Fuck it, do both; clean dishes
That’s what you’re supposed to do!
The Technology Connections content everybody is talking about covers it. The main wash’s detergent goes into the little compartment, which is closed, then a little extra goes on top to help with the pre-rinse.
That is the dumbest thing about pods. If you want to use your dishwasher “correctly” with detergent in both the pre-rinse and the main wash cycle, you need to use two pods for one load of dishes!
Either that or open & divide the pods I guess, but then you aren’t really using “pods” are you, lol.
Dawn dishwasher shop would get hard reading your comment.
yes, double your consumption for no reason
It’s what you’re supposed to do though, you need soap for the prewash otherwise it does nothing.
Does nothing is a bit of an overstatement - I agree that it’s working non-optimally without detergent in the prewash-cycle.
Don’t do it with pods though that’s an insane amount of waste
True, I’m thinking about the powder or liquid
The pods themselves are a waste. Just get liquid or powder detergent. It’s cheaper and does the job just as well (and possibly even better depending on the dishwasher)
Just use powder. Put some in the compartment and a little into the basin/on the door. Now your pre-wash cycle is more effective than ever! Also, powder is cheaper most of the time. And also convenient - no individually wrapped pods!
And next we’ll tell you what the little hatch labeled “rinse aid” is for.
In other news, major manufacturers are starting to ship appliances now without including any printed instructions. I can see that it’s just as well; it’s clear that nobody would read them anyway.
yes, please, stick a QR code on it which leads to the manual in a PDF format. Why do I get a book in 20 languages instead? What century is this?
Meanwhile, hear I am still lamenting that they no longer come with circuit diagrams.
Surprisingly, a lot of them do. Check behind the toe kick or in a lot of machines, inside the control panel cover.
Really cheap appliances that are still entirely electromechanical might come with complete schematics, but I’ve yet to encounter an electronic one that does (where “complete” means “including the details of the PCB, not just treating it as a black-box component”).
You’ll never find a schematic of the PCB because the manufacturer not only treats it as a black box, but it will also be incessantly revised mid-production run by their OEM’s to cut costs every time a component comes out that’s 2 cents cheaper.
I understand that, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
I do. And more importantly, I judge others by whether they do or not. Any manufacturer who doesn’t ship a manual will get permabanned by me.
RTFM
Just RTM
Then RATM
FYIWDWYTM
Fucking dishwasher!
Who cares if you get the soap started right at the beginning of the wash or just after? It obviously doesn’t matter. Just stop using those idiotic tide pods\detergent tablets and use regular powder detergent instead. Powder will always work much better because physics.
There are drain cycles. You just drained away the soap in the prewash and now there’s no soap for the actual wash.
obligatory Technology Connections video on dishwashers
Was gonna say, someone’s not subscribed to Dishwasher and Christmas Lights Rants.
You forgot about the heat pumps! The man LOVES his heat pumps!
Chest freezers
Really anything that involves a bi-metallic strip.
Anything that the budget says can be bought in pairs.
Through the magic of buying two of them…
They’re dope as hell. I got one on my dryer. Shit works fine and uses so much less energy.
For good reason. I don’t live in the family home anymore, but last winter when I did move back in for a while, I had approximately half as much work to do keeping the damn place warm, thanks to the heat pump. But I mean sure, I could also just buy one of those fancy newer automatic furnaces to replace the old furnace, and there’d be no work at all! Except that costs at least 5x as much as I paid for a single air to air heat pump that also makes summers bearable.
All this for a relatively modest cost in terms of electricity because yo what the hell, heat pumps are more than 100% efficient when heating. It seems like we hacked physics, honestly.
My parents have a heat pump and they hate it. It can either provide hot water or heating, but not both at the same time. If someone has just had a shower then the heating switches off for hours while it refills the hot water tank. Bullshit in winter.
How big is their accumulation tank? Or did they skimp on getting one?
