Warning: This Viral Dishwasher Hack Could Void Your Warranty (or Worse) — Dish Duty

As an adult, I've lived in places with and without a dishwasher, and I have to say: I love that I have a dishwasher now. It wasn't too much of an inconvenience not to have one when I was single, but as I've added a husband and kids to the mix the number of dishes generated daily has increased exponentially. So I'm grateful that there's a machine that can help me out.

That being said: It's annoying that you have to use different soap in the dishwasher than you do to wash the dishes by hand, because that's double the kinds of soap I need to buy and keep up with. And it's so annoying to go to start the dishwasher and discover that you're out of detergent! I know it's not the world's worst problem, but still ...

According to countless stories on the internet, in a pinch you can use a tiny bit of dish soap plus baking soda as a substitute for dishwasher detergent. Seems like a pretty great idea, but I was reluctant to try it. So I reached out to Travis Robertson, knowledge manager at Sears Home Services, and Dirk Sappok, head of product development at Miele, for some professional input.

In short, both said not to do it! And here's the long version.

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