"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
...
This is why DW tablets with "salt action" don't make much sense.

This is marketing speak, as they believe that the general populace is too
thick to realise how it works.

The tablets contain phosphates that attempt to reduce the worst effects of
hard water. However, they prefer to call this "salt action", so that
people equate it with putting salt in the softener. Of course, it can't be
anywhere near as effective as a proper ion-exchange softener, so you
should continue to put salt in the chamber.

An ex-business associate of mine is a chemical engineer for a major
cosmetics company. Being the kind chap that he is he explained all the
ingredients in all the "soapy" products - including the science of
dishwashers. He buys the cheapest dishwasher tablets you can get - and if
it's a particularly nasty load just puts a squirt of fairy liquid in the
base of the machine (the least foaming variety he can lay his hands on) to
act as the pre-treatment. Apparently this is effectively all the
"powerball" and all the other great inventions are - plus it invariably also
leaves the dishes with more of a hand washed finish on the glassware than
just a dishwasher tablet on it's own* In reality this is what the new fairy
tablets are - they have a reduced foaming mix of fairy liquid in the capsule
too - they work quite well IME but are firghtfully expensive so once the
ones that we got cheap when they were introduced run out it'll be back to
cheap tablets and a suirt of fairy

Cheers
dan.

* Sure you know what I mean - I always find the surface of glass that has
been washing in the sink with normal washing up liquid is smooth - whereas
dishwasher glass is dry and "rough".