DISHWASHER question - what stuff to use?

[3missys]

As stupid as this sounds but do you need to add salt and rinse aid as well as a 5 in 1 dishwasher tablet to have clean dishes

WE've just got a dishwasher - so that's not a daft question to me!

I think 5in1 means you don't need to add anything, but your dishwasher might complain or bleep if it can't detect salt etc and you just have to ignore it.

You might need extra salt if you live in a hard water area though?

I just use the tablets and every couple of weeks I use the salt to clean the dishwasher.

Cheers, we do live in a hard water zone. don't think the 5 in 1 tablets are cleaning properly enough for us though. My mum says you still need to use all 3 but just wanted to know what the "done" thing is?

I live in a hard water area so use both....but if I wanted to only use the tablets, I can turn off the sensors that tell me they need filling up.

The thing is though the buttons I have are what programme to choose from - I don't have any button to tell me I needed to fill up salt/rinse aid etc which is different from my mums. So I take it I just guess when to fill up salt and rinse aid if I use it?