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Original poster

First time dishwasher owner

94 replies

YaWeeShit · 30/05/2020 12:45

As sad as it sounds, I’m getting a dishwasher on Monday and as I’ve never owned one before, I’m hoping for tips on how to get the best use out of it.

We’re a family of three so not loads of dishes - would it be best to put on once a day?

Are plates supposed to be scraped before going in?

Am I officially middle aged being so excited about a dishwasher Grin

OP posts:
TimeWastingButFun · 30/05/2020 13:47

I usually put ours on twice a day - after lunch so that it's empty to put things straight in while cooking the evening meal, then late at night.

TimeWastingButFun · 30/05/2020 13:51

Best tablets I've used are Tesco own brand - better than the finish ones

Lonecatwithkitten · 30/05/2020 13:51

Family of three we need to run our dishwasher about every 18 hours with everyone at home. When DD is at school and DP at work it runs every 36hours. Scrap food off, I use eco program every time, cleaning cycle once a month and buy which ever tablets are cheapest, supermarket rinse aid and buy salt in massive sacks from a wholesaler.

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TinyPigeon · 30/05/2020 13:51

Oo I'm so jealous.

DinosApple · 30/05/2020 14:01

I use ours once a day. It's the most important member of the family Grin.

I use separate salt, rinse aid and powder which works fine. Tablets seem to be very expensive and do the same or a worse job.

Stainless steel pots and pans are fine to go in, but non stick I hand wash.

ThePug · 30/05/2020 14:08

DH and I were just saying yesterday we need to research if it’s cheaper to run dishwasher than hand wash - anyone know reasonably certainly? I know water usage will be lower but what about electricity vs gas? We’re a family of 4 and ours only goes on every 3 or 4 days! We put all dinner plates in, cutlery and Pyrex-type dishes used for cooking but we wash up breakfast bowls and teaspoons as we go, and reuse cups all day anyway. Pans go in on the last night if there’s space, otherwise we wash them most nights. I’m starting to think we should just fill it and run it every evening but I’ve always thought it’d be wasteful.

WhenItIsOver · 30/05/2020 14:13

White vinegar is fine to clean it with, put a small bowl of it in the top rack and run on a long wash.

You can also use it as rinse aid.

Dishwasher products often have strong perfume in so if you don't want perfumed plates and plastics you need to find the less smelly ones.Plastic items are worse because it doesn't come off easily. I have found that some of the cheaper tablets don't do a very good job, but it might depend on your machine. I use the basic Finish Classic ones, not the rubbery covered ones, they are not expensive and they work well.

We fill ours during the day and put it on overnight on the timer.

BackforGood · 30/05/2020 14:40

Might be to do with the fact I rinse messy things before they go in, but I never clean ours, nor is there ever anything in the filter.

I agree with pp who said not to put in cutlery and utensils that have handles made of separate materials. Also I don't put our non-stick frying pans in (oddly though, I do put our milk pan in, which has the same teflon-y type interior Confused).
I suppose it depends how much you are bothered about stuff getting damaged - some 'everyday' stuff I'd rather use with the least work to me, and replace as and when it is needed.
If you have any special mugs with photographs on, for example, I wouldn't put them in if they are treasured. They become faded quite quickly.

Original poster
YaWeeShit · 30/05/2020 14:57

Ooh replies Grin

I know we have the quote option now, but rather than making multiple posts, I'll try and respond in just the one...

Will scrape but not rinse.

It's going to have to go on once a day really as we haven't got a lot of plates. Can see that changing shortly though once Ikea opens--

Sat and rinse aid - I haven't got any and not got another shop coming till the 8th Sad. Can I use it for a week without any? Hard water area. I do have white vinegar though!

Oh no I splashed out on lemon tablets Sad I had read that Aldi were the best, but am limited to Tesco deliveries at the moment.

Thanks all for indulging my excitement Grin

OP posts:
Likethebattle · 30/05/2020 15:20

I don’t use salt as I live in a soft water area. I put a cleaner through once a month.

user278654 · 30/05/2020 15:49

Hi OP we have had dishwashers for about 35 years, it was a treat as we had just bought our own shop and we thought it would be a good idea for all the family, it was. There is only 2 of now us as the kids have flown the nest many years ago and we sometimes have to use it twice a day.

Our latest model which is about 8 years old has a tray at the top of the machine, as we found that having a basket in the bottom centre of the washer was causing problems with long cutlery. We have tried supermarket own brand tablets but we are back with Finish which has all the additives, I know that they are more expensive but they do a good job. Your dishwasher may have to be set to the correct water hardness setting. Your local water supply company should be able to inform you of that and then you match it with the information contained in the handbook.