Well since nobody else is giving away the spoiler on the 6 hours of technology connections videos( didn’t know there was a third now), it’s to fill the little compartment with the dishwasher manufacturers(not the detergent bottles) recommended amount of detergent and to also add a little bit in the bottom of the dishwasher too to help that pre rinse cycle before the main cycle begins.
I love watching his videos but not everybody does. To those people, you’re welcome
Thank you. I got about 1/3 through, checked to see if it was almost over, and proceeded to close the tab.
Note that this is only true when not using eco mode, which opens the door right away so you can just chuck the tablet in like a caveman. Mine happens to work well enough in eco mode and the little door tends to get stuck on things, so that’s what I usually do.
If your (modern) dishwasher isn’t cleaning properly in eco mode, either you have very hard water, or you should clean the filter more often.
If you don’t remember when the last time you cleaned the filter is, go clean it now.
As Tech Connections points out, knowing what your water is like is crucial.
I use powdered detergent - 1 Tablespoon in the wash door, one in the prewash. This is about 1/3 of what I’m told to use.
I pretty much trust Technology Connections and their advice is to use the machine’s smart setting (or whatever it’s called on your brand) as the main job of eco is to score well on water and energy usage. Mine has “6th sense” as its second program which is the only program that does a pre-wash
Eco on my machine doesn’t dry the dishes well. We have pretty soft water
Ah, mine straight up doesn’t have a smart setting, but eco mode works for me so I’m using that, no need to waste water and electricity if it works…
Technology connections would like to know your location
Such a good episode! Or…entry into his YouTube series? Idk what to call it. Just “video” seems wrong.
One of the most useful videos on YouTube that EVERYONE in the world should watch.
- The money saved. I bought a pack of tablets for 10$ a month, now its 15$ a year for the powder. That’s 6.300$ saved in a lifetime
- The amount of waste reduced since there is no individual packaging of the tablets
- The dishes are cleaner than ever
- NO downsides. It’s less work to pour some powder than it is to grab a tablet. Well at least almost no downside: It’s hard to find powder, there are like 15 different tablets in the supermarket and maybe 1 package of powder.
Still, this video improved my dishwasher-life soooo much.
I watched the video and was not really convinced
- 5€ pack of tablets lasts about 3 months for me
- The tablets I buy don’t have a wrapper. They are covered in a clear, plastic like material that dissolve in water
- Can’t comment on this
- Tablets are zero effort compared to powder
- Powder is still cheaper. Just less cheap for you since you probably don’t use your dishwasher that much, but it’s cheaper
- The dissolved material is still waste material, the waste is just in the sewage and not in your bin
- I just add this point because of the formatting
- This is subjective, but I think it’s slightly less work. You either have to make sure your hands are dry to not dissolve the wrapper or you have to throw away the wrapper. Either way it’s not a lot of difference
Powder is objectively cheaper though.
A cheap liquid also works just fine.
That though his episode about can openers also has had improvements to my life
This is the level of understanding I’d expect from someone who thinks vibes affect modern appliances.
There are people going around TikTok and instagram suggesting you should be chucking your dish detergent in the bottom of the dishwasher and skip the little compartment.
Some people just want to watch the world burn. And everyone wants to encourage them.
For those who don’t know, that wastes the detergent if the dishwasher has a prewash cycle, which most do (eco cycles are the most likely to not have a prewash)
what’s a tiktok
Powder detergent is much better.
Unfortunately it’s getting hard to find at this point
Target has a store brand detergent that works well. But I find it’s easier to use too much with powder. Compared to gel, It’s harder to control the pour, and if you have too much it leaves a residue.
Walmart
If that fails
Amazon, tons of brands for about the same price (yeah yeah I know, Amazon)
I get one with dried goats milk to help with smells edit- this is my laundry soap I am a silly lad sometimes, but the rest applies
Yeah Walmart usually has just the one box of Cascade
I’m confused about what possible reason you could have to say “yeah yeah I know” about Amazon that doesn’t apply at least as much to Walmart.
