The economy must be economical! This is what Brezhnev once said and many housewives completely agree with him, and they especially agree at a time when there is no extra money on hand and the dishwasher has run out of salt. And they have a completely logical thought: how to replace salt for the dishwasher? If it's just salt, then why pay a lot of money for it?
Let's look into this issue together and consider all the options.
Because the fact that it is salt does not mean at all that it is table salt and completely identical. See also:
Basic rules for using a dishwasher
Preventing scale formation
When hard water is heated, calcium and magnesium salts dissolved in it precipitate and form scale. It mercilessly reduces the service life of the heating element. To avoid this, a reservoir with ionized resin is placed in the machine. Water passing through such resin becomes less hard. Sooner or later, the resin stops softening the water as well as before. Then the need arises for table or rock salt, or rather, for the sodium ions that it contains. Thanks to the penetration of sodium ions into the resin, its ability to soften water is restored. So yes, your dishwasher needs salt in most cases.
How is special salt different from regular salt?
We think that you yourself understand that the word “horse” may not always indicate an Arabian horse, but may mean that it is an ordinary pony.
And then try and prove at the races that horses are also ponies! It's the same story with salt. Special salt for dishwashers has two differences from ordinary salt:
- Deepest removal of impurities
- The granulation is not so fine
And these two factors make it a completely different product, although its composition remains ordinary sodium chlorine.
Ordinary salt contains a lot of impurities, even to the extent that there are particles of sand and gypsum. These things completely confuse the ion exchanger, rendering it inoperable, and, in addition, spoil the iron parts, contributing to the very scale that the ion exchanger is designed to fight.
The granulation of such salt is designed so that it dissolves slowly and in no case clogs the ion exchanger filter. That is, if you pour fine salt, it will clog the filter and it will not be able to work at all! Naturally, there will be absolutely no effect, since the saline solution will not reach its destination. After all, as you remember, salt plays only an indirect role and does not reach the plates directly.
We use “Extra” salt
Dishwasher salt costs several times more than regular table salt. Moreover, both are represented by sodium chloride. However, dishwasher salt is purified much better, while table salt contains various impurities. They can have a negative impact on the performance of your kitchen “helper”. If, in spite of everything, you decide to use table salt, then choose more expensive varieties that are better purified, for example, the “Extra” brand. But even in this case, before using it, it would be a good idea to check whether there are any pebbles or obvious impurities in it.
- Author: Emma Ryabova
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3 things you can learn from your dishwasher
Why the tablet does not dissolve in the dishwasher: solution to the problem
What is the function of salt in the dishwasher?
Salt is not just a necessary component when washing dishes, but one might even say it is irreplaceable. Without it, washing will not be possible!
The main purpose of salt is to soften water. Because in hard water, the detergent will not produce foam, but will simply dissolve and will not remove the dirt. But the water in our taps is hard, and there is no escape from this fact.
And, due to the fact that salt makes the water soft, there is another, side, but important bonus: scale does not form on the iron parts of the machine. And, therefore, the machine will not fail for this reason.
Many will probably now say: excuse me, what nonsense? How can salt soften water if everyone knows that, on the contrary, it makes it hard? It turns out that soda is called salt for the machine? After all, only alkali can soften water!
To this we will answer: not soda! Namely, salt, ordinary sodium chlorine. And it softens the water - in a completely indirect way, simply by feeding the ion exchanger resin with its charge.
An ion exchanger is a reservoir filled with resin balls, which, like a sponge, absorb magnesium and calcium ions from running water passing through it. Thus, purifying the water and making it soft and suitable for effective washing. But these balls will not work like a sponge if they are not saturated with saline solution, which replenishes the loss of ions.
In general, resin is negatively charged, while calcium and sodium are positively charged.
And if the resin is discharged, then it will not be able to attract anything and washing will be ineffective, since soap in hard water, and even in such a minimal amount, is unable to dissolve. These are such miracles... See also -
Where and why to put salt in the dishwasher
Which detergent is best for the dishwasher?
Nowadays you can find a variety of detergents in stores: from the simplest loose powder to ultra-modern multi-component gel capsules. Of course, tablets or gel capsules, thanks to various additives, deal with stains quickly and effectively, but the cost of such products is much higher.
The powder detergent will also cope well with stains and will show excellent washing results if you follow the rules for placing dishes in the machine and selecting the appropriate settings for the supply of rinse aid and salt to soften the water hardness.
By the way, cars are tested for washing quality using powder detergents. This information once again confirms the fact that powders do their job perfectly, and additives in tablets and gel products enhance the quality of washing thanks to the latest developments in the chemical industry.
