I recent heard that filling the rinse aid compartment in your dishwasher
is an inexpensive alternative to using rinse aid. Has anyone out
there ever tried this? Does it work? Any concerns about the vinegar
harming the dishwasher components?

Mickey Zalusky wrote in
:

I recent heard that filling the rinse aid compartment in your
dishwasher
is an inexpensive alternative to using rinse aid. Has anyone out
there ever tried this? Does it work? Any concerns about the vinegar
harming the dishwasher components?



It might be worth an experiment. Rinse-aid and vinegar would certainly
work from different principles. The Rinse-aid makes water "wetter" and
causes it to drain off the dishes/glasses more completely, minimizing or
eliminating droplets. Vinegar would not do this, but it would help
minimize spotting caused by hard water deposits. At least one of the
rinse-aids, JetDry, now offers a version that contains vinegar,
presumably to hit the spotting from both angles.

The small amount of vinegar that you might dispense into the machine
should not cause a problem. Dishwasher "cleaners" contain far stronger
acid in them and apparently do no damage.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

Mickey Zalusky wrote:

I recent heard that filling the rinse aid compartment in your dishwasher
is an inexpensive alternative to using rinse aid. Has anyone out there
ever tried this? Does it work? Any concerns about the vinegar harming
the dishwasher components?


Believe it or not, I tried it in my dishwasher. I live in an extremely
hard water area and had a lot of problems with getting the dishes streak
free. The vinegar in the rinse aid dispenser did not really help. I
think that there was not enough dispensed to make a difference. Your
water might not be as hard and it might work fine for you. It won't
hurt the components of the dishwasher. I used to throw in a quarter-cup
of vinegar into the final rinse and then everything was beautiful.

I have switched to the Cascade "2 in 1 Action Pacs" that have (I think)
Dawn detergent in the "bubble". They get everything cleaner and better
looking than anything else ever has. I use one and run a "normal" cycle
with Jet Dry in the dispenser. I don't really care if they cost more as
long as my dishes look good enough to use without my baby sitting the
dishwasher and throwing vinegar into the final rinse.

I hope this helps a bit.

LaUna

Bill wrote in news:BD187994.2345%
:

in article , Wayne at
wrote on 11/07/04 14:45:

Dishwasher "cleaners" contain far stronger
acid in them and apparently do no damage.


Dish washer detergents are basic not acidic.


Oops! Sorry, I misread. Yes, I did say that, and it's true. I wasn't
speaking about the dishwasher detergents. I was speaking about the
cleaners designed to actually clean the machine.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.