Dishwasher virgin! Advice appreciated!

@sussexborn my OH is like that. I am still waiting for my certificate in dishwasher loading but after 20 years I fear I will never get one!

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I have a smaller Bosch as I'm the only occupant. I use it about every second day and usually with Aldi tablets unless a 'posh' brand is half price in Waitrose. I can't say I notice much difference. No salt, as it's a soft water area and occasionally rinse aid - when I remember! When I had a bigger house and teenagers at home, my Hotpoint did an excellent job, but was noisier. I agree about cleaning the filters regularly. My DS and his partner used to complain that their dishwasher wasn't doing a very good job. When they were both out, I took out the filters which were decidedly gungy, and gave them a good clean!

Over forty years ago I bought a dishwasher when they were real luxury items. With three girls, who brought friends home, plus adults the amount of dishes we got through seemed to be never ending. Never been without one since although now it is just the two of us we can leave it for two or three days before it goes on. Always use the all in one tablets and they've been fine and yes, my DH knows exactly how to load the dishwasher but, to be fair, he also unloads as well.

All good points, but I would like to add, don’t forget to give the door seal a wipe every few days as it can get quite grubby.

Many years ago a friend told a group of us she used to unscrew her toilet seat every so often and put it through the dishwasher....
Stunned faces all round ?

phoenix It's worth looking out for deals when you're shopping for dishwasher detergent. The branded ones do a good job, in my experience, and are sometimes discounted. I always look at the unit price. My advice is not to use Asda own brand rinse aid. It's cheap but does a bad job. I do buy Sainsbury's own brand, though. Dishwashers are more energy efficient the a washing up bowl.

Also, when filling up with salt, the cheapest own brand is exactly the same as the expensive stuff. It's great for paths in winter too! Just don't forget to replace the lid of the salt fill up thingy. I did that once and all the dishes came out covered in a thick film of salt! ?

If I only had room for one appliance it would be the dishwasher, I'd go to the laundrette for my washing but would never be without a dishwasher, my first one was so long ago the dirty dishes were on a carousel that revolved, the water spray arms were stationary

Aldi or Lidl for dishwasher tablets, rinse aid & salt. I always programme mine to do a wash that takes half the time & it’s always been fine. Read the instruction booklet to see how to programme it. ENJOY!

Empty bottom layer first. That way if anything drips when you do the top layer there's nothing on the bottom to get wet. Enjoy!

Welcome to the real world - you will never look back! I use tablets (more convenient than liquid), dishwasher salt granules, and dishwasher rinse-aid. You will only need to put in salt and rinse-aid occasionally, and your dishwasher control panel will most probably prompt you to do this.

Did you check out the fisher and paykel dishwasher in a drawer? We have the wide one, 90 cms, it sits under the work surface and when it pulls out its at hip height, no bending to load or unload. It has revolutionised the whole kitchen, and I sing for joy when I’m near it. As for consumables, buy the best you can afford - keeping the inlet and outlet pipes clean is the best way you can look after your dishwasher, salt and Finish are essential to this process. Good luck and have fun.

A lot of dishwasher tabs don't need salt. Rinsing off any loose food will cut down smells. Unless you have really dirty pans a shorter, cooler wash is fine. There are two of us and we get by on one wash a day, occasionally doing a mid-day rinse if there is a lot of waste on the plates. I've been using a dishwasher for 35 years and couldn't live without.

I wait until Finish is on offer & use Sainsbury's own brand if I rum out. I do use salt but I often forget to refill the rinse aid.
Actually will go & top it up now while I remember.

When we got our first dishwasher in 1998 it was just before Christmas. We had a friend coming over to join in our family Christmas & she was really chuffed that there would be no washing up to do. Lovely meal & took all the dishes into kitchen & loaded dishwasher- it was full!
Then the electricity in our area went off.
It took them about 5 hours to get it back on again by which time we had washed everything by hand & played games on the floor by candlelight.
Happy days!

