Dishwasher Detergent Blues....

[rolls_rapide]

"...we can't plumb a DW to the hot feed as the softe

He is blethering.

A dishwasher with its own softener can be plumbed into the hot water, provided that the water temperature does not exceed 60°C. So says Bosch in the user manual, and a few others also, Miele I think too.

 

[mikeklondon]

Early UK Dishwashers

Our hot water is a bit above 60c the boilers set to 76c, so it may be a problem. I can remember early DW's over here with out water softeners and they did not work that well, I cant remember if they used rise aid or not but you had to pre wash 1st and polish when you unloaded to remove the film and spots but London has very hard water. Our early machines only had one rota in the base as well so if you washed pots in the lower rack it would not wash the load in the top rack so most people washed the pots by hand and put large plates ect in the lower and cups small plates in the top. It was hard to get a real DW here with WS and 2/3 rota's until the very late 1960's

 

[bwoods]

water softeners are common

When I lived in Ohio, the city water in my town had a hardness level of about 23 grains/gallon. My parents house was built-in 1954 and they had a softener installed as soon aas construction was completed.. My aunt and uncle, who lived nearby, had a softener installed in 1950. Most houses in the neighborhood had a central water softener.

So they were common in the 1950's (at least in Ohio) in hard water areas. It makes little sense to by a dishwasher with a softener and have calcium buildup in your hot water tank, bathtub, sinks, faucets, pipes.

I think that's why, in the U.S. dishwashers with softeners are not generally marketed. Why spend the extra money had have this ability on your dishwasher, for with probably the same expenditure, when you could have your whole house supplied with softened water and have clean fixtures, clean appliances and much cleaner laundry.

 

[magic_clean]

Whole house

water softening makes the most sense of course. Who would not want the benefits of softened water? However, there are many situations where a plumbed in water softener is impossible due to the construction of the home. I.E. multi-family homes, condominiums, townhouses etc.