Is it ironic that they sell dishwasher cleaners?

I am surprised and flabbergasted that the soap manufacturers can successfully market and sell products called dishwasher cleaner. Not the powders that we need to be used in the machine to wash dishes but the products designed and marketed to apparently clean the machines inner workings.

Dishwashers by there very nature are subject to the cleaning action of some pretty powerful and caustic cleaning agents and hot water when in normal use washing dishes and pots and if IMO if this doesn’t dislodge grime from within the machines workings then I fail to see how a specific cleaning product will fair any better.

Is it simply clever marketing or the ‘fool and their money’ syndrome?

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C’mon Choice, do a test. Seems logical that a machine that cleans can clean itself. There isn’t a product to clean clothes washing machines - is there?? Maybe spoke too soon there.

@glenntee Yes there is .It is called Rubbedin and you can get it at most Coles New worlds . A cleaner for the cleaner hey :):grinning: I’ve never used it . Don’t know if it works or not . Maybe Choice could run a test on it . I stick to Bi-carb and white vinegar . Keeps the washing machine very clean and fresh .

Yes there are products to clean washing machines!

As a broad, general sweeping statement, rinsing is rarely 100% effective all the time every time although it comes very close. Depending on water hardness you could get lime scale buildup. The cleaners are meant to dissolve light scum buildup so it rinses off the plastics/metals. Some washing machine manufacturers (LG for one) address lime scale in their owners manuals citing recommended products that are not available in Australia ( ie Calgon) nor are water softener additives common. Washing machines also have filters that are often overlooked for many months and if they accumulate lint and never dry, they can cause a musty odour that can be difficult to eradicate (but is usually addressed by just cleaning the filter).

Dishwasher cleaners will often help with odours caused from food and fatty buildup in the filter and that cling to the insides of hoses and pump parts.

http://www.productreview.com.au/p/finish-dishwasher-cleaner-intensive-clean-and-care.html is unscientific and buyers satisfaction is all over the place.

It would be interesting for CHOICE to report if these products do what they claim or are products looking for gullible customers. After all, we can trust marketeers to always steer us right - to their products.

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Agreed, seems like pure marketing.

Many years ago the Amway dealer insisted that my washing machine had to be ‘cleaned’ of all the residue of inferior detergents that I had been using over the years that would have been rusting out my machine, building up unhygienic gunk etc. Just washing a load of clothes with it wouldn’t work. He recommended that I run the highest water level and longest cycle with only Amway detergent in it. He went on to denigrate Choice (who hadn’t rated an Amway product at the top of a recent test) as communists who had not used it according to their directions and were hell bent on besmirching their good name, and besides, they had a monopoly on the highest performing product in every range they offered. That did it for me. Apart from cleaning out the lint filter, wiping over the innards, flushing the hose and pulling dead frogs out of the pump - my washing machine is still “unclean”. It gave me over 20 years service, and I gave it away reluctantly, but I had married a man with about 5 in various states of repair.

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Hey @glenntee

I periodically (about 6 monthly) use CLR (& similar types of products) to clean out our washing machine.

Agree.

The only thing I can see being an issue (could build up) in the long term is raw eggs from bowls etc which is cooked within the internal workings of the dishwasher…cooked eggs are highly resistant to dishwasher cleaning agents.

I would also expect that eggs would also be highly resistant to dishwasher cleaning agents.

If a dishwasher is moist and kept closed, it will build up odours as microbes break down residues which may be left in the water or screens within the dishwasher. Such odours can be overcome by running the dishwasher.

i suspect that the cleaver marketing is based on users smelling odours from low use/door kepy closed and found a way to onsell ‘new’ products to consumers.

I would never use a cleaner in a dishwasher as it would never be effective as a hot water and dishwasher powder run.

Washing machines are different as most washes are at room temperature (cold) and additives/fillers to washing powder can precipitate out in cold water/build up when dried on a surface. I had heard the problem is less now that less fillers are added to washing powder concentrates (since powder volumes were halved a number of years ago).

An easy solution if worried about this is to run hot wash ever so often with an acid (say vinegar). Such should dissolve any residues.

Like @zackarii, we have a F&P top loading washing machine which is about 14 years old, never done a special clean cycle or used a special cleaning agent and the washing machine still works fine. The discharge pipes also show no sign of calcification/residue build up which they should if there was a problem.

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If you own a Fisher Paykel washine machine long enough you will see that they build up a pong from sludge and water collection that machine cleaners and hot water will actually remove.