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In order for the dishwasher to 100% cope with the tasks assigned to it, you need to use special tools, including salt. If powders, gels and rinses are needed to wash off dirt, salt is used to soften the water. When encountering a new appliance for the first time, users are wondering – how much salt to pour into the dishwasher? We will answer this and other questions that interest you in detail.
Type of agent and dosage
Before deciding on the amount that you are going to fill in the PMM, it is worth choose which salt you will use. There are 4 popular options:
- Special salt with regenerating properties. Produced under brands such as Finish, Somat, Calgonit, etc.
- Tablet version (for example, Topperr).
- Household substitute variety “Extra” (necessarily boiled). About, What else can you substitute for dishwasher salt?, we wrote earlier.
- Tableted “Extra”.
On the packaging of the purchased product there is an instruction for use with a dosage specification. It is also reported that the salt is poured into the bunker to the top. Since the containers differ in volume in different models of dishwashers, less or more granules may be needed. The vast majority of models fit 2/3 packs weighing 1,5 kg.
Speaking of the usual food analogue, a standard pack of 1 kg is enough for you. Salt tablets are also poured into the dishwasher to the top.
Where to put salt
Understanding where to add it, you are unlikely to be mistaken: in almost every PMM model, the compartment is located inside the hopper under the lower dish container. To put the granules without losing some of them, manufacturers recommend using a funnel.
Important! Pour a little water into the compartment when loading the product for the first time into the dishwasher. When the granules fall asleep, excess water will merge, and you will calculate the exact dosage.
To reduce water hardness, manufacturers have provided an ion exchanger in the design of the PMM. Inside it there is a resin that neutralizes all harmful impurities – when the water is heated, they can form a plaque on the heating element and other details. Inside the ion exchanger, the simplest chemical reactions occur with the participation of ions – it is not necessary to thoroughly understand this, it is enough not to ignore the manufacturer’s instructions.
If, passing through the ion exchanger, the water loses its hardness, why are additional funds used? That’s why the salt is called “regenerating” – in its power to restore the balance of substances in the resin.
Methods for determining the degree of water hardness
There are several ways to determine stiffness:
- To the naked eye. Take laundry soap and lather a piece of fabric (rag) with it. If the fabric does not wash well and is difficult to rinse, the water is very hard.
- observation. Watch how quickly plaque builds up on faucets, plumbing fixtures, and other areas that come into contact with tap water. With increased rigidity, plaque quickly “sticks” to surfaces.
- With a test strip. Accurate and fast.
Attention! Rigidity is a seasonal phenomenon. To get accurate results and calculate salt consumption, check every 3-4 months.
- According to the regional hardness table. These tables are compiled by experts who classify water as soft, medium, hard and very hard.
Learn more about stiffness definition read in a separate article.
Is it easy to determine how often you need to pour salt into the PMM? First, read the instructions for the technique – it describes the process in detail and step by step. So, for example, in Bosch machines (Bosch) there are up to 7 degrees of rigidity for fine-tuning equipment. When the salt supply is depleted, the control panel will turn on the red indicator. When using capsules, the light bulb is easy to turn off – so that it does not bother you, select the “0” mark from the proposed hardness levels.
Even in Bosch typewriters (as well as Siemens or Electrolux (Electrolux)) setting the hardness to “0” does not always help to draw water bypassing the ion exchanger. If you ignore the manufacturer’s recommendations, do not buy salt, but use only tablets, the ion exchanger may become clogged with impurities coming from the water. This threatens to seriously damage the equipment.
Using salt, you will not only get perfectly washed dishes and soften the water, but also protect the components of the machine from premature wear.
For owners of Bosch dishwashers
We give examples from the instructions for the PMM brand Bosch, from which it is clear that it is necessary to use salt.
Hardness reducing device
In order for the washing to take place at the proper level, purified water must be supplied to the machine, without calcium salts. Otherwise, scale will appear on the walls, dishes and parts of the machine. Water with high calcium hardness must necessarily undergo a purification procedure before it reaches the important parts of the device. To soften the water, a device built into the body of the machine is used – salt is poured into it.
Setting
It depends solely on the hardness of the water and on no other indicators. To set up the ion exchanger, proceed as follows:
- Find out the degree of hardness of the water in the tap.
- Use the stiffness table below to calculate the setting value.
- Turn the switch to 2,5.
In some models, this is done as in the photo.
Using salt
When washing, the substance is automatically taken from the tank and goes into the tank, in which the softening process takes place. And the solution, which contains calcium salts, is drained into the sewer. At the end of the cleaning cycle, the system is again ready for further work. Regeneration starts only when the salt is 100% dissolved.
Before starting the PMM, pour about 1 liter of water into the salt granule container. For this purpose, use the funnel that comes with the device. Load the amount of granules that will raise the water level to the edge of the container (no more than 1,5 kg of substance). Since when loading the substance, water will pour over the edge, salt should be loaded only just before the device is turned on, otherwise such operation threatens with rapid corrosion of surfaces.
If during loading you scatter the product a little, remove the spilled grains and close the container with a lid, making sure that there is no skew.
By turning the ion exchanger regulator to the “0” mark, you can not add salt, as water will bypass this device. With values in the range from “1” to “4”, it is necessary to fill in the salt.
Important! Do not pour powder into a special hopper and do not fill in gel or rinse aid – this will damage the device.
User Tips
The opinion of experienced users and their practical experience will help you choose the exact dosage of the product.
Lena1985
Dishwasher brand “Ariston”. I buy a pack every 1-1,5 months. I fall asleep immediately the entire volume of the package. I use the machine every day, and on weekends and a couple of times a day.
MarinaX74
I bought a Bosch machine, rummaged through all the forums, deciding how much of this salt I would need. At first I fell asleep for half a kilo, and now 50 g for 3-4 cycles – until the light comes on. It’s more convenient than pouring out the whole pack at once and not knowing how much more is enough.
Svetik777
Is it beneficial to use when everything is separate? Buy this rinse aid, and buy salt, and powder – at first I also did this, I threw away so much money. Now only pills – they have everything at once. The quality of washing suits 100%.
Olga-Olga
I pour salt through the funnel until the water reaches the edge of the hole. At this expense, I buy a package once every 1,5-2 months.
To summarize, the amount of salt used for PMM is not so important, more important is its constant presence in a special compartment. How often you have to pour the substance and how much it will be enough depends on the water and the correct setting of the technique itself.