What does dishwasher salt do?
Salt is the common-or-garden cure-all for just about everything under the sun. We use it in the kitchen, but also to de-ice the driveway or remove red wine stains from clothes. For the maintenance of your dishwasher too, salt is indispensable. Why do we need dishwasher salt? Let's take a closer look at some of the facts.
You are best off going for a highly refined dishwasher salt of the best possible quality to make sure your appliance remains in good working order and enjoys a longer service life.
Dishwasher salt for soft water
Every dishwasher holds a water softener for the simple reason you need soft water if you want your dishes to come out spotlessly clean. If the water contains a high concentration of calcium and magnesium, you are dealing with what is referred to as ‘hard’ water. Hard water is what produces those white calcium deposits, also known as limescale, on your dishes. A water softener will prevent this.
How does a water softener work?
Using a water softener means limescale does not stand a chance inside your dishwasher. Water softeners contain synthetic ion exchange resins onto which the magnesium and calcium particles attach. After a while, the resin gets saturated and needs to be regenerated: this is done by using a special dishwasher salt – also referred to as ‘water softener regeneration salt’. The harder the mains water used inside your dishwasher, the more often the water softener will need to be regenerated with dishwasher salt.
In most cases, the water hardness factor is set at the time when the dishwasher is installed. The harder the water, the more often the appliance will regenerate the resin grains.
Dishwasher salt should be pure
At a minimum, dishwasher salt should contain 99.5 percent pure NaCl. So you are best off going for a highly refined dishwasher salt of the best possible quality to make sure your appliance remains in good working order and enjoys a longer service life. Doing so helps you prevent limescale and white deposits on your glasses, plates, cups and other crockery. Other than this, what are also important are grain size - coarse salt is the best option - and the hardness of the grains, as the latter make for an even generation of brine which acts to benefit the operation of your dishwasher.
Tip: Store your dishwasher salt in a dry place close to your dishwasher. Check every so often to make sure the reservoir still contains enough salt.
Best quality dishwasher salt
SOFT-SEL® dishwasher salt allows you to give your dishwasher the ultimate protection. The salt regenerates the resins of the water softener, thereby ensuring optimum operation of your appliance. Not to mention spotlessly clean dishes.
