Dishwasher salt

Apodemus

thegreenone said:

casper_gutman said:

food waste bin liners, even though the council gives away free ones and will even deliver them to your door for nothing if you click a button on their website!

When my glassware is looking murky, I know I need to top up the salt.

You mean these multi-coloured, all-in-one, rinse-aid-included dishwasher tabs don't work?  Shock; Horror! 

TimSynths

NeverTooLate said:

Your water company will have a page where you put in your postcode and it will tell you how hard your water is and therefore whether you need the salt. My dishwasher has a dial that you set depending on how hard the water is, it dispenses the correct amount of salt.
Don't know if all dishwashers have that.

"Sussex

Hard to very hard water", according to https://www.scaleguard.co.uk/hard-water-areas.html

JGB1955

thegreenone said:

casper_gutman said:

food waste bin liners, even though the council gives away free ones and will even deliver them to your door for nothing if you click a button on their website!

In my dreams.  Not this council.

We've been advised to use bread bags. One Hovis bag a week holds all of our food waste.

Ant555

TimSynths said:

I probably use it twice a year- mainly to wash the extractor fan filters. 

Thanks!  a light bulb moment - Ive always wondered how best to clean my filters , tried boiling water, my jet wash, soaking for a long time in pretty much everything.

Ive learnt two things today - THIS above and also that Mcdonalds Chicken McNuggets are all one of 4 different shapes - Ball, Bell, Bone or Boot.  

Postik

The dishwasher salt thing is a mystery to me.  I recently moved house and it's the first time I've had a dishwasher.  The manual gives conflicting information saying if you use tablets you still need to use salt, and then on another page it says if you use tablets then you don't need to use salt.

The method of programming the water hardness level is confusing.  I also went on Severn Trents website and put my postcode in but I seem to recall it didn't just give a water hardness level of between 1 and 10, it came back with all kinds of facts and figures.

I also have no idea whether the previous owners put salt in the resevoir, or how long ago.  My machine has a light which comes on when the salt needs topping up but I am guessing this won't come on if the hardness level was programmed low or turned off.  I do live in a hard water area, however the dishes and glasses currently come out sparkling so I am hesitant to start messing around with it!

TimSynths said:

Dishwasher salt. I've watched a youtube vid as in 20 years Ive never added any-I don't use it much, it looks dead simple but ive just opened the cap and its full of water- is it meant to be?

If not- I need to find a way to get the water out.

I think you leave the water in, and pour the salt into the resevoir.  Then mop up any water that comes out and sits on the bottom of the machine.  As far as I know the resevoir is basically always full of salty water, until such time that it need topping up.

GrubbyGirl_2

Postik said:

The dishwasher salt thing is a mystery to me.  I recently moved house and it's the first time I've had a dishwasher.  The manual gives conflicting information saying if you use tablets you still need to use salt, and then on another page it says if you use tablets then you don't need to use salt.

The method of programming the water hardness level is confusing.  I also went on Severn Trents website and put my postcode in but I seem to recall it didn't just give a water hardness level of between 1 and 10, it came back with all kinds of facts and figures.

I also have no idea whether the previous owners put salt in the resevoir, or how long ago.  My machine has a light which comes on when the salt needs topping up but I am guessing this won't come on if the hardness level was programmed low or turned off.  I do live in a hard water area, however the dishes and glasses currently come out sparkling so I am hesitant to start messing around with it!

TimSynths said:

Dishwasher salt. I've watched a youtube vid as in 20 years Ive never added any-I don't use it much, it looks dead simple but ive just opened the cap and its full of water- is it meant to be?

If not- I need to find a way to get the water out.

I think you leave the water in, and pour the salt into the resevoir.  Then mop up any water that comes out and sits on the bottom of the machine.  As far as I know the resevoir is basically always full of salty water, until such time that it need topping up.

It's more about what it's doing to your heating element rather than marks on glasses.  You can't descale a dishwasher like you can descale a kettle.

Apodemus

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

Postik said:

The dishwasher salt thing is a mystery to me.  I recently moved house and it's the first time I've had a dishwasher.  The manual gives conflicting information saying if you use tablets you still need to use salt, and then on another page it says if you use tablets then you don't need to use salt.

The method of programming the water hardness level is confusing.  I also went on Severn Trents website and put my postcode in but I seem to recall it didn't just give a water hardness level of between 1 and 10, it came back with all kinds of facts and figures.

I also have no idea whether the previous owners put salt in the resevoir, or how long ago.  My machine has a light which comes on when the salt needs topping up but I am guessing this won't come on if the hardness level was programmed low or turned off.  I do live in a hard water area, however the dishes and glasses currently come out sparkling so I am hesitant to start messing around with it!

TimSynths said:

Dishwasher salt. I've watched a youtube vid as in 20 years Ive never added any-I don't use it much, it looks dead simple but ive just opened the cap and its full of water- is it meant to be?

If not- I need to find a way to get the water out.

I think you leave the water in, and pour the salt into the resevoir.  Then mop up any water that comes out and sits on the bottom of the machine.  As far as I know the resevoir is basically always full of salty water, until such time that it need topping up.

You can't descale a dishwasher like you can descale a kettle.

Perhaps not in quite the same way, but a regular hot vinegar wash will go a long way to removing lime-scale as well as other residues.

GrubbyGirl_2

Apodemus said:

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

Postik said:

The dishwasher salt thing is a mystery to me.  I recently moved house and it's the first time I've had a dishwasher.  The manual gives conflicting information saying if you use tablets you still need to use salt, and then on another page it says if you use tablets then you don't need to use salt.

The method of programming the water hardness level is confusing.  I also went on Severn Trents website and put my postcode in but I seem to recall it didn't just give a water hardness level of between 1 and 10, it came back with all kinds of facts and figures.

I also have no idea whether the previous owners put salt in the resevoir, or how long ago.  My machine has a light which comes on when the salt needs topping up but I am guessing this won't come on if the hardness level was programmed low or turned off.  I do live in a hard water area, however the dishes and glasses currently come out sparkling so I am hesitant to start messing around with it!

TimSynths said:

Dishwasher salt. I've watched a youtube vid as in 20 years Ive never added any-I don't use it much, it looks dead simple but ive just opened the cap and its full of water- is it meant to be?

If not- I need to find a way to get the water out.

I think you leave the water in, and pour the salt into the resevoir.  Then mop up any water that comes out and sits on the bottom of the machine.  As far as I know the resevoir is basically always full of salty water, until such time that it need topping up.

You can't descale a dishwasher like you can descale a kettle.

Perhaps not in quite the same way, but a regular hot vinegar wash will go a long way to removing lime-scale as well as other residues.

Easier and probably cheaper to use salt in the first instance

casper_gutman

JGB1955 said:

thegreenone said:

casper_gutman said:

food waste bin liners, even though the council gives away free ones and will even deliver them to your door for nothing if you click a button on their website!

In my dreams.  Not this council.

We've been advised to use bread bags. One Hovis bag a week holds all of our food waste.

We're way off topic now, but a Hovis bag isn't compostable, so does this mean the council have to open all your bags of food waste? I'm pretty sure it would be cheaper to give out compostable bags! And if the food waste isn't composted, why bother separating it from residual waste in the first place?

greensalad

JGB1955 said:

thegreenone said:

casper_gutman said:

food waste bin liners, even though the council gives away free ones and will even deliver them to your door for nothing if you click a button on their website!

In my dreams.  Not this council.

We've been advised to use bread bags. One Hovis bag a week holds all of our food waste.

Do you empty the bread bin bag into the food waste caddy afterwards? 

I do something similar with my recyclables to keep the bin clean, but for my food bin I use compostable bags.