I Now Have My Table Top Dishwasher

[Barsel]

Some of you might remember I was asking about them .
https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/ChatterBank/Question1784742.html
Well it does look bigger than I realised, but hopefully I'll get used to it.
I bought some dishwasher tablets, but didn't realise you need dishwasher salt and rinse aid?
Could those of you with dishwashers recommend both of these things for me i.e. make and cheapest place to buy please?
Have you tried the branded ones and the supermarket ones, is there a difference in quality? TIA.

[ubasses]

I always find Sainsburys good, no difference to the Finish ones I bought. Not tried Aldi but their dishwasher tablets were awful.

[Barsel]

I shop at Tesco but their dishwasher salt is out of stock and the other one they sell weighs 10kg!

[hellywelly4]

I don't use either, and I find that washing my dishes on just the glasses options is enough to clean them beautifully. Don't waste your money (to start with at least).
I used to have a full sized d/w and have never used salt.

[bhg481]

We used Fairy or Finish tablets for many years until we found a test report which found Sainsbury's Prism best so we tried them and have used them ever since. Dishwashers rely on water being heavily splashed around, so will rely on the holes in the arms not being clogged with scale from hard water, hence the requirement for salt to regenerate the built-in softener. We have soft water, so don't need salt but, if you don't use salt you might find the performance falls off after a time. A lot of the tablets contain rinse-aid (so they say); it's really only to make glasses look better but BEWARE, the dishwasher will turn glassware cloudy - wash good quality glasses by hand.

[mallyh]

aldis and lidles do all in one tablets at a good price

[naomi24]

I only buy branded. I tried supermarket own brand but it’s not as good.

[Barsel]

Naomi where do you buy from?

[barry1010]

Aldi all in one tablets suit us very well. I buy the cheapest salt I can find, usually Aldi and don’t bother with rinse aid. My dishwasher is over 20 years old and still performs well. I live in a very hard water area

[chelle7272]

We by the same as barry for the dishwashers at work, have done for years. Also a hard water area, the washers are 10 years old now and still work absolutely fine

[naomi24]

All the big supermarkets sell the branded stuff, Barsel. I buy ‘Finish’.

[welshtanner]

I buy Fairy tablets when they are on offer. Don't use salt or rinse aid as our water is soft. Do wash good glasses and vases by hand.

[McMouse]

I’ve got a kitchen sink dishwasher. It also cooks and does the ironing.

[Prudie]

I use any old make of salt because I have very hard water but have never used a rinse aid. I find only branded tablets get things clean - Finish or Fairy for me. Tesco value tablets for example are totally useless.

[jennyjoan]

Yes. Use finish until you get used to it

[anneasquith]

Well done. Is it noisy ?

[carrot99]

I buy Finish tablets when they are on offer but Sainsbury's salt and rinse aid. Don't forget to use your dishwasher for ornaments, vases, bathroom/bedroom ceramic or glass holders etc. All the dust collectors go in the dishwasher.

[Cloverjo]

If you use tablets you don’t need extra salt and rinse aid. It’s all in one, isn’t it? That’s what I do anyway.

[TheWinner]

We always use Fairy all in one pods (Home Bargains) , we always use dishwasher Salt (Tesco's own) and always use Finish Rinse aid. Also, every few weeks we use a dishwasher cleaner (Tesco's) to keep everything clean and fresh. But, it's like everything else, do what suits you.

[TheWinner]

meant to add, ours is heavily used every day, while yours probably won't be.

[bhg481]

Seeing TheWinner mention dishwasher cleaner, I am reminded that a friend of ours, who is a white goods repairer, recommends the use of dishwasher cleaner every few months. If it's recommended by a repairer, with nothing in it for him, it sounds like good advice to me, so we do it.