The short answer
A Criterion dishwasher that leaves dishes dirty is usually recirculating debris, missing part of the load with its spray, or washing too cool for the detergent to work. On this class the usual cause is a load blocking the arms or shielding itself, with a filter and sump packed with food debris next to rule out.
What you actually observe
- The same items come out dirty every time — A repeatable pattern is about where those items sit.
- One part of the load is clean and another is not — A pattern in the load points at the arms or the loading.
- NEAR MISS: the machine finishes with water still in the bottom — That is a drainage failure and it has its own page and cause list.
The causes, most likely first on this brand
- A load blocking the arms or shielding itself — Bowls nested together, large pans laid flat and tall items across the upper basket all stop the water reaching everything behind them, and the machine gets the blame. Ranked first on a Criterion unit: the basket layout on these contract-built machines is unforgiving, and items that block an arm are exactly the ones people load every day.
- A filter and sump packed with food debris — Most machines recirculate their wash water through a filter in the floor of the tub, and one that has not been cleaned in months puts the same debris back onto the dishes every cycle. Ranked second here: a small filter in the floor of the tub fills quickly and is easy to refit unlocked.
- Detergent that is old, wrong or badly dosed — Ranked third here: the dosing guidance supplied with this brand assumes soft water and a fresh box.
- Water arriving colder than the cycle expects — Ranked fourth here: last, and a longer programme settles most of what is left.
Check in this order, and why this order
- Spin both arms by hand with the machine loaded as usual — Anything the arm touches is stopping the wash for everything downstream of it.
- Lift the lower basket out and twist the filter assembly free — A filter you have never removed is almost certainly the answer and it takes a minute to reach.
- Check how old the detergent is and how it has been stored — A box opened last year in a cupboard beside the machine is a real cause and a common one.
What an owner can safely check
- Reload so nothing blocks the arms, nothing nests and every soiled face points at a spray arm — Fewer items loaded properly beats more items loaded badly every time.
About 15 min
- Take the filter out, rinse it under a hot tap with a brush and refit it locked home — Do this monthly rather than waiting for the results to fall off.
Tools: brush, hot waterAbout 15 min
- STOP HERE if the next step needs a meter on live terminals or a panel off — That is where an owner check ends and a service call begins.
Before you open anything
Safety
Switch the machine off at its breaker before reaching into the sump or removing any part, because the heating element in the floor of the tub stays hot for a long time after a cycle. Never put hand dishwashing liquid into a dishwasher, and never mix a descaler with bleach or with any other cleaning product. Open the door carefully at the end of a cycle, because the steam that comes out will scald.
When to call a technician
Call once the filter, the arms, the load, the detergent and the fill are all clean and the results are still poor, because a wash pump or a heater needs the machine pulled and a meter. Call sooner if the tub is not heating at all, since a cold wash on every cycle points at one component. Bear in mind when you decide that this is a retailer house brand built by a contract manufacturer, so parts come through the retailer rather than from a brand service network.
Nearest pages of this class
What this page does not cover
This page covers the Criterion dishwasher as a class, not one family or model line. Filter designs, cycle structures and detergent dosing all change from build to build and are deliberately not here. Where a family or model page exists for your machine, it is the more specific answer and the one to read first.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
