As a middle aged man conversation down the pub naturally turns to domestic appliance issues.
I mentioned I was having problems with getting my plates the sparkly clean that they talk about on television, a wag in the corner suggested i add salt like it says in the manual.
After turning the man from the pub and banning him for eternity from the town we got back to drinking.

Ignoring his advice for a few weeks things got worse and now I turn to the oracle, what salt is this the heathen spoke of?

Pork scratching?

A dishwasher requires three things; the detergent, rinse aid, and salt.

However, modern tablets can remove the need for some of these. If you’re using one of those 37-in-1 Powerball things then you don’t need (and shouldn’t use) salt. If you’re using Happy Shopper tablets then you need to add dishwasher salt. It goes in a hopper near the drain typically.

(And it should say this in the manual too)

dishwasher salt. it goes in the salt drawer/bit of the dishwasher and provides a gentle abrasive to the dishes.

I bet you can’t stack your dishes properly either.

Move to somewhere with better water.

Got those fancy all in one Powerball things, perhaps it comes down to me stacking plates like an airline baggage handler

dishwasher salt, durrrrr. you’ll find it in any supermarket and you pour it in the bottom… like it says in your manual..!

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/dishwasher-salt-whats-the-deal-with-it-then

The salt is used to regenerate the resin in the built in water softener. If you don’t use it then, unless you use a detergent with built in chelating agent, your dishwasher will scale up blocking the wash and rinse nozzles and result in your crockery not looking its sparkling best.

Jekkyl – the word manual is alien to me, even on a bike

I’m off shopping for salt!

Cheers gang

needs more than you think. bags are generally a kilo at a time, if you’ve not put some in for a while, it’ll probably take all of it.

provides a gentle abrasive to the dishes

Not that; what selkirkbear said is correct.

You can get 25Kg bags of dishwasher salt from catering/janitorial supplies outlets. You can also use it to de-ice your path in winter.

I’m off shopping for salt!
…
Got those fancy all in one Powerball things

Shouldn’t need it, then.

provides a gentle abrasive to the dishes
Not that; what selkirkbear said is correct.

Rubbish. You put salt in, then you don’t need to put it on your potatoes at your next meal because it’s already on the plates.

Don’t forget to pour the whole box in!

yup – use salt.

most people don’t believe its needed, especially “in a soft water” area. but it really does make a difference.

usually a big hand sized thing to undo under the bottom disk rack. ours has a ‘float’ in it which when not visible means it needs more salt. (salination levels are low)./ its 2 quid for a big bag that lasts ages.. why not do it??

2kg bag for a £1 at Wilko, half of it in the dishwasher. Job done!

cheers

Some models require you to program the machine so it knows you need salt if you’re not using fancy Dan superplatinumpowerball tablets.

While you’re on a roll, try a run with that fancy-pants dishwasher cleaner stuff.

Make sure it’s empty first, that stuff took the print off a favourite mug that I’d overlooked. Caustic, acid, or whatever, but powerful.

jekkyl – Member
dishwasher salt, durrrrr. you’ll find it in any supermarket and you pour it in the bottom

Dunno about washing your plates but that’ll certainly make your eyes water

Mostly, dishwashers don’t regenerate their ion exchangers during the wash cycle, so mostly, salt in tablets is just a marketing exercise.

25Kg? I’ve used one bag at 1Kg on 2 dishwashers it never seems to run out.

It’s good for use on ice and snow, too: the grains spread easily.