Guide to helping prevent and clean cloudy glasses

There’s nothing worse than serving guests wine in cloudy wine glasses, even if you know the glasses are clean. Fortunately, there are ways to clean cloudy glasses effectively or to prevent the issue from occurring, ensuring your glassware sparkles. 

This guide covers how to clean cloudy glasses before your next dinner party, and offers ways to prevent a milky film from developing in the future.

What makes glasses cloudy coming out of the dishwasher

Hard water mineral deposits or etching can leave clean glassware cloudy and hazy-looking. Over time, etching often occurs from a combination of detergent, soft water, high water temperature and low soils eroding the surface. This can leave small scratches and dings that may cause irreparable damage. 

Drinking glasses cleaned in hard water may develop mineral deposits, like calcium and magnesium, on their surfaces and create a cloudy, milky coating. Luckily, this buildup can typically be removed with the right process.

How to make cloudy glasses clear again

When hard water mineral deposits are at fault, making cloudy drinking or wine glasses clean again is a fairly straightforward process. Unfortunately, etched glasses are permanently damaged and can’t be repaired. 

Use these steps to learn if your cloudy glassware can be cleaned and how to remove hard water stains from glasses.

Steps to help remove cloudy film from glass

One issue to be aware of is that they might become foggy again if you continue washing them in hard water. Keep reading to learn how to prevent glasses from becoming cloudy as they go through a wash cycle in your dishwasher.

For wine glasses, select dishwashers have special tines to hold them securely in place. While most wine glasses are dishwasher-safe, mineral deposits can still form and cause the glasses to turn cloudy. If this happens, follow the steps above.

Tips to prevent glasses from becoming cloudy in the dishwasher

Use these tips when you wash glasses in the dishwasher to keep them as clear as possible. 

• Try to only wash a full load
• Wash with a water temperature below 60°C (140°F)
• Avoid excessive pre-rinsing, as modern dishwasher detergents require food soil to activate
• Add a rinse agent
• De-select any high-temperature options when washing everyday glassware
• Use less detergent with soft water and always follow the packaging instructions
• Routinely clean your dishwasher to help prevent mineral buildup

Shop Whirlpool^® dishwashers

Dishwashers from Whirlpool brand offer the functionality you need to take care of mealtime messes. From convenient features on select models like the 1-Hour Wash Cycle to flexible options like the 3rd Level Rack, Whirlpool^® dishwashers deliver what your family needs to clean up after every meal.