Buying salt for my UK dishwasher

Yep. You read that correctly. Apparently, the water here has a high mineral content (in many places) and thus, you need to add salt to your dishwasher in it's built-in water softener. I've read a few posts from expats that have had to either figure this out as they found the "dishwasher salt" in the grocery store or have moved to the US with their British machine and were looked at like they were crazy when they asked for dishwasher salt. You just never know what you'll learn next as an expat somewhere!

Anyway, if you've noticed a build up of residue on crockery or your dishes look foggy, you may need to add salt to the salt reservoir. I read that you can test to see if it's calcium build up by soaking the glass in vinegar for 5 minutes (From: http://www.dishwasher-care.org.uk/best.html). If it's clear afterwards, you need to add salt. If it's still foggy, you may have another problem. How much salt do you add, and when do you add it? Well, if you're lucky, you'll have your instruction manual or be able to find and then Google your model number. Also if you're lucky, your dishwasher will have a low salt indicator light. Me? I've got a floater. Great. Time to guess.