Things I learned fromt he appliance man. :)

[Deleted]

1) White is still the most popular appliance color. Followed by SS as a distance second. It was closer 10 years ago when SS was fun and new but people got sick of scrubbing fast. :)Even people with granite are choosing white..ha...I thought of you girls when he made that joke.

2) People are over "high end" and "all the options!" Apparently people get sick of figuring out how it all works, pressing 8 buttons they can't really see and having no easy fix to a computer glitch/part. They just want to hit the button and leave. He has yet to sell a fridge with a built in computer. He has had more people want to return their high tech wash machines than not. Apparently they have 28 cycles but never the one the customer really wants and only a couple are customizable.

3) It's a 1/2 internet myth that dishwasher tabs don't dissolve completely and will clog drains etc. They're fine unless your water heater is set below 120ish, then the plastic may not. He said they're actually better for dishwashers because adding too much or too little soap isn't necessarily fabulous either.

4) Vinegar and baking soda is the best dishwasher cleaner out there. Cheaper, easier, safer than the actual cleaners. A hot empty bleach cycle is best for wash machines. If you need to clean your dishwasher or washer more than every few months though, there's a problem that needs to be addressed. They both should be self cleaning to some extent.

I just thought it was interesting. I know he's the small town appliance man, but he gets out a lot, has contracts with some local home builders etc. So take his opinion FWIW. I just thought of you all this morning...lol.

[emoflamingo]

Good to know lol. The people we bought our house from said that they use so little dishwashing detergent because of the soft water (thanks to the water softener they had installed) so I bought a box of Finish and they're right - I've been using it for a solid 8 months and I run the machine daily, still have plenty lol.

[moolarkey]

To clean my dishwasher I buy a packet of real lemon kool-aid not the pre-sweetened stuff. Put it in your soap dispenser, run the dishwasher without anything in it. It will sparkle when done.

The other information is really interesting to read. My dishwasher is SS, my fridge and stove are almond (DH and DD picked out the dishwasher and installed). Not a fan of the SS.

I work in tech/IT field, whenever I replace another applicance it isn't going to be high tech. Ice dispense and water and that's as high tech as i want to go on a fridge. I don't want to figure out another tech thing when I get home - I'm all teched out by then.

[sierramist03]

I always like when repair guys are chatty you can really learn a lot from them. We learned that we shouldn't be using liquid dish washing soap with our type of water. I also love using vinegar.

We had a new fridge delivered yesterday and the guy was very talkative. I didn't realize fridgiare makes Electrolux. I already knew that whirlpool makes maytag and kitchenaid.

[Deleted]

Yeah, it was pretty cool. He's the nicest guy ever. Really easy to chat with and honest.
I should add, he did say soap was water dependent. It was more like you have an issue if it's extreme. If you add hardly any soap, or it takes 1/2 a bottle in one wash..it's probably a dishwasher issue. He just said the tabs are more of a sure bet and that's why manufacturers push them too.

It also only costs $26.00 a year to run a dishwasher that's less than 7 years old right now. Which made me feel good. Mine is on all the damn time..lol. He said the dryer was obviously the biggest energy suck.

[IIOY]

Jul 26, 2013 8:58:17 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

2) People are over "high end" and "all the options!" Apparently people get sick of figuring out how it all works, pressing 8 buttons they can't really see and having no easy fix to a computer glitch/part. They just want to hit the button and leave. He has yet to sell a fridge with a built in computer. He has had more people want to return their high tech wash machines than not. Apparently they have 28 cycles but never the one the customer really wants and only a couple are customizable.

Absolutely. We have a thousand options on our washing machine and I can't figure half of them out. As a result, I use the basics.

[emoflamingo]

Jul 26, 2013 9:42:14 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

Jul 26, 2013 9:27:45 GMT -5 moolarkey said:

To clean my dishwasher I buy a packet of real lemon kool-aid not the pre-sweetened stuff. Put it in your soap dispenser, run the dishwasher without anything in it. It will sparkle when done.

The other information is really interesting to read. My dishwasher is SS, my fridge and stove are almond (DH and DD picked out the dishwasher and installed). Not a fan of the SS.

I work in tech/IT field, whenever I replace another applicance it isn't going to be high tech. Ice dispense and water and that's as high tech as i want to go on a fridge. I don't want to figure out another tech thing when I get home - I'm all teched out by then.

Unsweetened Tang mix will do this, too. The citric acid in them helps dissolve the build-up from hard water. If you have powdered dish soap, you can actually mix the two of them together in the same container and dispense a bit of each whenever you run a load. Not only does it keep your dishwasher clean, it helps the soap do its job better, since the metal ions in hard water prevent the soap from de-greasing your dishes effectively.

This feels appropriate:

[whitemerlot]

Interesting.

I always thought I wanted stainless appliances, and have a "fingerprintless" stainless trash can and hate it. I think I will find something else when we remodel.

[IIOY]

Jul 26, 2013 13:57:06 GMT -5 whitemerlot said:

Interesting.

I always thought I wanted stainless appliances, and have a "fingerprintless" stainless trash can and hate it. I think I will find something else when we remodel.

I have a "fingerprintless" SS trash can and it is anything but. I also had a SS toilet plunger and got rid of it because it was utterly incapable of being cleaned.

[hbomdiggity]

so what is better to clean the unit - vinegar & baking soda or bleach? we have hard water and i think i need to run an empty cycle.

[Deleted]

Jul 27, 2013 0:00:32 GMT -5 hbomdiggity said:

so what is better to clean the unit - vinegar & baking soda or bleach? we have hard water and i think i need to run an empty cycle.

vinegar and water for the dishwasher.
Bleach for the wash machine.