Customer Questions and Answers for Dishwasher Silverware Basket by Whirlpool

Hello Lisa, The reason this is happening is one of two reasons, if not both. First off, the dishes are cleaned by a chemical reaction. When the water reaches 140°F, a chemical reaction takes place that attacks the food particles. Think of the chemical reaction as being lazy. The easiest thing for it to attack is the food particles. If the dishes have been rinsed and there are no food particles present, it will attack the next easiest thing to attack, (the rubber seals in the dishwasher, patterns on plates, greys the silverware, etches the glassware, the plastic parts of the racks, and the silverware basket). Part two is over soaping. Too much soap for the amount of food particles will cause the same effect. A combination of the two amplifies the whole effect. According to the design engineers, you need three meals worth of dishes, scraped, not rinsed, to have enough food particles to occupy the chemical reaction. Also you should only use one teaspoon of detergent per grain of water hardness. I certainly hope this was useful information for you as it took me over 20 years in the field to put all of this together. Let me know if I can answer any more questions for you.