We’ve had our dishwasher for three and a half years, and it’s been an absolute gem of a machine. No complaints or notes.

But…

This past fortnight everything is coming out smelling of lemon scented *something* and tasting soapy.

Is this likely to be the tablets or the rinse aid causing this? It’s been put in a cleaning cycle and is currently going through another, aided by some bicarbonate of soda, but has anyone experienced this before and how did you solve it?

Is it draining normally? If so can only think it’s your tablets, have they changed? Russel bought cheap ones?!

It seems to be draining fine and as far as I know they’re the same dishwasher tablets we’ve always used (Fairy Platinum) so I’m kind of stumped.

Russell topped up the rinse aid yesterday with a non-lemony one, but when he googled the other day it suggested that the rinse aid should cut any soapy residue, and it still is happening (though I guess there is some degree of mixing in the rinse aid chamber).

Is it possible it's to do with the dishwasher salt?

Maybe it's run out?

Alternatively Is it one where you you tell it which mode do each time, and it does it, or do you have to set various "extras" on and off, and if it's the latter has someone accidentally removed a rinse cycle or something?

Yes, it’s one that has various modes and Russell (the dishwasher operator) always uses the same one. I did ask him if the salt might have run out and he said he’d only recently topped it up (the machine has alerts if the salt or rinse aid are low).

There's a common factor, here...

We changed *to* Fairy recently because Finish was suddenly making everything stink.

Flavour everything you eat with actual lemon and you'll not notice it.

We swapped out our second dishwasher for a tumble drier. I miss having two dishwashers.

It doesn’t actually taste of lemon, though. It tastes of soap.

Maybe someone stuffed the detergent dispenser full of coriander?

Check the holes in the twirly bits are not blocked.

This is also good life advice.

I miss the second fridge as well.

Shall commence twirly bits examination, ta.

When dishwashers give you soapy lemon something, make soapylemonsomethingade.

We find that plastic stuff (like drink bottle lids) absorb the scent eventually, so we've stopped putting some things through the dishwasher.

Other standard advice is giving the filters and the drainy bits a really good clean out too, they can get kinda funky without it being immediately obvious.

We don’t really have any plastic that goes through the dishwasher. Our measuring jugs and similar are all glass/Pyrex. It’s our plates and mugs, etc that have the smell and taste. All of the drains, filters and traps have been definitely cleaned. It’s weird, because it’s never happened before and nothing, as far as we know has changed.

My dishwasher makes everything taste of 'soap' To the extent that a plastic chopping board will impart the flavour to an item left on it within seconds of being put on. It's horrible, but I am also incredibly lazy, so the alternative of hand washing hasn't come about.

That’s what mine has suddenly started doing, but with the crockery. I’ve noticed it less since Russell ran the bicarb clean and changed the rinse aid for a new one, but I did have it again today with lunch. It’s hard to know if that’s just a dish we hadn’t got down to yet, though.

It’s horrible. The smell is almost worse than the taste. Fake lemon perfume.

Doesn't this just result in a load of smashed crockery?

Our friend's family washes their dishes with washing up liquid and bleach.

We laugh about this and make (gentle) fun, as it seems rather 'extra' to us.

Superb

A totally honest look at how people do things in the home would often be horrifying, I think. Taps splashing water when only a little's needed, full kettles boildd, loo rolls lasting only a few visits, the toilet used as a magic bin for anything, bleach and others squirted into the water system willy nilly.