On Fri 06 Dec 2013 12:34:16p, told us...
DId you ever actually own a Bosch? My screen stays as clean and shiny as the day it was installed. I think I found a stray kernal of corn on it once, but nothing more.
Having said that, I initially had my doubts about my choice of a Bosch for several reasons, as I had only previously owned dishwashers that had a soft wasate disposer and either a heating element in the bottom or forced air heating for the drying cycle. My doubts vanished after the first load.
The SS tank and racks of my Bosch would stay as clean even if I didn't use a dishwasher cleaner. However, the main function of the cleaner is to dissolve mineral buildup in the pump and interior plumbing parts of the machine. I probabaly wouldn't use a cleaner if I didn't live in an area where the water did have such a high mineral concentration.
I would install a water softener if I could, but the configuration of my buildinhg doesn't allow for that. If I had a water softener, I would have no need for a "dishwasher cleaner".
If you do have a front-loader and you close the door immediately after finishing a load, leaving moisture in the tank and seal, you're just asking for trouble. Virtually every manufacturer recommends that the door be left open until everything is thoroughly dried. As to top-loading machines, for the most part they don't reuire it because there is no seal to the opening and moisture isn't trapped inside.
In any event, in my case it isn't a hardship to leave the door open as my laundry equipment is in a large walk-in pantry with no foot trafic and closed in by a door off my kitchen.