Like a pro: tips for the first 100 days

For good results, your dishwasher needs soft water with low amounts of lime to prevent spots of white lime scale appearing on utensils and inhibit glass corrosion. That’s why it’s important to determine the water hardness before using your dishwasher for the first time. Use the water hardness test strips that come with your new dishwasher. You’ll find them attached to the user manual. Wet the test strip with tap water for a second and shake off any excess water. After about a minute, you’ll see how hard your tap water is.

Once you’ve determined the hardness of your tap water, adjust your dishwasher’s internal water-softening system as required. You’ll find the instructions for this in your user manual together with a water-hardness table showing the necessary settings.

For the water softening system to function properly, it needs dishwasher salt. To add salt, undo the screw cap and fill the salt dispenser with water (only required when using your dishwasher for the first time). Then pour in the salt using a funnel until it is full and the water runs out. Screw the cap back on and turn the dishwasher on or run a cleaning programme to ensure that salt overflow is immediately washed away. Never fill the salt dispenser with detergent as this can damage the water softening system.

To give you stain-free utensils and clear glasses, your dishwasher needs rinse aid. Open the rinse-aid dispenser by pressing and lifting the plate on the cover. Then, carefully pour the rinse aid to the max line. Mark the filler opening and close the cover until it clicks shut. To avoid excessive foam during the next rinse cycle, remove any rinse aid that has spilt over with a cloth.

You can use tablets, powder or liquid dishwasher detergent in your appliance, but never washing-up liquid. The detergent dose should always be individually adjusted depending on how soiled the dishes and pans are. The graduated detergent dispenser helps you to add the correct amount.

If you’re using combined tabs such as 3-in- 1, 4-in-1 or 5-in-1, bear in mind that these products contain not only the detergent but also rinse-aid, salt replacement substances and additional components such as glass protection or stainless steel cleaner. These combination detergents usually only work up to a water hardness of 21°dH. If your water hardness is higher, you’ll need to add salt and rinse aid.

Once you’ve followed these five steps, run a hot wash without loading the dishwasher. When the wash is finished, your kitchen helper is ready for its first load.