I had the same problem with my Pfaltzgraff dishes. After 4 years I ended up replacing them. The old Correllware seems to do better. I would contact the manufacture and see what they recommend. It they say the dishes are dish washer safe, then I would think they would know what you need to do to protect the dishes.
Good luck!

I have also have an Asko. Use it daily with electrasol tabs. Been using it for 7 years on wedgewood bone china, knives, everything goes in there. no problems...

The very soft water is what is causing the damage, it reacts with the softeners that are already in dishwasher detergents.

rocketcat, Here in Portland (Oregon) we also have very soft water. We used to use supermarket dishwasher detergents, and our glassware etched badly. We have fine china that happens to be Noritake, but we did not notice effects on the Noritake to the extent that we noticed the glassware etching.

Our glass etching problems ended when we switched to Ecover powder (not the tablets). Biokleen is headquartered in the Portland area, and we tried that, too, out of hometown loyalty. But Ecover is better.

We now put our good crystal stemware (Reidel, Eisch, and Schott Zwiesel) in the dishwasher every night, but we have had zero etching problems and zero pattern fading in the seven or eight years since we switched to Ecover powder.

Thanks for all the suggestions! We will try the ecover and see how it goes.

What you've described sounds like typical detergent overdose. With soft water it doesn't take much. The extra just looks for something more to dissolve....which is, essentially, what etching is. In your situation I think I might experiment by using maybe 1/2 teaspoon and working up. Take a look at the results. I would expect you to have good knowledge in just a few loads.

If the manual said 1 T, I would begin with the assumption that that would likely be for typically-hard water. Does the manual say anything water-quality and dosing accordingly?

Purveyors of detergents are even worse. On the bottom of the box of Cascade Complete powder that I use it says: "For best results, fill the machine's dispenser." Or words to that effect. For my machine with soft water following that instruction would insanity....a many-times over-dose.

Since this is your first DW, I bet you are prerinsing your dishes. Stop prerinsing your dishes. You have to leave something for the detergent to work with. If there is no grease for the detergent to bind to, then the detergent attacks the dishes! If you are prerinsing, run the dishwasher without any detergent or a microscopic amount of detergent.

I scrape the big stuff off of the dishes and dishes all stay in the DW until washing time. It can smell in the summer due to yucky stuff left on the dishes. This is the point of DW, not to have to rinse/wash the dishes, LOL!

Our water is 0.35 grains/gal in Seattle, WA.

I use 1/2 tab of Electrasol.

I have had Asko, Bosch, and Miele. No etching problems ever in dozen or more years.

Used to live in Seattle (13 years). kaismom speaks truth......except I'll bet a 1/4 tab might be enough. Bet she'll beat me up for saying that!

Thanks all- we appreciate the words of experience. Asko does specify detergent amount vs. water hardness. 1 Tbsp is the minimum they specify. We were not pre-rinsing the plates, but anyway, the backs of the plates are where we see damage-- and these are pretty clean regardless. Anyway, we will experiment with different types of detergent and smaller quantities and let you know how it goes.

"Asko does specify detergent amount vs. water hardness. 1 Tbsp is the minimum they specify."

Interesting to learn. I will be curious to learn how things settle out for you. Please come back and tell us what you find.

Also in Portland, and an Asko owner. Currently have softened well water, which is a whole different beast, BUT also had an Asko when I had soft city water and always had really good results with Trader Joe's Regular Powdered DW detergent. Quite a bit less than the Ecover. I did NOT have good results with the Ecover tabs (cut in halves), but did not try their powder. The Asko, with Portland city water, did work very well with Ecover Rinse Aid (which is well priced). Stay away from Wave and Seventh Generation and all gels - they will cause etching in the soft water. Good luck, they are great DWs.

rocketcat, I don't know if you're still checking this thread but I thought I'd respond since I have the exact same dishes you have---Noritake Colorwave, in Graphite.

I have a Bosch about 1 year old, and have been using Cascade 2-in-1 Action Packs (lately, the "Advanced Power" ones which claim to be even more concentrated). I have a water softener for my house's hot water.

Although I am just now realizing this has probably been too much detergent (because my glassware is etching badly), my Noritake dishes are just fine. The colored outsides are still smooth and charcoal colored.

I hope my experience can help you in some way.

I wonder why the others haven't mentioned water temperature. I know that Miele tech support once told me to add a mixer to make sure the crystal didn't etch. Or, to say it more delicately, to ensure the crystal wash cycle had the right incoming temperature.

Don't know about your dishes, rocketcat.

But is your hot water very very hot?

I think it's good to know. Seems to me that this is important, regardless of the other factor(s) mentioned above, which is / are also important.

davidrol....

Hot water -- even very hot water -- does not etch. Chemicals (detergent) in the water etch. If you use too much detergent, it WILL etch your glassware over time....depending on concentration, maybe not very much time. Heat does intensify the chemical process, but it does not cause it.

Almost everyone I know uses too much DW detergent. They make me wild when they're trying to "help" in my kitchen. Everybody just fills up both sides of the dispenser without thinking or asking. Big mistake.