this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2025
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As someone who doesn't watch this guy, what's the TL;DR?
Purging cold water from the pipes to your dishwasher with hot water before using it (by running the kitchen faucet on hot) can dramatically increase cleaning efficiency (Edit: though depending on if your dishwasher preheats the pre-rinse water with the heating element, may be a waste of water).
Powder detergent is better than pods because it allows you to put detergent in the pre-rinse cycle, and avoids adding microplastics to the water supply (the pods are contained in a dissolveable plastic).
The different modes on a washer can dramatically change its behavior and effectiveness (but seems to use a lot more water to do so).
I really wish powder detergent worked with the fucking rock hard water we have here, but it creates a godawful crust on everything on the first wash. I just use an enzyme based liquid detergent instead, and it works perfectly well if I otherwise follow the same steps he recommends.
I also have hard water where I live, and I've found that leaving a cup (or two, if it's really bad) right-side up in the top rack and filling them with white vinegar before a wash will completely prevent any mineral buildup from forming in the load, as the acidity in the vinegar allows the minerals to dissolve into the water.
(if your water is only kinda hard, you can try only adding vinegar every second or third load, once you notice the mineral build-up. Even if you're in a really hard-water area, worth experimenting with how much you really need).
I’ll have to give that a try! I use citric acid for cleaning cycles, but vinegar is cheaper.
Acid no bueno for the aluminum basket spindles on all modern washers. Better off sending in softened water.
Citric acid is the primary ingredient in most dishwasher cleaners. Of course, not a good idea to use it in every load. However, my DW manufacture suggests up to 10% citric acid solution as an alternative to rinse aid.
I haven’t seen any aluminum in a dishwasher, and I have noted that if I send any aluminum through it tarnishes like crazy and pits on repeat offenses. I don’t think that hot caustic water is any environment in which to design an aluminum part.
That said, again, dishwasher detergent is basic, so you’re right in that adding acid probably won’t improve the efficacy of the wash cycle.
Though I can't confirm this, I suspect that the vinegar is mostly removed with the the pre-rinse water, which may negate or disrupt an added pre-rinse detergent, but should be mostly gone by the main wash to not effect the main load of detergent released at that time.
The spindle that supports the basket in washers is made of unprotected aluminum and designed to fail at about seven years of use. On Bosch models, they seal this in so it cannot be fixed.
Any sources on that?
Is there a way to do that with a sink hookup that also allows my sink hookup dishwasher to attach to it? I rent and don’t have access to the water heater, or the OK to mess with the guts of the sink, or open up a wall or anything like that.
Either way it’s not a big deal, worst case scenario I keep doing what’s been working fine.
https://www.mcmaster.com/product/8986T16
You could try something like that, then you would have to also pick some fittings to match whatever your dishwasher supply line uses. You would also need another short hose between the filter housing and your dishwasher. I think you could recharge the cartridge by soaking it in salt water occasionally, but otherwise they sell replacement cartridges.
Sweet! I dunno if it’ll fit, but I’ll look into it.
Have you tried dishwashing salt?
I have a dishwasher with a water softener, but have no idea where to buy the salt for it. (and I ain't looking on Amazon)
Lowe's
Most grocery stores have it where I live.
Have you varied the dosage? It may take some effort to overcome the chemistry. My DW manufacturer suggests as an alternative to rinse aid using a solution with no more than 10% citric acid, which may be an option.
Another option is to keep an eye out for used European style dishwashers; they often have softeners built in with a salt reservoir in the base. That assumes you can change the dishwasher which you may not be able to.
He pinned a comment in the Connextras video pointing out that if you’ve have a decent dishwasher (yeah, I know he says any dishwasher works, but I’m an appliance elitist), running the water beforehand is probably a waste of resources as they have heaters in them. He alludes to this in the Connextras video too, noting that the water temp was rising.
I have solar water panels on my roof so hot water costs nothing except just the water. Having the machine warm up cold water would cost electrical power. Glad to see this confirmed so I don't feel as nerdy about it.
Ah well in that case, definitely.
Have you considered a recirculating pump?
That would have been nice, but our plumbing doesn't allow it. We would have to put in return pipes and that means tearing up the walls. Hard no, sadly.
Grundfos makes a valve that bridges hot and cold and automatically opens when the hot side is cool. It means your cold isn’t always cold and if your hot side isn’t potable it’s a problem, but might be a possibility. I use one in my system, because with on demand hot water I was running gallons down the drain waiting for hot water. https://www.amazon.co.uk/595926-Valve-grundfos-Recirculating-Bypass/dp/B0DN1D9P5B
I don't fully understand how this works. The pump and valve are used to circulate hot water though the hot pipe and back through the cold pipe.
But... doesn't that mean you never have cold water? Because the cold pipe is by definition also hot now?
It seems as if this just shifts the problem from "wasting hot" to "wasting cold" to get the water you want.
Not the original person but I’ve looked into these. The answer is yes. The draw back to that type of system is if you want plain cold water then you’ll need to get through the luke warm water first.
Most houses have many loops of water pipes. So you’d want to put the valve somewhere you desire hot water more than cold. I find bathrooms would be more useful than the kitchen. Less wasted water when hopping in the shower, washing hands, or if you have a bidet (even just a cheap cold water one it would now be warm for awhile). In a kitchen it’s more ambiguous. I fill pots with cold water for cooking more than I probably want hot water for the dishwasher. Having not had a system like this personally I’m not sure if filling up a pot of water getting an initial charge of warm would really be noticeable though.
Yeah it’s confusing.
When the hot side of the valve is cold, the valve opens. When it’s hot, it closes. The pump pushes the cold water on the hot side through until warm water reaches the valve, then it closes, and the pump can just keep going without moving any water. As the water at the valve cools down again, the valve opens again.
With an aerator on the tap it’s not much more than a second of warm water so the wasted water isn’t really much volume at all - 100mL vs several litres. I also have a separate drinking water tap which is really my only cold water application so a bit of water at 30° instead of 18° doesn’t bother me.
Thank you Flax, this was a very useful explanation! I will look into it and figure whether I can install it in a suitable place in my bathroom.
I knew the pods were sus. It's dissolveable plastic around them? Fucking excellent idea, right after leaded gas!
Yeah but pods are delicious.
Thanks ProdigalFrog! Good to know. I switched to pods a while back since they seemed to work better, but going on the conversation I may have to try the vinegar method.