Dishwashers are a wonderful innovation. Even if you love to be in the kitchen cooking, you likely find the experience of doing the dishes less enjoyable. Few people are gung-ho about getting in the kitchen and scrubbing the caked-on food and grime that clings stubbornly to dishes, no matter how long they have soaked. Unless cleaning is your greatest joy, then you probably love and cherish your dishwasher for all of the work and time that it saves you. 

But while a lot of people love their dishwashers, few people take the time to read the care instructions and use them properly. These appliances see a lot of wear, tear, and malfunction when you don’t do things right. Thus, if you want your dishwasher to last a long time and want to avoid spending hours in the kitchen every week scrubbing away, you need to take care instructions seriously. One question you may have if you are trying to keep your dishwasher clean and healthy is, “Can you put dish soap in a dishwasher?” 

Your Question Answered: “Can You Put Dish Soap In a Dishwasher?” 

“Can you put dish soap in the dishwasher?” is a reasonable question. After all, it’s called dish soap. Your dishwasher has dishes inside of it, and you use soap to clean it. So why not just squirt some dish soap in there and call it a day? 

Wait, not so fast. Yes, dish soap is for dishes. But it is not the same as the soap manufactured specifically for dishwashers. Regular dish soap creates a rich, thick, super-sudsy lather. This is great when are hand-washing, as you need a little extra oomph to get everything clean on your own. But your dishwasher doesn’t need that extra oomph. 

Formulas manufactured specifically for this dishwasher are designed not to suds up too much. That is because the appliance can only handle so much inside of it at once. When you put dish soap in your dishwasher, it will cause a deluge to burst from your appliance. This could result in water damage to your drywall, floor, and kitchen cabinets. So the answer to, “Can you put dish soap in the dishwasher?” is no. 

I Already Put Dish Soap In the Dishwasher! What Now? 

There’s no need to panic if you already put dish soap in the dishwasher. The good news is that you caught the problem early before a leak started without you realizing it. Now you can start doing damage control. First, stop the dishwasher. Get some towels and lay them out around your appliance. Set aside some extra towels as well. Then switch your dishwasher’s cycle to rinse to clean out the extra suds from the soap. You may experience some leaks during this stage, which is why you want the towels there. 

When you have all of the soap cleared out from your dishwasher, you’re halfway through solving the problem. Now you’ll want to run a second (or third) rinse cycle to thoroughly clean any leftover residue. It is advisable to hand-clean your appliance afterward as well. You can never be too careful once your dishwasher has had dish soap inside of it. You don’t want to have any future issues, so being as thorough as possible when the incident occurs is wise. 

Are There Other Soaps That Can’t Go In the Dishwasher? 

The only soap that you should put in the dishwasher is the formula manufactured for the appliance. You can get powders, liquids, and pods that are safe to use for your appliance. While we hope that we don’t need to say this, you should never put hand soap, body wash, shampoo, pressure washer solution, or anything else in your dishwasher. Not only are these items not safe to use for your health, but they will also wreak havoc on your appliance and cause damage to both it and the surrounding area. 

We Offer Services For Dishwashers! 

Even if you know the answer to the question, “Can you put soap in a dishwasher?” you still may have other issues with your appliance. Following care instructions is an excellent way to extend the longevity of your dishwasher and avoid problems in the future. However, nothing lasts forever. You may need repair needs as your dishwasher ages. If that’s the case, you can rely on our experts at Appliance Repair Carrollton. Contact us today to learn more about our dishwasher repair services!