logoalt Hacker News

383toast11/04/20256 repliesview on HN

summary:

The creator argues that most dishwashers are designed to use a pre-wash dose and a main wash dose of detergent, a fundamental often ignored by single-dose pods, and presents independent ASTM testing confirming the new powder matches or exceeds the performance of a leading premium pod. The video also features a detailed demonstration using temperature logging and peanut butter to stress the importance of purging cold water from the hot water supply line before running a dishwasher, particularly in North America, to ensure the water reaches the optimal enzymatic temperature needed for effective cleaning. This is further reinforced by showing how adding pre-wash detergent dramatically improves the initial cleaning phase, especially with fats and oils.


Replies

losvedir11/05/2025

This has been his stance for a long time. He has a lot of dishwasher videos for some reason!

One thing I can't get a good answer to is whether the "prewash" step is universally the case or not. I have a good Bosch dishwasher and there's no compartment for a bit of pre-wash detergent. I don't even know if my dishwasher cycle has a pre-wash step. I would assume the dishwasher manufacturer knows what's best.

The owner's manual gives advice about not pre-rinsing the dishes because the food bits actually help the wash cycle, so I'm wondering if it works differently from the two-step process in this video.

show 13 replies
suprjami11/04/2025

Thanks for the summary.

American dishwashers don't have their own heater? All dishwashers I've seen in Australia only have cold water supply.

show 12 replies
woodpanel11/05/2025

I've micro-optimized my dishwasher setup to have all my 100+ pods and other in-bulk dishwashing-chemicals stored in a compartment between my two dishwashers.

I'm also firmly in the camp of having a flat cutlery compartment at the top and not that inefficient, and uncivilized, scarring, basket in bottom section.

Until seeing that video I thought I was crazy. I've found my master.

show 1 reply
matt-attack11/08/2025

I never understood the requirement for having to preheat your pipes. The dishwasher has access to a hotline, and a drain. Why wouldn’t it just run the hot water for 60 seconds to ensure it has maximum heat. This would just be a software feature, and cost nothing on their part.

It seems so arcane for the operator to have to do this before running a cycle

show 1 reply
tmsh11/05/2025

Interestingly the Gemini summary is nowhere near as good. But when it is... how helpful will that be! So many things with a very good summary will save so much time / avoid having to dive into unless truly in need of the details.

But the quality of the summary - and maybe the ability to expand it if slightly more details are required - and the low latency with that - are all super important. In that sense, AI can potentially save a lot of time in getting the right information quickly.

show 1 reply
tguvot11/05/2025

i have miele dishwasher with detergent powder cartridge that allows dishwasher to dispense it at will. it never used during pre-wash cycle in any of the programs that dishwasher has.