On a related note, I would like to switch to powdered dish detergent after watching the Technology Connections video, but have stuck with liquid because Costco doesn’t carry powder.
The Bezos make the Walton’s look like good people. That’s not saying much for the Walton’s. It’s saying a lot less for the Bezos. Like grading on a curve and the class was already dogshit but then somebody else came a long and somehow scored negative points on a test.
I’ve never even heard of powdered detergent for the dishwasher. Where does it go in the machine?
Pretty much every dishwasher has a little door that opens mid cycle.
Plus a little indent for pre-wash detergent
the little compartment. and ideally a little just in the machine for the prewash.
as others noted: check the technology connections video(s)
I’m getting more and more concerned about microplastics coating the dishes afterwards: powdered detergent helps me feel better about that.
The dissolvable packets of a dishwasher detergent are very different than the forever microplastics that people are worried about. Those are designed to be durable and last while the detergent pods are made to dissolve.
That said the powder detergent is great and SO much cheaper per wash. Also you can put some in the prewash for better washing.
I agree that powdered is better and cheaper.
The microplastics issue is more contentious, and while many say it’s bad that it enters the water supply, I suspect the smallest of the particles do not wash away so well
That makes zero sense. Powder is obviously much better, but not because of microplastics.
It makes it really easy to add the tablespoon of detergent to the tub for the prewash as well as the needed dose for the dishes (which is really not much unless you have it loaded with greasy plates)
Technology Connections on YouTube has several relevant videos
The dishwasher we had when I grew up had a broken soap compartment, it wouldn’t stay closed so we would just put the soap in it and shut the door, the soap would spill all over the insides, but everything was clean when it was done.
I can only imagine what his dryer vent like.
Vent?
I read that it’s an American thing. Americans have dryer vents in the house that need to be regularly cleaned or they are a fire risk, while the rest of the world has a dryer lint compartment in the dryer, that also needs to be regularly cleaned or it’s a fire risk. FYI so that nobody gets butthurt: I don’t think either of this solution is better or worse, they are just different. This is no “muuuh America Bad Europe Good” comment.
Notable exception: dry/wash combos, they just rinse out the dryer lint with the next wash cycle
I live in North America.
My dryer has a lint trap.
My vent line needs to be cleaned regularly to clear lint.
Lint traps are not 100% effective and if you haven’t checked your dryer vent for lint recently, you should. If the heat from the dryer builds up enough, the lint can very easily start a fire.
Be safe out there folks.
Do you guys not vent your air externally?
Do you just vent the wet air back into the home?
If not you should get your dryer vent cleaned, your lint trap (which we have in ours also … ) is a first stage filter and does not catch everything.
Hope this helps you not burn your house down!
I had a dryer for a while that vented into the room. It didn’t just spew damp air though. There was a condenser and collector tank for water that had to be emptied between runs.
Oh god, Roger had okra farts again
angry Alec noises
I have a friend who does this. I tried explaining to her that she’s doing it wrong. She told me I’m wrong and she won’t discuss it further. I don’t get some people.
Most people hate being wrong, or corrected. They seem to see it as an affront to their very existence, and will often fight back tooth and nail when confronted with any evidence that the things they believe about the world might not be 100% correct.
Source: Any substantial comment thread on any social media platform, ever.
People who are readily willing to admit they’re wrong and learn why, and on the flip side be able to correct others in an educational/non-condescending way, are the best people.
I love those people.
Shut up, nerd.
/s jk <3.
She might be right, it depends on the type of the dishwasher.
It’s a shame that the dishwasher the landlord installed has a shitty soap compartment that sometimes failed to open during the wash. When I tried to take it apart to see what the issue was, I couldn’t get it back in. So now I just chuck the puck in.
My parents were really adamant about not leaving any food on plates, so it really doesn’t make a difference to me.
Same. If I use the compartment it has like a 50% success rate. So I Chuck it in and it works well enough
