Dishwasher tablet/capsule & salt advice

We have tried several, as well as powders and have settled on aldis own brand capsules.

We use the cheapest. Currently Amazon own brand. It's all the same and dishes still come out clean regardless of brand/price. Own brand salt as it's just salt. Fill it up when it's empty. Same with the rinse aid. Cheap and cheerful.
A full tablet is probably overkill for a table top dishwasher as well so if you can be bothered you could probably cut them in half. I've been splitting the tablet and putting some in the prewash compartment. (edited)

You can check your water hardness here aquacure.co.uk/kno…ap/ if it's soft you don't need salt

+1 for half a tablet, if that makes sense.

Powder is the same soap but the amount is more easily adjusted to your water hardness and how full the dishwasher is.

Tablets are just a sealed one-size-mostly-works option for those who want to devote as little thought as possible. If you're buying an unusually small dishwasher I suspect they'll contain far too much soap and won't work that well unless you're in a particularly hard water area. (edited)

For what it cost always use salt and crystal cleaner as so cheap. Cleans better and keeps machine in good condition.
We also use all in one tablets

Fairy platinum are the best, but very pricey. I used Lidl own brand these days and they are almost as good. I never rated finish, as I find they don't dissolve well. It might just be my water, as others do like them. 10p per tablet for an all in one is a good price to aim at.

If you’ve got time to kill this is worth a watch

Lidl, Lemon dishwasher tablets.
Aldi or Lidl rince aid £1.99 a Litre.
Lidl Salt.
Any £1 dishwasher cleaner, once a month in the summer and every 2 months in the winter.

Dishwasher (softener) salt is used to recharge the ion exchange beads in the water softener unit with sodium ions. I think your table top dishwasher might not have one.

It has to be pure salt, not table salt which has free flow additives in it that could contaminate the resin beads, brand doesn't matter providing it's pure, but check the label, it used to be quite common for supermarkets to sell salt with free flow additives as dishwasher salt.

The premium Fairy and Finish tablets are ok, hard to recommend cheaper ones, best to try them to see how well they work in your dishwasher. Over the past few years dishwasher tablet and powder manufacturers have phased out phosphates in their products and the various replacement chelating agents they use mostly aren't as good, I've read that some of the cheapest replacements produce a non-soluble residue when they bind with calcium, which depending on how well your dishwasher rinses, could end up as deposits on your washing up, and the most effective ones are much more costly, so mostly only appear in the more expensive ranges. (edited)