I agree with all the previous comments but would add some of my own. Before you run the monthly cleaning programme, take out the filter and give it a wash in the sink. You'll be amazed at how much gunk and little bits of food are caught inside it it, even when you're meticulous with scraping the plates first.
Look on Groupon for bargains in dishwasher tablets, they often do offers of big name brands at around half price or even less.
I always stack the cutlery with knives in one compartment, forks in another and so on. That way you just grab them from the basket and straight into the drawer without having to sort them out first.
Good luck, you'll love your new friend and you can also give yourself a pat on the back for saving water, hand washing uses about four times as much in a day as a dishwasher.

Another vote here for the Aldi "all in one" dishwasher tablets. I've been using dishwashers (in three different homes) for thirty years and like other GNs posting here, I've washed all sorts of things in them! Yesterday I put in a small plastic storage basket (in top rack) and it came out like new.

Hi, I love our dishwasher although there are some things that won’t go in like old knives with bone handles!! Also wooden spoons and things that are in constant use that you will need before you put machine on. I don’t always put saucepans in as they take up a lot of room. It’s excellent for oven shelves and grill pan. I used Aldi tablets for years and was happy but with lockdown and online shopping I discovered Fairy platinum. Very expensive but if you look out for an offer (Morrison’s at moment) they are absolutely wonderful.

All in one tablets bought on Groupon or Wowcher when there is a special offer on.

I'm surprised no-one seems t have mentioned Ecover diswasher (environmentally friendly) tablets. I got my first dishwasher in the 90's. Never a domestic goddess I was delighted to find my sister-in-law's kitchen is a state of post prandial chaos when we dropped in impromptu on one occasion but was mystified when it was transformed in a trice to it's normal immaculate self. I remarked on this to DH who replied monosyllabically, as is his wont - 'dishwasher'... Indeed, I find it a wonderful place to hide all the detritus of meal prep and consumption and now with Covid really feel that the dishes are as clean as they can be. We've always bought Indesit and find the loading/unloading/capacity/cleansing very satisfactory - better than others tried elsewhere... A regular cleaning cycle is important as per instructions. There is the occasional panic when the cycle fails if something poking through stops the whirlies going round so I cannot imagine doing without one..

Love my dishwasher having grown up as the only girl so therefore the dishwasher. Need to rinse egg off before wash or it sort of bakes on and don’t let glass edges touch one another but ENJOY

I used to buy the expensive tablets, Fairy Platinum and suchlike (only when on offer), but when the Lidl ones were half price I decided to try them and find them no different, so happily buying them now, and saving loads!

Tuck cup handles in towards the middle when you stack it to avoid chipping them. Clean filters regularly and, depending on what sort of rubber seals it has, clean them regularly maybe even removing them for a wash. I love my dishwasher, if I had space I'd have two.

We have had a dishwasher for about ten years now - wouldn't want to be without it. But - I realised that I never sing out loud now - always did whilst washing up by hand. All those old songs heard from grandmother/mother no longer heard in this house ?

I also put plastic toys and the panels from my cooker hood through the dishwasher. Proper dishcloths can be sterilised in there too.

I am a fan of Lidl tablets.

Don’t wash anything aluminium such as pans, they loose their lustre. Everything else seems fine

fevertree, re time of cycles. I got my new slimline dishwasher when I moved a few months back. Does not get much use, as I live by myself and find it less faff to wash up once a day in the sink, but do like dw for when I have company.

Tried it on the ECO programme, thinking this was a good idea. Took nearly three hours!!! - I thought the machine was broken as it went on and on. Have not used that programme since. Do on lowest heat level and it is all done and finish in less than an hour.

My last dishwasher was a full size one, and I thought I was being clever in buying a more expensive one, and the baskets could have the tines folded down or put up. Once of the catches for these in the lower basket broke, causing problems as I could not then leave the tines up, meaning difficult to put in many plates or dishes. This was not repairable, and when I enquired about replacing the basket (it was only p=moulded plastic) I was quoted by the manufacturers over a hundred pounds (and this was several years ago). Was careful this time to purchase a machine with fixed tines.