Do I need to add salt to the dishwasher if I use tablets?

Irrational use of a dishwasher can cost a lot of money, because it is a rather expensive appliance that requires special household chemicals for each working cycle. Some housewives, to save money, even stop adding salt to the dishwasher when using tablets, supposedly salt granules are not needed in this case. Such an action really allows you to save the family budget, but won’t this lead to a breakdown of the “home assistant”, the repair of which will obviously cost more than a couple of packs of special salt?

Is extra salt required or not?

There is simply no clear answer to this question. This is due to the fact that salt should be poured into the PMM in order to restore the resin in the ion exchanger - a device that softens hard tap water during washing. It is the ion exchanger that actively consumes salt in a situation where low-quality hard water comes from the water supply system, and the worse the water, the higher the salt consumption.

The salt granule flow settings are usually adjusted several times a year as the seasons change and the water gets harder or softer.

An important nuance is that in Russia there are regions where there is very soft, high-quality tap water, so there is no need to use salt at all for dishwashing. Housewives who are so lucky with their water supply don’t even need to buy 3-in-1 tablets that contain special regenerating salt, because they simply have nothing to regenerate. In this case, you can really get by with buying an inexpensive detergent and rinse aid, completely ignoring the salt.

When the water in a populated area is of medium hardness, then it is permissible to use 3 in 1 tablets without adding special salt granules to the salt hopper in the machine. With a low hardness coefficient, tablets containing regenerating salt will be quite sufficient. If the house has poor-quality hard water, due to which the plumbing fixtures and kettle are constantly covered with scale, then you will have to set the maximum salt consumption and constantly ensure that the salt bunker is filled. In such a situation, there is no point in imaginary savings, because if you overdo it, the ion exchanger may fail, which may require complex repairs or a complete replacement of the element.

Thus, you really don’t need to add salt when using 3-in-1 tablets, but only if the city water utility provides high-quality tap water. Otherwise, salt granules are “vital” for your “home helper.”

What is a cheap substitute for salt for PMM?

Many dishwasher owners try to save money on the operation of the equipment, even when salt cannot be avoided. In this situation they try to use:

• regular table salt;
• sea ​​salt;
• tableted salt.

The first is one of the worst possible options, because it contains mixtures that can damage the ion exchanger. Also, its disadvantage is that it is highly grinded, which is why it will cake in the salt bunker and dissolve poorly.

Sea salt is very similar to food salt in composition, but it contains even more impurities and various minerals that do not harm the human body, but can damage the dishwasher.This salt is famous for its minimal purification and processing, so it can cause the ion exchanger to lose about 90 percent of its functionality after using just 1 kilogram of sea salt.

With tableted salt, not everything is so simple, because it can be very different. There is regenerating salt in tablets, not granules, which can and should be used for dishwashers. There is also tableted table salt, without the E536 additive, which is sold in large bags and allows the user to seriously save on funds for PMM. It is not as harmful as regular cooking or sea water, but still not as useful as a special regenerating one, so you should use it at your own peril and risk.

Most often, salt tablets are so large that to use them in the dishwasher, they must first be broken into three or even four parts, so the savings from using such a product are obvious.

As a result, the dishwasher can indeed be operated without salt, using only 3 in 1 tablets, but this is only possible in conditions of high-quality tap water.

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