Water Softener Salt

[Hopkirk]

We have a water softener, and I buy big sacks of salt tablets to go in it. They are like little bricks of salt.

Could I use these salt tablets in the dishwasher salt compartment, instead of the more expensive salt granules?

[douglas9401]

You must be on a very tight budget, Morrisons do a 2kg bag of dishwasher salt for £1.09.

Other outlets are available.

I think the answer to your actual question is 'no'.

[1ozzy]

We have very hard water here Hoppy.
I add a splash of white vinegar to the dishwasher.
Works a treat, unless Mrs Oz is washing up

[bhg481]

If you have a water softener there is no need to put salt in your dishwasher - we don't. You should be able to tell your dishwasher that the water is soft or simply ignore the low-salt warning.

[1ozzy]

My dishwasher doesn't listen to me bhg

[Hopkirk]

Good point, BHG.

[bhg481]

When we got our first dishwasher (Bosch) I used to put salt tablets in, partly because you couldn't set a zero-level for hardness and a friend of mine had been told by a salesman that the salt helped with the germ-killing in the wash. I used the same tablets as our Culligan water softener ie, fairly large ones. When we replaced it about 15 years ago (another Bosch) we were able to set it for zero-hardness and I stopped using salt altogether. I think the germ-killing bit was a load of rubbish and soft water in a dishwasher is solely to make sure the jets don't clog up with scale, which would seriously affect the cleaning.

[Hopkirk]

I'll try and set it to zero.

Part of my thinking is that adding salt granules into a dishwasher is such a hassle. You have to contort yourself to tip them into a funnel, and they always go everywhere. Adding tablets would be easier, while not adding anything would be easier still.

I wouldn't be allowed to just ignore the low salt warning.

[BlueSparky]

You need salt if you live in a 'hard water' area otherwise it will scale up over time, you'll also get some streaking on glassware. Dishwasher salt also has 'anti-caking' additives to stop it becoming a solid mass in the salt section.

[barry1010]

You could use 'all in one' dishwasher tablets that include the salt

[BlueSparky]

Addendum, as previously stated by bhg you don't need to put salt in your dishwasher if you have a soft water system that supplies it. (Pity you can't edit your previous answers on here!)