5 ms·

"It's not common in the United States." If US folks are looking for this feature, it can be found on higher end Bosch dishwashers in the US. I have very hard

"It's not common in the United States." If US folks are looking for this feature, it can be found on higher end Bosch dishwashers in the US. I have very hard water and a Bosch benchmark series. The water softener makes a huge difference. I don't want a whole-house softener because I don't enjoy the feel of softened water in the shower.

pfdietz 4y ago
We had a Bosch dishwasher with a built-in water softener when we lived in Lake in the Hills, IL, a suburb of Chicago. The municipal water there (from wells) was extremely hard and it made a big difference. We now have a Bosch dishwasher in another house in NY state. The water is not hard (it's from one of the Finger Lakes), and the dishwasher does not have a softener, but we like the brand. After reading this story we looked up how to tweak the rinse aid dispenser and turned it down from "5" to "1".
yupis 4y ago
Why don't you like the softener water? I thought it was better for the skin.
- b112 4y ago
  It's easier to rinse soap off with hard water.
- throwaway09223 4y ago
  Softened water feels slimy to me - similar to seawater. I actually do have a whole-house softener which came with my house. I installed a bypass valve so it does not feed the pipes in my home.
  - D13Fd 4y ago
    It may be over-softening. Our water felt slimy until we replaced our old unit. The new unit uses way less salt (at least 10x less) and the water feels normal.
    - hedora 4y ago
      I believe the old ones had an adjustment, but I can confirm new units definitely do. We hardly use any salt at all.
Vrondi 4y ago
Everyone I've ever known with water hard enough to be a bother just installs a whole-house water softener, so all the water inside the house is already softened. Seems inefficient to soften only the dishwasher when a whole house system is pretty cheap.
- wtetzner 4y ago
  How could it be less efficient to soften less water?

pfdietz 4y ago

We had a Bosch dishwasher with a built-in water softener when we lived in Lake in the Hills, IL, a suburb of Chicago. The municipal water there (from wells) was extremely hard and it made a big difference. We now have a Bosch dishwasher in another house in NY state. The water is not hard (it's from one of the Finger Lakes), and the dishwasher does not have a softener, but we like the brand. After reading this story we looked up how to tweak the rinse aid dispenser and turned it down from "5" to "1".

yupis 4y ago

Why don't you like the softener water? I thought it was better for the skin.

b112 4y ago
It's easier to rinse soap off with hard water.
throwaway09223 4y ago
Softened water feels slimy to me - similar to seawater. I actually do have a whole-house softener which came with my house. I installed a bypass valve so it does not feed the pipes in my home.
- D13Fd 4y ago
  It may be over-softening. Our water felt slimy until we replaced our old unit. The new unit uses way less salt (at least 10x less) and the water feels normal.
  - hedora 4y ago
    I believe the old ones had an adjustment, but I can confirm new units definitely do. We hardly use any salt at all.

Vrondi 4y ago

Everyone I've ever known with water hard enough to be a bother just installs a whole-house water softener, so all the water inside the house is already softened. Seems inefficient to soften only the dishwasher when a whole house system is pretty cheap.

wtetzner 4y ago
How could it be less efficient to soften less water?