Yeah, I used to be exactly like many of the commenters below who saw it as an expensive dishrack. I watched the TC video when it dropped, just because I wanted to learn more about how they work. I ended up changing my approach based on what he showed and it works great now. Almost no rewashing or residue, even though I just chuck in dishes without rinsing.
The big changes for those who don’t want to watch a half hour video about dishwashers:
Preheat your sink water. Most dishwashers are hooked up to the hot pipe, expect to be hooked up to it, and do not adaquately heat it for the prewash cycle. This was the biggest one for me, as it meant no more timed starts to have it run overnight. Night and day change in effectiveness, though. Just turn the hot water on in your kitchen sink, wait until it is actually hot, then start the dishwasher.
Experiment with the amount of detergent and rinse aid for the main cycle (the little hatch on the inside of the door). Powdered citric acid works great as a rinse aid. I use about 1.5 tablespoons Lemishine, but the brand isn’t important. For the detergent, basically all powdered detergents are indistinguishable so just buy the cheapest. I use about a 1:1 ratio of rinse aid to detergent, so 1.5 tablespoons again. Too much and you get cloudy dishes; too little and you’ll need to rewash more often.
After shutting the soap compartment, add more detergent (not rinse aid!) to the outer compartment, or just dump it in the bottom. Go hog wild, as this soap is used for the prewash and gets flushed before the real cycle. If I didn’t rinse anything I’ll put up to 3 tablespoons in there. If everything is basically clean already then I’ll just do a tiny sprinkle. The prewash should be getting the majority of the gunk off, so adjust according to the level of gunk.
Yea, because of him I experimented with detergents and volume (and the different cycles).
I now use Walmart powder ($5/box), 1 tbsp in prewash, 1 in wash, and the light cycle. Most of the time this is fine, and I cook a lot, have some stuff that doesn’t clean easily. This with a 20 year old dishwasher.
I’ve learned when I need to use more detergent or use a longer cycle.
Yeah, I used to be exactly like many of the commenters below who saw it as an expensive dishrack. I watched the TC video when it dropped, just because I wanted to learn more about how they work. I ended up changing my approach based on what he showed and it works great now. Almost no rewashing or residue, even though I just chuck in dishes without rinsing.
The big changes for those who don’t want to watch a half hour video about dishwashers:
Yea, because of him I experimented with detergents and volume (and the different cycles).
I now use Walmart powder ($5/box), 1 tbsp in prewash, 1 in wash, and the light cycle. Most of the time this is fine, and I cook a lot, have some stuff that doesn’t clean easily. This with a 20 year old dishwasher.
I’ve learned when I need to use more detergent or use a longer cycle.