The internet's answer to cloudy glasses is vinegar, because the internet assumes hard water and mineral film. Charleston's municipal water is soft — and in a soft-water town, cloudy glassware usually means etching: microscopic wear of the glass surface itself. Vinegar can't fix it, because there's nothing sitting on the glass to dissolve. The glass has been sanded, chemically, one wash at a time.
The quick kitchen test
Soak a cloudy glass in white vinegar for five minutes. If it comes out clear, you have mineral film — rare here, but possible with a private well out past the suburbs. If it's still cloudy, that's etching, and the haze is permanent on that glass. The goal becomes protecting the rest of the cabinet.
Why soft water etches
Dishwasher detergent needs mineral content to push against; soft water leaves it overpowered. Excess alkalinity plus heat plus already-clean dishes attacks the glass surface directly. The classic accelerators are all habits: maximum detergent dose “to be safe,” pre-rinsing dishes spotless so the detergent has no food to work on, and sanitize-hot cycles for everyday loads.
The fix is dosage, not descaling
Cut detergent to a third or half of what you're using — in most Charleston kitchens that's still plenty. Stop pre-rinsing; scrape and load. Keep rinse aid filled, run normal cycles for normal loads, and crystal or hand-decorated glassware goes up top or stays out entirely. New glasses stay clear for years under that routine.
When it's the machine after all
Grit or white residue that vinegar does remove, film on plastics but not glass, or a dishwasher that stopped rinsing well all at once — those point at a clogged filter assembly, a weak circulation pump, or a dispenser dumping detergent at the wrong moment. That's diagnosable in one visit with one written price. Bring a cloudy glass to the kitchen counter when we arrive; it tells us half the story before a panel comes off.