Cleaning a stainless steel dishwasher

There are what I think are calcium deposits on my stainless steel dishwasher that I cannot remove. I have tried various recipes: vinegar and baking soda, various commercial stainless steel cleaning products and olive oil to reshine, but those stains always come back.
  7 answers
  • Debi53 Debi53 on Sep 22, 2016
    I don’t know if this will solve your problem, but I make a paste of Bar Keeper Friend (the powder, not the spray) and water. I ‘wash’ my stainless with this paste. Make sure to rub it over the entire surface and buff it in with a soft damp cloth. Then take a clean wet cloth and rinse until the paste is completely gone and wipe the surface dry. I follow this by spraying a clean, dry cloth with Kitchen Perfect Countertop Polish and just polish my appliances. This keeps them clean for months. Spots and spills just wipe of easily with a damp cloth. I only do this a few times a year and my appliances always look great. Maybe this will work for your problem.
  • Sarah K., Hometalk Team Sarah K., Hometalk Team on Sep 23, 2016
    I agree with Debi53 - Bar Keepers Friend is the way to go.
  • Judy Judy on Sep 23, 2016
    I use "Awesome" cleaner, full strength, then just wipe it off with a damp cloth. When it's clean, it shines. The Kitchen Perfect Countertop Polish sounds great to follow it with. I get Awesome cleaner at Family dollar; it's about $3 for 1/2 gallon refill size, less for spray bottle size.
  • Dawn Dawn on Sep 24, 2016
    I started having this issue with my new dishwasher. I called for a repair man. He checked it out and his first question was what type of washing detergent did I use? I got it out apparently you shouldn't use a bleach based dishwashing detergent in it. So now I use a liquid detergent without bleach and have no more problems. Hope that helps. Also I do have hard water.
  • Peggy Kettelhut Anderson Peggy Kettelhut Anderson on Sep 24, 2016
    Make a paste of baking soda and vinegar, apply where needed and let it set 20 min. Then rub off stain.