself, you need to make sure you are using the correct amount. You can spot the minor signs of too much detergent before you use too much of a heavy hand and have a major problem.

One of the biggest signs you are using too much detergent in your dishwasher is residue. Most will get washed away during the rinse cycle, but you will find some bits of detergent wedged in the finer grooves of your dishes. You may also notice a film covering some of your glassware as well.

That is the minor sign, but the major sign is suds and water coming out the front of your dishwasher. That is truly how you know you are using too much detergent, but typically you can avoid that by never filling the soap dispenser to the point where it is difficult to close the door on it. Furthermore, you will also want to avoid liquid dish soap as that will cause a sudsy disaster just as fast.

If you do find your dishwasher full of suds, you will want to run a wash cycle with white vinegar in the soap dispenser instead. The vinegar will quickly tame the suds while the rinse water will wash them away. This will stop a suds disaster from happening on the next load as the residue can have a similar effect to overfilling it with detergent.