which dishwasher 'stuff' do you use please?

[FoJo]

I'm about to become a dishwasher owner for the first time as part of my new kitchen . So what 'stuff' (tablets/liquid/not sure what it is!) do you all use? Do you get stuff to 'put through it' sometimes to clean the machine as well as cleaning the dishes? Any other tips for this dishwasher newbie greatly appreciated! Thanks

anyone?

Ime, fairy platinum is the absolute best, fairly expensive, but often on special offer. At the moment I am using the aldi magnum, which is a Which best buy, not as good as fairy, but a lot cheaper, and I quite often break the tablet in half (tightarse)

The Aldi own brand dishwasher tablets. Came out top in a Which? Test.

Also generic dishwasher salt that needs topping up every now and then when the glasses get streaky. But I think you may not need this if you have soft water.

I descale it every once in a blue moon with something from the corner shop, can't even remember what it's called.

I like the Tesco 5-in-1 tablets, which work very well. I'm pretty sure the value ones would also work fine!

You need to know how hard the water is in your area - you can Google it to find out local information, or from your water company website. Then read the instructions with your dishwasher to check if you need anything as well as all-in-one tablets - if you have hard water you may need to also add salt, but the instructions should give you details.

I also use a Tesco dishwasher cleaner from time to time - maybe every 2 or 3 months - its a little bottle that you just put in on an empty hot wash, and it freshens everything up.

thanks all , i know with washing powder on the box it talks about hard/soft water and i never knew what we had so now i;ll be able to find out. Laughing at Grumpla's descaling product from the corner shop! Good to know that the stuff from lidl and aldi does the trick!

I've tried the expensive stuff and actually get the best results with Asda Smartprice! We have very soft water, which I think helps as we have no need for salt.