Can someone take me through the basics of dishwasher salt?

[Earlybird]

....because it's a mystery to me! I come from a country where it's not standard upkeep for dishwashers, and have never properly understood the need for it/how it should work.

How often do I put it in, and how much? We run the dishwasher approx 3 times per week.

Thank you!

On our machine an indicator light tells us to add more and we just fill the salt reservoir (using a funnel which should be supplied with your dishwasher) to the top.
I gather it is to soften hard water Earlybird - so depending where you are in the UK you might not need extra salt but could use 3 in 1 tabs instead
It's essential in London IMO

Thanks Marina.

I'm in central London, and have been using it because I know it's important. I just bung in a big 'pour' every month or so. No idea if I've been putting in far too much or too little.

My dishwasher is 10 years old, so no indicator light. Good idea about the 3 in 1 tabs - will look into it, as I didn't know about those.

Bollocks - I live in central London and have had a dishwasher for all of 4 weeks. This salt stuff - I thought I didn't need to bother if using 3 in one tablets??? What is it?? Why do I need it??

Sorry for being a bit thick.

That should read "oh bollocks!" cf. you're talking bollocks. Must concentrate on swearing accurately.

the 3 in 1 tabs etc do not replace the salt requirement - even if they say they do. You still need to put salt in.

Furball - how much and how often?

Why is salt required though? What horror awaits if I continue sans salt?

where is the special ladyschool where people learn this stuff? And why wasn't I invited ?

I think it has to do with limescale prevention.....and if you don't add salt, limescale accumulates and will eventually cause problems.

there has been a few threads about dishwasher salt

have a look here

It says the water needs to be soft to use less detergent and to make sure the jets don't bung up with limescale.

If you live in a soft water area - presumably it lasts longer, but in hard water areas (eg most of east anglia, London and the south) you will definitely need it if you want you dishwasher to work longterm.

I use 5 in 1 tablets and added salt - the result was that all my dishes were flipping salty for 3 weeks, even with the salt turned down to its lowest level. I won't be trying that again

ps - I wasn't invited to the ladyschool either

Can anyone advise how much salt to put in?

Just fill up the reservoir - the machine decides how much to use each time, like rinseaid.

NQC - reservoir on my dishwasher has water in it, so I pour salt into the water. I just pour what seems to me a large amount, and hope it's enough. There must be a more exact why than my guessing!

But, maybe I'm doing it right as machine hasn't had any problems and is 10 years old.

Yes, the reservoir is always full of water. It's a weird thing, pouring the salt in. I try to make it as full as possible, as I hate refilling the salt reservoir, so this way, in theory, I do it as rarely as possible.

My machine sulks if it doesn't have salt, so going without isn't an option.