Where do you buy Miele DW Salts & what detergent do you use?
peggross1
15 years ago
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peter-a
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Salt for Miele DW
Comments (6)The first question need to answer is whether or not your water supply is hard enough to warrant the use of softener salt in your dishwasher. The Miele owners manual will tell you at what level water softening is appropriate. Many municipal water supplies in North America don't require the use of the water softener feature. Your local water company can advise you of the water hardness level in your area. Many European dishwashers include a softener because the water in most of Europe is many times harder than the water commonly found in N. America. If your municipal water supply isn't mineral laden or considered hard, you don't need to use the softener feature. If you have well water prone to leaving white deposits, the use of the softener feature will probably provide some relief. If your water isn't considered hard or mineral-laden, consult the Miele owner's manual for instructions on how to disable the "Add Salt" indicator. It's very simple. If you do need to utilize the softener feature, dishwasher salt (Somat or Miele are the usual brands) is available from your Miele dealer or from a number of online sources for $10-$12 for a package just the right size for a single fill. While it sounds kind of expensive, it's not something you need to do very often. In fact, unless you run multiple loads per day, a single salt fill will usually last somewhere between 5-9 months. Several years ago the U.S. Air Force conducted a study and determined that ordinary kosher salt was a suitable substitute for dishwasher salt, although you need to be sure that it doesn't contain anti-caking agents (ordinary table salt is NOT appropriate). Diamond Crystal is one brand of kosher salt that can be used. The coarseness of the grains doesn't make any difference. As a matter of fact, Somat dishwasher salt used to be flaked into a form very similar to ordinary kosher salt. For some reason, Somat changed to a much coarser form several years ago -- but either form works equally well....See MoreMiele DW Detergent, Salt, & Rinse Agent
Comments (2)I have the G2830 LaPerla similar to the Excella. Detergents: I alternate and use a different one each week. I use powder - Electrasol with chlorine bleach(non enzyme), or Cascade Complete(enzyme). I had a disaster with Seventh Generation powder which left grit all over everything including the insides of the dw. I use Liquid Gels - Cascade Complete Gel. I don't use Electrasol Gel because it left a film all over everything. I use tabs - Miele tabs (1/2 to full tab depending on soil level), or Electrasol Red ball tabs, or Electrasol tabs with Jet dry, or Cascade Action Pacs or Electrasol Gel pacs. No problem with any of these. When using Gels I set the detergent selector to Liquid. When using Tabs I keep the detergent selector set to powder. Most powders, tabs, gels and pacs contain enzymes. Electrasol tabs and Gel pacs contain enzymes. Electrasol powder and Gel in the bottle do not. Finish/Electrasol has released their Quantum tab to the USA, although I haven't been able to find it in stores where I live. Rinse Aid: I use Jet dry Green apple with vinegar, I use Jet dry turbo, I use Miele Rinse Aid. I alternate when filling the dispenser. All of these work the same. Salt: I use Somat salt or Miele salt. Both work the same. My Dw measures the water hardness when filling as does the Excella. Like PQ said you can find your hardness in the settings menu. If the DW needs salt I think it will ask for it and if the water is consistently below 4 it won't ask. The softener adjusts the the hardness automatically and only softens the water to the extent it needs to during each fill. Between May and October my water hardness was averaging 19 gpg and the Dw performed the softener step(periodically performed before the first prewash, to regenerate the softener) every other week while asking for salt at least once. Now the hardness is down to 2gpg and there has been not been any softener step performed nor has it asked for salt....See MoreHow do you know if you should use less detergent??
Comments (3)I use Tide HE (used the liquid first because it was all I could find, but I found the powder at Target, and I think it cleans better than the liquid). I started with the recommended amounts, but then gradually reduced the amounts I used until I hit a "comfort zone" - where I think the clothes are still getting clean. From reading here, people think the manufacturers overstate the requirements, which of course means you use more/buy more detergent. What I've found is that I generally only need half the recommended amount to still get clean clothes. Well, that's a huge savings! I run the clean cycle on my machine once a month (which is a water and bleach only cycle), and do a hot load probably once a week....See MoreDoes a new Miele DW come with salt/rinse aid/detergent?
Comments (6)We had our Miele installed by their people, which included an extended warranty. The two gentlemen tested the water, but we didn't need salt, so they took it back instead of filling the container. They did leave us about a dozen detergent tabs. They poured some rinse aid into the dispenser but said in the future it was fine to use whatever we'd been using....See Morecat_mom
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