If you own a dishwasher, you will need to take care of it. If you take care of your dishwasher, it will take care of your dishes.
Adding salt can help your dishes to come out cleaner and sparkling.
Salt that works in this way has been made to soften hard water, ensuring your dishes don’t look dirty even when they have been cleaned.
When it comes to putting salt in your dishwasher, you will need to remove the bottom rack. This will ensure you can get to the salt reservoir.
Located on the bottom of your dishwasher, the reservoir is likely to be on one side rather than in the middle. If you cannot see a reservoir, you might already have an in-built water softener.
Now unscrew the cap and ensure it contains water. Set the cap to one side and fill it with water if it doesn’t already contain any.
Adding Salt
When it comes to adding salt, you should pour in enough so that it comes up to the top of the reservoir.
While this might seem like quite a lot of salt, it’s the right amount to add. In fact, this amount of dishwasher salt should last at least a few weeks.
Always use a funnel to fill the reservoir so the salt does not spill everywhere. Just make sure that the funnel does not get wet as the salt won’t pass through it easily.
Please note, different sized dishwashers come with different sized reservoirs. This means that there is no exact measurement to adhere to. Simply pour the salt in and make sure the reservoir is full up.
When you add salt to the water that’s already there, you’ll get saltwater brine. The brine will help to make your dishes clean and shiny.
Dealing With Spills
If you accidentally spill some salt simply clean the excess away with a damp cloth.
Once you have cleaned up the spilt salt place the cap back on the reservoir. Just make sure the cap is secure as if it comes off when the dishwasher is on it could become damaged.
Now place the bottom rack back in the dishwasher and use your dishwasher as normal.
Only Use Dishwasher Salt
While you may be tempted to add table salt to your dishwasher, this is a mistake. This is because table salt contains additives. These additives could make your water even harder, in addition to this, they could cause your dishwasher to clog up.
How to Check Your Salt Levels
To check your dishwasher’s salt levels, keep an eye on the indicator. Many dishwashers have indicator lights but not all of them do.
Those that do have an indicator light will have a light that turns green when there’s sufficient salt. When the light is red you will need to add more salt.
If your dishwasher does not have an indicator you can manually check the levels yourself. Simply remove the bottom rack and unscrew the reservoir cap.
It’s likely that you will need to refill the salt every few weeks if you use the dishwasher a lot. If you use your dishwasher just once a day then you’ll need to refill the salt every month.
Knowing how much dishwasher salt to put in the reservoir ensures your dishes come out clean and shiny. Just make sure that you keep the reservoir topped up so you can continue to enjoy having clean dishes.
In The Wash is your guide to the best laundry and cleaning products, tips and tricks. Our mission is to solve the UK’s cleaning and laundry dilemmas!