Hints & Tips

We all like to cram that extra cup or plate in our dishwashers to save putting it on quite as often. There are several ways you can achieve this, they are: .

• Tilting the upper basket – can enable you to get tall platters or plates in your lower basket and tall wine glasses or highball glasses in your upper. This also helps water run off.
• Accessories - there are several different accessories available that will give you greater flexibility in loading enabling you to get in extra items. Please refer to the accessories section.

Glassware can develop a cloudy texture known as etching due to the water motion of the dishwasher. There are a few things that you can do to slow this process down, they are:

• Selecting a suitable wash programme - can prolong the life of your glassware and slow the etching process down. Some dishwashers in our range highlight which programmes are suitable with an LED light to guide the user. If you have not got this feature try washing at a lower temperature for glassware, this will help.
• Using a liquid detergent – can also slow this process down. Liquid is not so abrasive as a powder or tablet detergent.
• Water Hardness – check that the water hardness is set at the right level for your area as sometimes lime scale deposits can be seen on the glassware making them appear etched

Do you have that best set of china that only comes out at special occasions? And you feel slightly apprehensive about putting it in your dishwasher; here are some tips to put your mind at rest:

• Temperature - lowering the temperature can prolong the life of your china.
• Dishwasher safe – make sure the china you are putting into your dishwasher is dishwasher safe if your china has a metallic pattern this could get worn overtime.
• Using a liquid detergent - liquid is not so abrasive as a powder or tablet detergent.

Keeping your machine in top condition will maintain the washing and drying performance. Here are just a few key tips on how to do this:

• Salt - always keep your machine toped up with salt even if using a combined tablet, this helps to regenerate the crystals that keep the water flowing through you machine.
• Rinse aid - assists in drying your crockery and improves the drying results.
• Filters - always keep your filters clean and free from food, this prevents the food re-depositing back onto your crockery. A simple rinse in warm soapy water should do it.
• Keeping the cabinet clean - can also aid in the wash performance. If the cabinet is not cleaned regularly grease can build up on the internal walls.

Using a dishwasher cleaner removes this. If you have a model with a cutlery tray the detergent bottle can be positioned between the fixed cutlery spikes on the right hand side of your bottom basket for cleaning.

When stood in the supermarket in front of the detergent isle in can seem a bit of a 'mine field'. Here are some guidelines to help you select:

• Liquid detergent – is best for fine china and glassware and anything considered delicate. As liquid detergent is not so abrasive as a powder.
• Powder detergent - powder is good for normal to heavy soiled items that are being washed on a hotter wash.
• Combined tablets – make dosing easy but you still need to add salt into your machine to clean the crystals through and keep the water flowing freely

Using a dishwasher cleaner removes this. If you have a model with a cutlery tray the detergent bottle can be positioned between the fixed cutlery spikes on the right hand side of your bottom basket for cleaning.

Silver and stainless steel need different types of care and when stainless steel and silver come into direct contact with each other it creates a tarnish effect. Here are a few tips to keep your cutlery looking good:

• When washing silver in a dishwasher – you will still need to polish your silver periodically to keep it looking good. Some polishes can react in a dishwasher with the detergents. You would need to find one that is dishwasher compatible.
• When washing a mixed load - of stainless steel and silver this can be achieved in the cutlery tray models making sure you leave a space between the cutlery to avoid the two contacting and creating the tarnish effect.

If we have bought a machine we want it to do the job that we bought it to do. Here are some tips to get the best performance from your machine:

• Using the correct detergent – for the right level of soiling will help. If you have a heavy soiled load then a powder or combined tablet gives better results as it is more abrasive. Using a liquid detergent on lightly soiled or delicate items will give you better long-term results.
• Dried on food particles – makes your dishwasher work a lot harder and if washing at a low temperature the dishwasher may not achieve the required results. Running a pre wash programme will help and reduce dishwasher odours.