There's a definite art to learning how YOUR dishwasher loads in the best possible way. it took us a couple of weeks of figuring it all out! We're very happy with the Woolworths own brand of tablets - work just as well as Finish and a 1/3 of the price! We rinse dishes before loading in (i just don't like the idea of food stuffs washing around and getting on the glassware). Tomato sauces tend to get baked on so i do wash those by hand. And i also wash all plastic cups by hand but that's because i've found they leave a detergent taste in the cup. my dishwasher program takes a long time (over 1 hr) but it's an extremely quiet model which is a blessing as it can be on and i won't even notice it if we're eating dinner or working in the kitchen/diner.
My dishwasher pipes got all blocked up from using tablets ( I used finish), the repair guy said it was a common problem so since then I've used powder and never had issues. I use powder from aldi, it's around $2 mark and works really well. Definitely use rinse aid.
I rinse some things before putting them in otherwise the food dries if it's sitting in the dishwasher all day. I don't usually rinse the tea dishes because I put the dishwasher on straight afterwards.
I don't bother with rinse aid and my glasses seem to come out ok.
DS1 is a 'water warrior' so I've been banned from rinsing. We scrape instead and I haven't noticed any difference in the cleanliness of the plates. Really if you're going to rinse everything off you may as well hand wash anyway.
I clean the filter quite often. I use a deodoriser and when I notice the smell is all gone I replace it and I use a finish dishwasher cleaner on the same day.
We use the fairy tablets and they are much better than the finish ones but after reading Tinks' post I might change over to powder.
I use powder but keep a few balls incase I run out or a vivitor is loading the dishwasher.
If using powder less is better than more.
If you run out of rinse aid you can use vinegar
I rinse the dishes especially if you are not putting it on straight away and you have cooked with cheese, sauces etc.
It is a case of trial and error when you first get a dishwasher. Getting the packing right and not overfilling it
Enjoy your dishwasher. I do after 30 years of marriage
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks