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Ot: Dishwashers
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Kleinstein:
The water softener in dishwashers use a kind of ion exchange. For regeneration it needs salt - the exact type of salt is not that important. So the salt for a salt water pool is OK, unless there is to much calcium / magnesium in it. Similar road salt may be OK too - may be easier to get in some areas.

It depends on the local water quality: in some areas with already soft water there is no need to use it and in other areas with hard water it really helps. In a system without the water softener, one may need a special cleaning agent in areas with hard water.
There seem to be also different types of detergents - at least the list of ingredients looks quite different here in Germany.

The powder typ detergent can by annoying in a high humidity environment. The prices vary quite a bit, both between brands and  also between countries. Last times I checked here the cheaper tablets were not even more expensive anymore.
tooki:

--- Quote from: Alex Eisenhut on December 23, 2020, 07:04:46 am ---A thought occurs. The rinse-aid is loaded into a compartment and is typically good for dozens of loads.

Why isn't the detergent also this way? Why not load the whole door (it is mostly empty, no?) with a big tank of gel-type detergent?

--- End quote ---
Multiple manufacturers make dishwashers with automatic detergent dispensers.
Red Squirrel:
Being able to load the whole door could be interesting, could be a trap door on the outside where you pour a large quantity of powder and close the trap door.  There would be a dispensing mechanism that can dispense a precise amount and it would send an appropriate amount down a chute then seal, then the door would open on the inside to let it out.  The double seal would make sure no humidity from the wash cycle gets into the chute and dispenser.   The prewash and normal wash cycle could then be fully controlled by dispensing as little or much as needed.

Another approach that would be simpler is to have a form of carousel and you fill all the compartments and it will just turn a few times throughout the wash cycle.   Then you are good for a couple cycles before you have to fill it again.   I guess at the end of the day it's not like filling it for each wash is that big of a deal so there's not really any incentive to design this.
james_s:
Sodium bicarbonate? That's baking soda and is completely harmless. The other ingredients I don't know, but don't fall into the trap of believing that the names being difficult to pronounce or sounding "chemically" has anything to do with the toxicity of the substance. I see that a lot with the pseudoscience food/health crowd. Fact is if you list the chemical names for the substances that make up a fruit or vegetable it sounds like it could be some nasty industrial chemical.

Regarding the pods, we often use them because Costco has them cheap enough that I don't care if I could save a few pennies using powder, and they're very convenient. I think we spend about $25 every 4-5 months or so on a bucket of pods and the dishes come out cleaner than the powder we were using before. I was using the liquid gel (for dishwashers, not liquid dish soap for hand washing) and it works pretty well too. Regardless of which option I go with, the annual expenditure on dish detergent is down in the noise floor.
Halcyon:

--- Quote from: Alex Eisenhut on December 23, 2020, 07:04:46 am ---A thought occurs. The rinse-aid is loaded into a compartment and is typically good for dozens of loads.

Why isn't the detergent also this way? Why not load the whole door (it is mostly empty, no?) with a big tank of gel-type detergent?

--- End quote ---

I'm guessing because most detergents used in dishwashers are powder-based. Powder tends to cake up with moisture (particularly from the drying cycle) so it's hard to store in anything other than an airtight container for long periods. Rinse aid is liquid and even if a little dilution occurs, it will still dispense.

Also, why make things more complicated with more moving parts? The operator can just tip a little detergent in each time. Takes almost no effort.
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