redacted, see correct info in replies

I don't believe that's true. To quote wikipedia: "Rinse aid (sometimes called rinse agent) contains surfactants and uses Marangoni stress to prevent droplet formation, so that water drains from the surfaces in thin sheets, rather than forming droplets."

Looking at the back of a bottle of Finish Jet Dry (which I have refilled with water), the original stuff's first ingredient (after water) is "C 12-15 Alcohols Ethoxylated Propoxylated". These are nonionic surfactants, and are not what one normally means by "alcohol" (ethanol).

I can understand where the idea came from. Drinks like wine will exhibit sheeting on the sides of glasses too. The concentration of alcohol needed for that to happen is probably too high in a dishwasher, I'd imagine.

> I just put water in the rinse aid dispenser of my dishwasher.

Curious... Rinse cycle already uses plain water, so you are adding water to... water?

It's to keep the annoying "fill the rinse aid dispenser" light from always being on.