Dishwasher - Dishwasher Salt

Dishwasher Salt

In some countries, especially those in Europe, dishwashers include a built-in water softener that removes calcium and magnesium ions from the water. Dishwasher salt, which is coarse-grained sodium chloride (table salt), is used to recharge the resin in the built-in ion-exchange system. The coarse grains prevent it from clogging the softener unit; unlike certain types of salt used for culinary purposes, it does not contain added insoluble anticaking agents or magnesium salts. The presence of magnesium salts will defeat the purpose of removing magnesium from the water softener. Anticaking agents may lead to clogging or may contain magnesium. Table salt may contain added iodine in the form of sodium iodide or potassium iodide, but these compounds will not affect the ion-exchange system, but adding table salt to the dishwasher's water softening unit can damage it.

If a dishwasher has a built-in water softener there will be a special compartment inside the dishwasher where the salt is to be added when needed. This salt compartment is separate from the detergent compartment, and generally located at the bottom of the wash cabinet (this is below the bottom basket). On most dishwashers, an automatic sensing system will notify the user when more dishwasher salt is required.

Pouring detergent into the salt compartment will damage the water softening system, however this can be reversed if the user acts very quickly and the dishwasher is NOT used: with a suitable wet and dry vacuum cleaner, remove the foreign substance e.g. detergent, followed by adding water again and removing the water with the wet and dry vacuum and repeating the process several times.

Some newer dishwashers allow the use of "all in one" tablets/detergents (which include an amount of water softener along with detergent and a rinse agent) and are marketed as an alternative to using separate salt and rinse aid, but dishwasher salt must still be added to the salt compartment in very hard water areas. The use of such "all in one" detergents does not mean that separate salt and rinse aid is not required, as omitting separate salt and rinse aid will impair the cleaning and drying results and may cause limescale damage, also, incorrect use of "all in one" tablets/detergents may not be covered under the dishwasher's warranty..

Some dishwasher detergents are marketed for use in hard water areas for dishwashers which do not have a built-in water softener (and therefore do not use any dishwasher salt). These detergents use higher levels of phosphates to increase the solubility of hard water ions. In very hard water areas, the amount of phosphate may still be insufficient and the manual addition of dishwasher salt into the detergent compartment is recommended. Adding salt along with the detergent does not soften the water as does a dishwasher with an ion-exchange water softener, but the water will gain some additional ability to dissolve hard water ions. Note, however, that as water drops remaining on the dishware evaporate, deposits of the salt will likely remain. To combat this, the use of a rinsing agent which cause the water to "sheet" will help eliminate the spotting.