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Your dishwasher is a powerful tool that saves you time and that eases the household chore of washing dishes. But what happens behind that door after you have chosen all the settings and the luminous signal goes off?
Rinsing cycle
Almost all dishwashers have a pre-washing cycle that rinses dishes. Hot water is then brought into the appliance, but since it doesn’t fill up like a washing machine, it uses a lot less water. In this sense, appliances have progressed remarkably regarding water consumption these last years, the average consumption has been divided by two! Indeed, today’s dishwashers spend from 10 to 15 litres of water during a whole washing cycle, as opposed to 20 to 30 litres in the mid-90’s.
Principal washing cycle
When the principal washing cycle starts, the distributor’s door lets the detergent out so that it mixes up with the water. This solution is brought through sprinklers that turn so that the water reaches all the dishes to wash.
Rinsing cycle
Your appliance can do more than one rinsing cycle. Cold water rinsing eliminates dirty water, then hot water rinsing, accompanied by the rinsing product, will keep water drops that contain residues stay on your dishes, dry, and leave stains.
Drying cycle
Depending on the model you own, your dishes will dry either by the residual heat of the washing or by the triggering of the drying cycle that results in a quicker drying. A less energy-consuming alternative to the drying cycle is to simply open the door of your dishwasher once the rinsing cycle is over.
Water temperature
To get sparkly clean dishes, a dishwasher needs hot water. At an elevated temperature, not only does water contribute to dissolving stains, but it disinfects also your dishes. Avoid turning the dishwasher on when you’re using hot water for a shower or laundry. A simple trick is to verify if the water is hot enough is to fill a glass of water from the kitchen tap and to take its temperature with a meat thermometer or other. If the water doesn’t reach 60 °C (140 °F), consult the instruction manual of your water tank or ask a professional to make the necessary adjustments.
Different products-what is their use?
On top of the water used, a dishwasher needs detergent, salt, and a rinsing product to do its work properly. Each component has a specific action: detergent dissolves stains and the most tenacious food residues and assures a hygienic result. The rinsing product is specially made to dry dishes quicker and to assure a result without water stains. If stains or films appear on your glasses, it is time to fill up with a rinsing agent. The ideal thing to do is to verify its level inside the distributor on a monthly basis. If your appliance isn’t equipped with this kind of distributor, you can still use a solid rinsing product that will grip easily to the top basket of your dishwasher.
To be mentioned, rinsing liquid can be replaced by white vinegar, a cheap product that has the advantage of making glass sparkle and works as a disinfectant and a degreaser. By adding vinegar in your dishwasher, you can use a more economical detergent brand. Finally, salt softens water and fights limestone deposits.
For better results, it is recommended to always use washing and rinsing products of the same brand. Their respective chemical compositions are made in order to have a complementary action. These three products available as powder, gel, capsules, or tablets depending on the brand, can of course be put separately inside the dishwasher. But to make your job as easy as possible, the manufacturer’s norm is to offer you multipurpose combined products. Test a few of them and adopt the one that suits you best.
Hard water and deposit accumulation
There might be deposits inside your appliance, and this, in particular if you house is supplied with hard water. These deposits can be caused by a limestone accumulation or of minerals, grease, and food residues. The stains in your dishwasher can also come from the iron in the water. These stains are usually yellow, brown, or rust colour. Depending on the case, you can remedy to the situation and make any deposit disappear by simply using once a month a washing product especially made for this. Also, you can wash your appliance in depth by washing it without dishes after having added a good quantity of vinegar. The vinegar heated by the dishwasher will be also efficient against the limestone.
Phosphates
The last point concerning detergents is that most of them still contain phosphates. You should proscribe them if you wish to be environmentally friendly. From now until their next legislation, read tags well and make a responsible choice.
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