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Most people buy dishwasher salt in 1 or 2 kg boxes, which means another trip to the shop every few months. If you run a busy household dishwasher, a commercial dishwasher, or a water softener as well, a proper bag of salt is simply easier. Our dishwasher salt is high purity granular salt in 10 kg and 25 kg bags, the same salt that goes into granular water softeners, so one delivery covers both.
Dishwasher salt keeps your dishwasher's built-in water softener working. Inside the machine sits a small ion exchanger that removes the calcium and magnesium from hard water before it reaches your plates. Over time that exchanger fills up with minerals, and salt is what cleans it out again. Without salt the softener stops working, and hard water leaves white spots, cloudy glasses and limescale on the heating element and spray arms.
That matters in most of England, especially the south and east, where the water is hard. In soft water areas you may need little or no salt at all. Your water supplier can tell you the hardness for your postcode.
Use coarse, pure salt that is made for the job. Granular dishwasher salt dissolves slowly and evenly and contains no additives, so it will not clog the softener.
Wondering whether it works the other way round? We explain it in can you use dishwasher salt in a water softener.
The salt compartment sits in the bottom of the dishwasher, under the lower basket, behind a screw cap. Take the basket out, unscrew the cap and pour the salt in, ideally with a funnel so none spills.
Refill whenever the salt warning light or symbol on your dishwasher comes on. How often that happens depends on how hard your water is and how often you run the machine. In a hard water area with daily use, that can be every month or so. Make sure the water hardness setting on your dishwasher matches your local water, otherwise it uses too much or too little salt.
Pubs, restaurants, cafés, care homes and offices run their dishwashers many times a day, so they get through salt quickly. Commercial dishwasher salt in 25 kg bags keeps you stocked for months and saves buying small boxes at retail prices. Need several bags at once? Order multiple bags in one go and we deliver them together. Lead times and kerbside delivery are explained on our delivery page.
Keep the bag closed and dry, off a bare concrete floor. Salt draws moisture from damp air and cakes together. Caked salt still works once you break it up, but dry salt pours much more easily into the compartment. For more about salt around the house, read our guide to dishwasher and food salt.
In a hard water area, yes. All-in-one tablets contain some softening agents, but not enough for hard water. Separate salt keeps the built-in softener working properly and prevents limescale and cloudy glasses.
No. Table salt is too fine and often contains anti-caking agents or iodine. It can clog the softener and damage the dishwasher. Always use coarse, pure dishwasher salt.
Granular water softener salt is, tablet salt is not. High purity granular salt works in both a granular water softener and a dishwasher. Tablets are too large for the salt compartment of a dishwasher.
That is completely normal. The compartment always stays filled with water, because the salt dissolves in it to make the brine that cleans the softener. Just pour the salt straight in.
For a typical household, well over a year. A full compartment takes around 1 to 2 kg, and how often you refill depends on your water hardness and how often you run the dishwasher.
In the salt compartment at the bottom of the dishwasher, under the lower basket. Unscrew the cap, pour the salt in until it reaches the rim, and screw the cap back on firmly.
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