Dishwasher salt is essential for the operation of the regenerator, which softens the watermaking the washing process more efficient. Due to the extremely hard water in some areas, detergents do not work as well as they should. As a result, the quality of the washing equipment is reduced. Many users ask how to replace dishwasher salt - this question often flashes, since it is quite expensive. Therefore, we decided to tell you everything we know about salt.
How salt works in a dishwasher
Before thinking about how to replace dishwasher salt, you need to understand how it works. It is necessary for better dishwashing. Many people know that soap in hard water lathers and works poorly. If the water is softened, the soap will begin to foam well and perform its functions - to remove dirt and fats from the surfaces of our skin and various objects.
The processes taking place in the dishwasher require a special quality of water - it must be soft so that you do not have to increase the amount detergent for dishwashers(it must be completely and without residue washed down the drain). Since most people do not bother installing a special regenerating filter, it is built into all dishwashers.The filter works on the principle of replacing magnesium and calcium ions with sodium ions.
The regenerator is built on the basis of a special regenerating resin. And to restore the amount of sodium ions in the water must contain sodium chloride. It is taken from a special compartment, which is located at the bottom of the working chamber. One filling is enough for several months, sometimes more.
Since salt is expensive, some users are starting to wonder what to replace it with - this done in order to reduce operating costs. Let's see what are the benefits of factory dishwasher salt:
- It is very clean, so it does not affect the operation of the regenerator and does not clog it with impurities - be sure to think about this if you want to replace the special salt with something else;
- The use of store salt does not lead to a loss of warranty - sometimes service centers deprive the equipment of the warranty, detecting attempts to use some other means or cheap rock salt;
- Some types of salt contain additional additives that improve the quality of washing dishes in the machine and prevent the formation of limescale.
Therefore, manufacturers strongly do not recommend looking for alternative preparations that can replace salt in the dishwasher.
How to replace salt in the dishwasher
Let's still take a look at how you can replace salt for the dishwasher. To begin with, we will analyze the properties of large table salt, sold in cardboard packages.It consists almost entirely of sodium chloride crystals, but includes numerous impurities of other salt compounds. As a result, we get not quite pure, but suitable for food use sodium chloride.
If you pour it on a table or plate, we can find that it is not as white and pure as special salt - the insignificant content of additional impurities that are not harmful to health affects. It is possible to get rid of contaminants and obtain a pure product at the outlet only if the starting material is subjected to long-term dissolution, fine purification through filters and long evaporation.
Sea salt, which is advertised through culinary channels and in various culinary publications, contains even more impurities - after all, iodine, organic compounds and many other substances are present in the sea. Not recommended for use in dishwashers chemically unsuitable.
If you are looking for a substitute for dishwasher salt, turn your attention to Extra fine table salt. Visually, it is extremely clean, and its grains are small enough to dissolve quickly and without residue. Therefore, it can serve as an almost complete replacement without harming the equipment. If you are using some kind of large-crystalline product, then it can be ground in a coffee grinder, bringing it to the state of the finest powder.
If buying dishwasher salt is driving you into wild spending, here are some tips you can try:
- Purchase a large bag, with a product weight of 10-20 kg. The cost of one kilogram in this case will be low, so the overpayment will be small;
- Use the products of a cheaper manufacturer - it will work in the same way as an expensive product (in 99% of cases, the overpayment is only for the brand name);
- Try to use tableted means of the All-in-One format - they will provide good savings (costs per cycle range from 9-10 rubles).
The first option is not bad - large packages are relatively cheap, and your dishwasher will be happy with a normal cleaned product. Yes, and with a guarantee, everything will be great, since you will use the recommended tool.
If you replace an expensive product with a less expensive one, nothing terrible will happen - all the same, the purification and evaporation technologies are approximately the same, and a discrepancy in the content of foreign substances in tenths and hundredths of a percent will not lead to catastrophic consequences.In a word, salt for dishwashers at 50 rubles per kg is almost no different from an expensive foreign product at a cost of 400 rubles per kg (or even for a pack weighing 700 grams).
You can easily replace salt with universal dishwasher tablets - they are already contain a suitable dose of sodium chloride. But we recommend that you first test the water for the possibility of using tablet products (they show their effectiveness only in a certain range of water hardness / softness). Otherwise, you will have to use special preparations or replace them with pure Extra grade table salt.
