How Often Should You Put Salt in a Dishwasher

For your dishwasher to provide the best possible results it should work in optimal conditions. You will have to decide how often to put salt in it, depending on whether your supplier provides soft or hard water. Even though most dishwashers have an integral water-softening unit, you still must supplement it with granular salt.

If the water does not contain calcium particles then it is soft, making the detergent you use work more effectively and not leave streaks on your dishes. Hard water usually blocks the washer jets with limescale and causes deposits on the heating elements, which in turn reduces cleaning efficiency, shortens the life of the machine and increases the electricity bill. 

To avoid all this, you must ensure regularly topping up the reservoir of your dishwasher with granular salt to provide a soft water supply.

So if you’re:

This post is for you.

How do you use dishwasher salt?

If you have ever wondered how to use dishwasher salt it is always best to first check the manual provided by the dishwasher manufacturer to be sure where does dishwasher salt go. Before you use your dishwasher, you must make sure to fill in the dishwasher reservoir with a salt solution.

If this is not the first time and the reservoir is full of water, you can still pour the salt in it and it will dissolve. If you are not going to use the machine immediately after refilling it, it is best to wipe away any displaced water from the machine with a paper towel.        

Now that you know where to put dishwasher salt and have successfully filled in the reservoir make sure to return the cap and close it tightly. Most of the water softeners can be adjusted according to the water hardness to achieve optimum results. 

Why should you use dishwasher salt?

Since you are already using dishwashing detergent, then why do you put salt in a dishwasher? Some of the main benefits are:

How much salt to put in a dishwasher?

Some machines may make it quite easy for you to know when you need to refill the salt. There is often a float indicator or another type of warning light which will go off when you need to top it up. But even if you have such an indication it rarely tells you how much salt to put in the dishwasher. Either way – you should always make sure to fill in the reservoir to its maximum capacity. Each wash will use up some salt to soften the water. So, depending on your usage you should make it a habit to top up the dishwasher with salt at least once a month. 

 It is impossible to put too much dishwasher salt and cause cutlery corrosion. If you find any rust on your cutlery then that means they are simply not suitable for a dishwasher and should be washed by hand.

Can I use any type of salt?

Granular salt classified for dishwashing use is the only type of salt you should be using for your machine. Even though it is called salt and is the same chemical that makes table salt, it should not be mistaken and cannot be substituted by sea salt, cooking salt or table salt. The salt used in cooking is usually very fine and may result in clogging when wet, while dishwasher salt is granular and dissolves slower and does not block the softening unit.

Most of the salt sold in the UK comes from an underground Cheshire mine. There are some dishwasher salt varieties offering Dead Sea salt, that can be used carefully. Dead Sea salt often contains small organic matter, which is insoluble and if used frequently can cause problems.

Have your dishwasher professionally cleaned

Deep cleaning appliances such as dishwashers is a time-consuming task. And if you do not know what you’re doing you can even end up damaging your appliance.

But if you’re not sure whether you’re up to the task, worry not, you can always book a professional appliance cleaning service. We at Fantastic Service work with some of the best cleaning specialists in the London area and would be more than happy to help.

If home cleaning efforts gives no results and a dishwasher component is failing, you can always book a local dishwasher repairman, who can diagnose, fix, and replace any faulty part for you.

Our dishwasher experts are highly experienced in repairing dishwashers of all most major brands, so it doesn’t matter if you are having a freestanding AEG dishwasher that needs repair or an integrated Baumatic one, our expert appliance repairman can fix it.

Image source: sasimoto/shutterstock.com