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I have a slight bug problem in my kitchen, so today I'm doing a big cleanup. I've gotten to my dishwasher and as expected there are a ton of bugs there. I noticed it was wrapped in a large cloth, and that thing was pretty nasty and infested so I've thrown it out.

But that piece doesn't seem to be directly used by my dishwasher. Is it necessary? Do I need to go out and buy a new one before I use my dishwasher again or can I live without it?

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    Niall is correct on the intention. In practice, it's a handy supply of nesting material, conveniently exposed to the space under your counters, which is usually not so well sealed that nothing finds it to nest in. Or it can be more cynically viewed as planned obsolescence for dishwashers.
    – Ecnerwal
    Aug 2, 2015 at 19:26

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It's called an insulation blanket and its main purpose is to muffle the noise made during operation. Since it's usually made of fiberglass, it provides some heat insulation too.

You don't need it, but you'll probably find the extra noise to be annoying. Try the dishwasher without it, and if you can't live with the noise, replace it.

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    And also (I would assume) to retain the heat of the wash water during the cycle.
    – Ben Jackson
    Aug 3, 2015 at 0:55

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