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Good dishwashing starts
with HOT water.
To get dishes clean and dry, you
need hot water. To help you get
water of the proper temperature,
your dishwasher
automatically
heats the water in the wash cycle.
For good washing
and drying,
the entering
water must be at
least 120 ° F. To prevent dish
damage,
inlet water should not
exceed 150°F.
How to test water temperature:
Higher water temperature
is
needed to dissolve
grease and
activate powder detergent.
Check your water temperature
with a candy or meat thermometer.
Turn on the hot water faucet
nearest the dishwasher.
Put the
thermometer
in a glass and let
the water run continuously
into
the glass until the temperature
stops rising. If the water
temperature
is below 120°F.,
adjust your water heater.
Helpful
hints:
If outside
temperatures
are unusually
low,
or if your water travels a long
distance
from water heater to
dishwasher,
you may need to set
your water heater's
thermostat
up.
If you have not used hot water for
some time, the water in the pipes
will be cold. Turn on the hot water
faucet at the sink and allow it to
run until the water is hot. Then
start the dishwasher.
If you've
recently
done laundry or run hot
water for showers, give your water
heater time to recover before
operating
the dishwasher.
To improve washability
if the
water is less than 120°F and you
cannot adjust your water heater:
Select a longer cycle and fill both
detergent
cups at least half-full
with detergent.
Help prevent spotting
with
a rinse agent.
A rinse agent makes water flow
off dishes quicker than usual. This
lessens
water
spotting
and
makes
drying
faster,
too.
For best dishwashing
performance,
use of a rinse agent such as JET-
DRY brand is recommended.
Rinse agents come in either liquid
or sol id form. Your dishwasher
uses the solid form.
If you can't find any rinse agent,
write:
BENCKISER
CONSUMER
PRODUCTS,
INC.
("JET DRY")
411 W. Putnam Ave.
Greenwich,
CT 06830
How to choose and use
the right
detergent.
First, use only powder or liquid
detergent
specifically
made for
use in dishwashers.
Other
types
will cause oversudsing.
Second,
check the phosphate
content. Phosphate
helps prevent
hard-water
materials
from forming
spots or fihn on your dishes. If
your water is hard (7grains
or
more), your detergent
has to work
harder. Detergents
with a higher
phosphate
level will probably
work better. If the phosphate
content
is low (8.7% or less),
you'll have to use extra detergent
with hard water.
Your water department
can
tell you how hard your water
is. So can your county extension
agent. Or your area's water
softener company.
Just call and
ask them how many "grains"
of
hardness
is in your water.
How much detergent
should
you use? That depends. Is your
water
"hard"
or "soft'"'?
With
hard
water, you need extra detergent
to
get dishes clean. With soft water,
you need less detergent.
Too much detergent
with soft
water not only wastes money, it
can be harmful. It can cause a
permanent
cloudiness
of
glassware,
called "etching."
An
outside layer of glass is etched
away! But why take a chance
when it's easy to find out the
hardness
of your water.
Keep your detergent
fresh and
dry. Under the sink isn't a good
place to store detergent. Too much
moisture.
Don't put powder
detergent into the dispenser until
you're ready to wash dishes,
either. (It won't be fresh OR dry.)
If your powder detergent
gets
old or lumpy, throw it away. It
won't wash well. Old detergent
often won't dissolve.
If you use a liquid dishwasher
detergent,
these precautions
are
not necessary
because
liquid
detergents
don't "lump"
as they
age or come in contact with water.
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