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No. 873: Tasty tasty ions

First | Previous | 2025-06-23 | Latest

Tasty tasty ions

First | Previous | 2025-06-23 | Latest

Permanent URL: https://mezzacotta.net/dinosaur/?comic=873

Strip by: manyhills

T. Rex: I don't understand why I can't eat...
T. Rex: DISHWASHER SALT!
T. Rex: Either this stuff is purer than normal salt, or it's not.
Dromiceiomimus: They can't keep having it both ways!
Utahraptor: T. Rex... why do you want to eat dishwasher salt?
{Silent beat}
{Silent beat}

The author writes:

There are boring but sensible answers which I won't reproduce here. (To the question of why you shouldn't eat dishwasher salt, not why T. Rex wants to.)

[I had never heard of dishwasher salt before seeing this comic. I had to look it up to find out what it was and what it is used for. Apparently in places with hard water, such as Europe, dishwashers have a built-in water softening device that uses ion exchange to remove calcium and magnesium ions from the water to reduce limescale on the washed articles. The ion exchanger needs salt to regenerate the ion exchange resin. Such devices are not needed where I live in Australia because our water supply is very soft (no calcium or magnesium), and most dishwashers sold here don't even have the water softening gadget, nor any place to input dishwasher salt. The things you learn from The Dinosaur Whiteboard! - Ed.]