ᐅ Issues with Ikea Välgjord Dishwasher – Poor Cleaning Performance

Dear users,
I am looking for experienced Välgjord users here. I have had a Välgjord machine in the equally new kitchen for about six months, and it’s been a disappointment. Everything else is fine, but the machine is a complete failure:
Washing wine glasses does not work at all. Besides the fact that larger glasses barely fit, the glasses always come out greasy and never properly clean, no matter what water hardness or rinse aid settings we use (we have tested everything…). When I use tablets, I even find crumb residues inside the glasses, which can only be removed by scrubbing thoroughly after soaking. The streaks are not only on glasses but also on glazed plates. In addition, I notice that the cutlery drawer gets dirty on the outer sides repeatedly. I pre-rinse all items thoroughly to even have a chance of the dishwasher getting the dishes clean. The streaks on the plates are completely unacceptable when I don’t pre-rinse. The eco program is especially bad, as the low water usage makes everything particularly greasy. I have tested Lidl tablets, Somat tablets (various types), Finish tablets, Aldi tablets; currently, I am using Somat powder, which works the best so far. I have tried tablets with and without salt/rinse aid. Rinse aids from Somat and Finish.
Who has experience with how to solve this problem? I saw that Stiftung Warentest also gave the machine a poor review, unfortunately too late. I thought it was the top model from IKEA, especially since it’s the brand they include in their new kitchens…
Best regards, and I look forward to your tips.

Was it like that from the beginning? Have you checked and cleaned the spray arms? Otherwise, machines from other manufacturers also fit into Metod kitchens – see various threads here.
Best regards,
IKEA-Freund

Dear Ikea user,
thank you for your reply. Yes, unfortunately, it has been like this from the beginning. I had read quite a bit beforehand, and the tricks with the various hinges and rails needed to install a Neff or Bosch/Siemens appliance seemed too risky to me. Then I noticed that there is also a Miele version; Miele’s XXL machines can accommodate fronts of 80 cm (32 inches). But since such a machine costs about twice as much as the IKEA top model...

We have repeatedly checked and cleaned everything, but the cleaning results are still poor, even though nothing was really dirty to begin with.
We used to have a Bosch machine where you could put in everything, including wine glasses and dirty plates at the same time, and everything came out clean. I get the impression that with the IKEA machine, you need to run the dishes through the “glass program” separately to get clean wine glasses and good results on plates. If there is something dirtier mixed in, it just spreads throughout the interior. It is especially bad when washing items that have come into contact with egg. Sure, egg is always tricky, but with the Välgjord, dishes with egg residues simply cannot be cleaned properly anymore. Everything smells after the wash cycle.

Another thing we noticed: in automatic mode, the machine sometimes only runs for 40-60 minutes, even though it shows over 2 hours at the start of the program. We have never seen the “program end” indicator light come on; the machine does show a green light and no error messages, so it should be fine, but with such poor cleaning performance, you do start to wonder. Do you or anyone else have experience with the rinse aid settings or brand? Or the water hardness setting? Should a slightly different setting be used here?

We are really disappointed, and after our prior considerations to choose a different machine, the disappointment is even greater. Our new refrigerator will definitely be Bosch or Siemens again; we are not willing to take any risks there. It seems to me that this machine was designed with too much focus on water saving and has underdeveloped programs. There are no alternative programs either; for standard dishes, there is only Automatic (with highly variable results ranging from very poor to reasonably good) or Eco (unusable for normally soiled dishes). If only there were a “water plus” button like on many Bosch models, I think that would really help.

So I can only advise others against this machine. Unless someone here has a secret tip?

Has customer service already visited and couldn't resolve the issue? Then try returning the machine.

In the dishwasher front thread, I have just listed the BSH models that can be installed without any special tricks.

VÄLGJORD Dishwasher from IKEA
I have had similar experiences with the VÄLGJORD.
I bought it partly because of the 5-year warranty and the advertised promise of good quality for IKEA dishwashers.
After just six months, the first problems appeared during the wash cycles: dishes were not cleaned properly, and the pump regularly started draining even though no wash cycle was active. When turned off, the dishwasher began to let water flow back (allegedly due to a side-mounted water reservoir for the ECO program).
After contacting IKEA multiple times and enduring long hold times, I was finally given the contact details for the local service provider. I contacted them and scheduled an appointment (took one day off work since the technician’s exact arrival time was uncertain). The repair attempt was made, but a few weeks later the same issues occurred; another appointment was booked: one day off work again, replacement of additional components; the dishwasher worked for two months, then problems returned. A technician was called again, requiring another day off work: the control unit was replaced, but two days later the same problems happened again... This pattern continued until August this year. At that point, IKEA took back the appliance and promised a refund within three days. I have been waiting for that refund (despite several follow-up calls to IKEA) since August 14, 2018. Each new call (after a 40-minute wait) is met with the polite reassurance that the amount will be transferred within three days.

A lot of frustration, many lost days off work, hardly any chance to use the dishwasher... Now we have finally bought a brand-name appliance from a local specialist retailer; it was delivered, installed, packaging disposed of, and instructions given... Now we have a dishwasher that does what you expect from it.

For 200 € (about $220) more, we could have had good quality with service from the start... I will wait and see if the promised refund will ever arrive...