It might seem like you’re saving money by using cheaper dish soap in a dishwasher instead of the more costly special dishwasher detergent. But the two aren’t interchangeable, even if you use a small amount of dish soap to combat the suds. Dish soap is designed to create a significant amount of suds which is great for hand washing allowing you to see when you need to add more soap and helping you do some of the dish cleaning. But dish soap used in an automatic dishwasher means that because of the water pressure and enclosed space, there will be too much suds action that can spill from your dishwasher right to the floor. You might even have to call in the appliance repair service in San Diego County. Make sure you use a cleaner that is formulated for an automatic dishwasher so it doesn’t create excessive suds. Excessive suds won’t make the dishes cleaner in a dishwasher. Too many suds will create a residue that will need to be washed off, which means that you’ll need to run the dishes through another cycle that might waste water and energy. The same holds true for using dishwasher soap for hand washing. Dishwasher soap is designed to work with an automatic dishwasher and when used with hand washing, will likely leave a film over the dishes that will need to be washed off again. Dishwasher soap used for hand washing can often make the dishes more slippery because of the coating it leaves behind, increasing the chance of dropping dishes or cutlery, and breaking them or making them dirty again.

Dish Soap in the Dishwasher

So you’ve used some hand-washing dish soap within the dishwasher. Despite the mess it may have created, this is not the end of the world. You have not destroyed your dishwasher. You have, however, created some additional work for yourself. It’s important to eliminate the suds within your dishwasher that came up due to using the dish soap. Often this requires more than simply running the dishwasher again. Running the dishwasher again may reactivate the suds creating another mess. Running the dishwasher several times may get rid of the soap eventually, but is a waste of time, money and water. You may need to completely clean your dishwasher before you use it again. If you have a wet-dry vacuum, try to suction up waters and suds. If you don’t have a vacuum, you’ll need to remove as much suds and soap using a bucket and rags or old towels. Dry the dishwasher inside once you’ve removed all the suds and washed the soap dispenser. On the bottom of the dishwasher, add half a cup of vinegar and a thick layer of salt to the help get rid of any remaining suds. Start the dishwasher with this mixture until the soapy residue has dissolved. Occasionally accidentally putting dish soap in your dishwasher isn’t going to cause your unit damage. However, if you do this often enough, the dish soap may stick to the inside of your dishwasher potentially causing corrosion that may not be easy to find and fix before permanent damage is done. Contact us:

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