Dishwasher Problem
 

I was emptying my dishwasher this morning and noticed that several of the items had a soap film on them. One pot still had food residue in the bottom.

I use a recommended rinse aid. Is there something else I could be doing? Does it need to be cleaned?

I suggest you have your spouse clean them! (jk)

Despite what dishwasher mfgs and soap companies claim, these do not always remove ALL of the food residue, we typically go over pots and pans with a sponge before going into the dish washer. As for the soap film, I have no idea unless you may have accidentally used a different wash setting? I would continue to use and watch results, if this continues, you may have a failure in the control system and a rinse cycle or similar is not functioning.

Have you cleaned the filter trap/ screen lately inside the cleaning compartment?

By chance, was there water still in the bottom of the dishwasher?

My thoughts exactly.

ditto on taking out the filter and cleaning that, it can get nasty

decades ago I was advised to periodically run a cycle (dishwasher empty) with a couple of tablespoons of "Tang" instant breakfast drink....Tang was developed by NASA years ago and like 'duct tape' it has many uses...one of which is it cleans the inside of the dishwasher.

knowing that, I'm no longer interested in Tang as a breakfast drink lol

If the items with soap film on them were glasses, and hand washing does not get the film off, it is possible that the glasses have been “etched”, which means that will always be there.

If it WAS soap film, then I have no idea other than what has been noted above.

IIRC, Tang has a lot of citric acid. It can be a good acidic cleaner. Food ~ not so much.

I've never been satisfied with dishwashers, and it runs for more than an hour!!! It takes about 5 seconds for me to hand wash any item, and no dirty dishes waiting to be badly washed.

i'm 1 of those housewives that MUST rinse everything b4 it's put in, to avoid the issues you are having. are you using a different soap by chance? some work better than others

Though you can supposedly put dishes with food still on them in the dishwasher, I never have. It takes a second to just rinse the dish first. I dont believe any dishwasher will remove stuck on food. As far as the soap film, i dont know

to avoid a film on the glasses use either the "high temp wash or the sanitize rinse". the extra hot water will leave them sparkling. it may take a few washings using both to get rid of the film. you don't have to sanitize every load, also don't overload or leave dirty dishes sitting for a couple of days. we run the DW every day, if it's a small load we use the express cycle.

I add a little white vinegar to every load of dishes I wash. That seems to help a lot.

BEFORE running the washer turn the sink HOT water on only and let it run until it gets very hot. I do this every time before I push the buttons to start the machine to get that hot water running cycle going (read that somewhere and it works!). Also agree to clean out that filter periodically and also give those dishes a quick rinse before stacking in machine.