As far as the dishwasher aid is concerned we have found Waitrose own brand to very good. On the recommendation of the Miele engineer who carried out a repair for us he said that as we lived in a hard water area we should from time to time add dishwasher salt as you might see a white smear on the plates etc. Hope that this helps good luck for Monday OP

FinallyHere · 30/05/2020 16:04

In a hard water area, You may be disappointed by the results without salt and rince aid. If I forget to fill up the salt when the light comes on, I'm reminded when the crockery comes out 'not quite hard squeaky clean '.

WisestIsShe · 30/05/2020 16:36

I got mine last autumn and it came with a water testing kit to determine the hardness of the water, then it told you which number to set the salt dispenser to.

BertieBotts · 30/05/2020 17:19

Don't trust the 3 in 1 tablets - you still need salt and rinse aid. We tend to buy cheap salt and rinse aid but then more expensive tablets and it does well like that.

Top up the salt immediately before you run it because that rinses off any which spills onto the metal. Otherwise it can corrode.

Be especially careful about clearing off egg shell - for some reason this is always what seems to get stuck in ours and make it stop draining.

More of a parenting/marriage tip than a dishwasher one, but don't be precious about how people load it - let them do it whatever way unless it's actually causing stuff to need re-washing. And try and get people in the habit of loading as they take stuff through to the kitchen, rather than just piling it up in a heap on top.

Original poster
YaWeeShit · 30/05/2020 19:33

I managed to get a click and collect order for Monday so have now (hopefully) got the salt and rinse aid. Will have to risk it with the lemon tablets though Grin

Good point about not being precious over how it is loaded - as otherwise I can see it all being left to me!

OP posts:
Caoilainn · 30/05/2020 19:45

I scape the plates once and chuck them in. I'm not very careful about it and consequently empty and clean the filter every week. Only takes a minute though.

I also use soda crystals to give it a clean occasionally, just like the washing machine but I live in a hard water area and stuff get limescaled quickly.

We have tried most of the different tablets, old dishwasher worked better with finish, the new one doesn't seem to have a preference and cleans it all the same. So now on supermarket own brand.

Glasses do get cloudy over time. I get mine for 50p each from Ikea and hand wash the nice wine glasses.

Salt always makes a mess when you fill it. Don't worry it disappears after a wash!

I would also have 2 dishwashers, one for dirty and one for clean if we had the space...

Enjoy it, ours broke just after a bbq and took 2 weeks to get a new one delivered. I was bereft for those weeks!

Watto1 · 30/05/2020 19:46

If you wash plastic with anything tomatoey, the plastic will turn orange. I now have some lovely orange tupperware.

Floralnomad · 30/05/2020 19:48

I’ve never had an issue with lemon tablets we’ve used all sorts with no bother .

user1498572889 · 30/05/2020 19:49

The best advise I can give you is read the instructions. You are supposed to clean the filters after every wash as per the manufacturers instructions but I do mine twice a week.

mrs2468 · 30/05/2020 19:53

Im on my 2nd month of a dishwasher for the first time in my life as the house we moved into had one. Today I put a washing machine tab in it by mistake so definitely don’t do that. Blush

user1498572889 · 30/05/2020 19:55

If you don’t load it correctly it won’t wash well. My engineers go out to dishwashers all the time that are supposedly not cleaning only to find that they have been loaded with far too much stuff. Open the door at the end of drying so you don’t get condensation unless your machine has a self opening lock. Tomato will make any plastics go orange so make sure you rinse any tomato based sauces off first.

Elsiebear90 · 30/05/2020 20:01

Put heavily soiled items on the bottom rack, it cleans them better, throw your tablet in the bottom of the dishwasher rather than using the tablet holder, ours used to land on items in the dishwasher and not break down properly, I run the hot water before putting it on as well, as ours takes ages to heat up, so it would be mostly washing with cold water if I didn’t. As others have said always use salt and rinse aid, even with 3/4/5 in 1 tablets.

user1498572889 · 30/05/2020 20:16

@Elsiebear90
That’s unusual I don’t know of any dishwashers that are hot fill. Are you in the uk?

dementedpixie · 30/05/2020 20:22

Dishwashers are cold fill so it's pointless to run the hot water first. I've never had an issue with lemon tablets. I'm using fancy Finish tablets just now as they were on offer and use cheap dishwasher salt/rinse aid alongside. Clean out filters when I feel they need to be done.