Points to consider when using table salt in the dishwasher
Some housewives still manage to replace a specific product with a food analogue. In this case, you can minimize possible risks and negative consequences as follows:
- During the warranty period of the device, it is better not to take risks and use the right product. Any specialist will be able to give the dishwasher an appropriate “diagnosis”, which will give the manufacturer the right not to carry out repairs free of charge.
- If you use table salt, then only use the “Extra” category. Ordinary stone is unacceptable here.
- While the profile product needs to be poured into the tray quite rarely, the device will have to be filled with table salt every time it is turned on.
- After pouring the composition into the tray of the machine, you need to dilute it a little with water and mix lightly. This will prevent the formation of a sticky lump.
We recommend: What is a pizza maker, which one is better and what else can you cook in it?
Under certain conditions, it is still possible to replace a special product with a cheap improvised product. But in this case, the unit is not immune from breakdowns or reduced functionality. In some cases, attempts to save money on the maintenance of household appliances can cause damage to the device to the point where its restoration is impossible. At the same time, the benefit of replacing a high-quality composition with a cheap analogue is very debatable, given the expense of the product.
Analogues. Myths and reality
Many “resourceful” users try to replace special dishwasher salt with substances such as:
- Salt
Table or table (rock) salt, depending on the extraction method, may include various impurities and vary in composition and appearance, namely in size and color. Despite the differences, table salt in general contains approximately 96% chlorine and sodium. In addition, table salt contains calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese, iodine and other substances that can harm the dishwasher, namely, settle in the ion exchanger, forming scale. This result can lead to rapid wear and tear or even breakdown without any chance of repair or restoration.
THIS IS INTERESTING
Some PMM users still resort to table salt and choose “EXTRA” salt. These same “testers” confidently declare that there is no difference from the substitution, and therefore nothing bad with the device as a whole. Literally one kg is enough to consume the same amount of special salt. The savings speak for themselves. The difference in price is more than noticeable. Others are against such experiments.
- Sea salt
Sea salt is similar in composition to table salt and also contains quite a few chemical elements. But the fact is that it also contains a large amount of minerals and undergoes minimal purification and processing. All this is to say that using sea salt as dishwasher salt is strictly prohibited.
- Tablet salt
But tableted salt can have different compositions. The only thing that unites the types of salt is that it is available in tablets. Tablet salt is made using the formula of common table salt. Mostly extra salt “Polesie” is used. Since it does not contain the E536 additive. The cost of such salt is about four hundred rubles per 25 kg and the consumption lasts up to two years. Significant savings, isn't it?
- 3in1 tablets (capsules)
3-in-1 dishwasher tablets are not only a means of replacing the salt your dishwasher needs.
Such a tablet has a layered composition, where each one needs its own time in order to dissolve properly in water.
- - the first two layers - consist of detergent and salt, which dissolve when the water heats up
- — the third layer is called neutral, which dissolves during the first rinse
- — the fourth layer dissolves during the final rinsing of the dishes
In conclusion, it turns out that 3in1 funds can be used as a replacement for all the funds needed at once. Although there is one “but” here too. If the process of use is prolonged and active consumption of water, then such a tablet dissolves quickly, but for short tasks the powder does not dissolve completely, and this allows the powder to get into the water and the rinsing process worsens.
IMPORTANT!
There is no need to grind the 3in1 tablets to a powder consistency, as this can lead to the dissolution of the rinsed part already at the time of the washing regime, and therefore there will be no sense.
3in1 tablets replace three products at once: detergent, rinse, and salt. It’s also convenient that you don’t have to pour anything into the ion exchanger; the tablet itself will start all the necessary processes inside the dishwasher hopper.
This is a proven and useful remedy, but if you need a replacement with the fact of saving money, then this is not for you. The cost of such a miracle remedy is not cheap. By the way, it is no less important to take into account the hardness of the water; in some cases you cannot use one product at once. Each is better separately.
To summarize, we can say that the best replacement option is food tablets (from the point of view of affordable cost and purchase and sale).
Composition of special salt for PMM
Not many of us will remember chemistry lessons at school, and therefore we will try to explain as simply as possible the composition of dishwasher salt, which manufacturers strongly recommend using.
On packs of well-known salts such as Finish or Somat, it is written that they contain sodium chloride, the chemical formula of which is NaCl. What is sodium chloride? It is the sodium salt of hydrochloric acid. Sodium chlorine is popularly called table salt, the composition of which consists of 98% of it. On a pack of Ecover salt the composition is indicated as follows: evaporated 100% rock salt, which is identical to the concept of “table salt”.
However, in appearance, special salt is somewhat different from ordinary table salt, at least in that its granules are much larger and more uniform. But we'll talk about this later.
