Comment by tialaramex | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tialaramex | Hacker News Reader

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Maintenance is huge.

A lot of products even in the supposedly "disposable" everyday category people buy for lower prices have maintenance instructions that would significantly increase their lifespan if actually followed. Misuse resistance means consumer products generally still work if you skip maintenance the manufacturer told you was necessary (which industrial products might not), but it may shorten the product's lifespan, increase operating costs or reduce performance.

My friend owns a dishwasher. Recently little specks of dirt were left on plates sometimes after the wash completed. Guess what, there's no salt in the softener re-charge. So that dishwasher is soldiering on with hard water instead of soft, and it no longer gets things clean. Fill the salt back up, and sure enough the machine's performance quickly improves. I'm sure lots of people are shouting "That's not maintenance". Well, it probably depends how you look at the problem. From his point of view he purchased "all in one" dishwasher tablets which said he didn't need salt. If he'd examined them very carefully they admit that actually you might still need to add salt periodically, but that wouldn't be very "all in one" so it's not emphasised.

Did you also watch: Detergent packs are kinda wishy-washy (Dishwashers Explained)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04

That video (and channel) are truly great.

TIL I should read the all in one tab packaging and probably buy salt.

Watch this video: Detergent packs are kinda wishy-washy (Dishwashers Explained)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBO8neWw04

TIL dishwashers have a compartment you're supposed to add salt to? Is this the rinse-aid thing?

Salt helps against hard water, AFAIK.

Yeah, I grew up in a house with well water and we had a water softener for the whole house. I've just never seen a place to add salt in a dishwasher, unless it's the rinse aid.

The salt compartment is usually on the floor of the dishwasher. The salt is used to soften the water. Not directly, but as the source of sodium ions for an ion-exchange resin. [1]

It’s not the same as the rinse-aid, which reduces the surface tension of the water so droplets won’t stay on the dishes (i.e. a surfactant).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion-exchange_resin#Water_softe...

Not all dishwashers have it. I found that most dishwashers in the US don't have it, so you have to work to find one that does.

If they do, it's usually a compartment at the bottom of the thing with a sealed screw-cap.

Oh, and don't bother buying "dishwasher salt", just buy medium-grain table salt, it's 10x cheaper.

>Oh, and don't bother buying "dishwasher salt", just buy medium-grain table salt, it's 10x cheaper.

Is it the same thing?

Pretty much, the only difference is that dishwasher salt might dissolve easier in water, but it doesn't matter much, it's still just table salt.

In one sense, "Yes". A water softener using this principle just needs a source of Sodium ions, and Sodium Chloride aka salt is exactly what's called for in this application. They do literally just need salt.

But in another sense, "No". The people selling you table salt know it's for cooking and eating not to run a water softener, so they may tweak the product for these purposes. The product should be labelled, but we saw earlier that people don't read the fine print.

For example isn't it annoying when the little grains of salt stick together in a salt shaker? In some environments it's difficult to prevent plain salt from doing that, especially if it sits in the shaker for a few weeks because you (sensibly) don't use extra salt in most food. But an anti-caking agent reduces this problem while not making any difference (in a tiny quantity) to the taste or dietary effects of the salt. A water softener does not need anti-caking agents, so the manufacturer recommends using dishwasher salt.

Another example: Humans are supposed to have the element iodine in their diet. Some countries historically had a big problem with insufficient iodine, and so the "ordinary" table salt in those countries is laced with (a tiny amount of) iodine. Result: Fewer children with mental development problems. A water softener has no need for iodine, maybe it makes no difference, it clearly can't help, hence, the recommendation specifically for dishwasher salt.

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