Another dishwasher detergent thread. Or, why do you use what you use?

[CheertoAll]

Back to the Board after a few years

Hi Everyone, I'm Andrew from Orinda, CA. I've been away from the board for a few years, and have just joined again.

I've been using Finish/Electrasol powder or gel or Cascade gel because they still contain bleach. My dishes are white, and the enzyme detergents don't get rid of coffee/tea stains.

I tried the Finish powerball tablets, but in soft water, they really over-sudsed. I gave up on rinse agents for the same reason.

A few years ago, the, "Maytag Man," told me to only use plain Cascade powder in my new Maytag dishwasher (circa 2005). After a few months of dingy dishes, I switched back to detergents with bleach.

It's nice to be back with you guys!

 

[mixfinder]

Its only cents amortized over a year

Gel Packs, Gel Pack, Gel Packs! Spotless dishes and no fooling around trying to open slick lumps of detergent.

 

[mattl]

I use powdered Cascade Complete with Jet Dry too but the Finish Quantum tabs are very tempting. I guess I got a better deal than most, with the $2.50 coupon they only cost $.99. I like them and if the price was cheaper I'd use them, but Cascade does the job for less. But for some reason with the Finish the dishes just felt 'cleaner" might be the rinse agent they put in them. I really like how the dishes felt for some reason.

 

[toploader55]

Cascade !

I just like Cascade Powder. I usually fill both cups in the KDS 18 because I usually throw everything in and the rest of the fleet, it depends on the soil level. I never use Drying Agent. Glasses and Silverware come out spotless.

 

[rp2813]

Interesting to see a comment about over-sudsing and cavitation related to Jet Dry Turbo. I have experienced that same situation since dumping a whole bottle of that stuff into my rinse aid dispenser. Now all I can do is let it run its course, but the dispenser itself is suspect and could be leaking rinse aid into the tub when it's not supposed to.

I'm not a fan of gels. They don't seem to work as well as the white liquids. I may try powder for the first time in 20 years as I continue to play with a "new" dishwasher that should be showing up in pix around here sometime soon. I can't warm up to the packets. They'd be overkill for lightly soiled loads and they tend to be more expensive.

 

[whitekingd]

Cascade!

I love Cascade Pure Rinse or Cascade Complete. Both give me superior results. Every time I have given Electrosol a try, immediately about 1/3 of my dishes do not come clean. Therefore, I am SOLD on Cascade!

I used to like Jet-Dry, but they changed the formula and made it very "thin" (almost like water). It leaks out of my rinse dispenser on the KDS-14. The Safeway brand is the consistency Jet-Dry used to be so I've switched to it with excellent results. No leaks anymore. Yeah!!

 

[polkanut]

Hytron,

I use Hytron powder in the green container, which btw reminds me of original Electra-Sol. It has a very strong chlorine scent, and is still loaded with STPP. It is also approved for institutional use. It is available from Mills Fleet Farm, a regional farm and home supply store (MN, WI), and is manufactured by Stearns Packaging, Madison, WI.

Error 404 - Stearns Packaging Corporation

Dispenser-Free Control Systems

www.stearnspkg.com

 

[mrb627]

Finish Tabs

I use the Finish tabs with the little red ball poking out of one side. Mainly because I like to know how many doses I have left in the box. Gels, damnit, can never get the last bit out of the bottle. Too much of a P I T A.

Malcolm

 

[tlee618]

I have had excellent results with powdered Cascade with bleach. Sadly it seems they had discontinued it as I can't find it any longer. When this box is gone I'm not sure what I will go to.

 

[neptuneguy27]

I use

Finish All in One tabs along with Miele Rinse Aid. I have tried the Quantum Tabs and they do work very well. But the price is a little bit too high for me. I am currently using Cascade Complete with HydroClean Bleach (powder)as an experiment to see which one cleans better. Honestly, I really cannot tell a difference between the two. I have a ton of the Finish Tabs on hand because Costco had a wonderful offer of "Buy one, get one free". I kinda went overboard. :-/ So once the Cascade is gone, I'll be back to the Finish.

As far as removing coffee and tea stains, the Finish does remarkably well as does the Cascade. I have yet to take something out of the dishwasher that still had stains on it. One difference I do notice though between the two, is that Finish seems to be able to deal with tomato sauce better than the Cascade. Plastics do not come out orange when using the Finish in a load that has a lot of tomato sauce in it. Which is always nice.

Chris

 

[dogboy44]

No Gel

Gels do not do as good a job for me. I get whatever powder or tabs are on sale. Cascade does the best job when I get it.

 

[panthera]

Glad

you like them, Lawrence. If I ever stay in one place where I can phone longer than 5 minutes, I'd love to chat.

I have found that, with the exception of the 'green' detergents, all detergents work well if the dishes are pre-rinsed and the dishwasher set to the hottest, longest washes with auto-sensing turned on.

Otherwise - and I hate pre-rinsing - you have to use a premium product in the US or the cheapest normal product in Germany to get things clean. Once they take away our phosphate in Germany, we will have the same limitations we have in the US today.

 

[nashmaytagbear]

Finish gel tabs since they are so easy to use.

 

[aldspinboy]

I like Electrosol...Now Finish does a great job on dishes.
I put them in a special edition Jetson's canister that one of my buddy's gave me awhile ago I have the Quantum tabs in there now...Lawrence i like them for very dirty and greasy dishes only one for the main wash.
Smaller loads or lightly soiled loads i use the powders... Cascade complete with small dosings one tablespoon full.
Once a month i will add Glass magic to the wash it seems to help before build up starts.. and some glasses people have given me with scum on them really took it off. That was surprising.
Somat is really good rinse agent lasts a long time in my machine.
( Whirlpool power clean wash system )
This is the last box of electrosol that was on the market that i got not really the best cleaner.
Nice Thread.

Darren k.

 

[aldspinboy]

Pic of the box.

 

[aldspinboy]

Pic 2.

 

[foraloysius]

I just started a box of Somat-9, an all in one tab. I bought it in Germany a while ago and the first impression is that it is working well.

Louis

 

[launderess]

Cascade Complete "HydroClean" Gel, With Bleach

Love the stuff, though in general have found all the Cascade "Complete" or "Pure Rinse" versions give great results.

When Electrasol tabs first came out, gave them a try and results were ok, but when the rinse agent (little power ball) was added found it made too much suds. Indeed find most versions of Finish or Electrasol tabs made too much froth.

One could hear dishwasher pump and motor straining to move that froth around. Also found neither of the above tabs really did a good job on two or more day old (we don't run our machine daily, only when full), porridge bowls. We are big on flax seed meal, along with nuts and fruit in our pooridge, and am here to tell you the stuff dries on like Gorilla glue. With dishwasher detergents other than Cascade, found bits of flax seed meal all over dishes, and often bits of dried oats still on bowls. Not any more.

As for tabs, gelpacs and the like, really prefer gels or powders as one can control dosage to suit. Tabs can and will go hard if one stores them too long (know this because one nabbed tons of Electrasol tabs when they went on closeout a local shop, only to find later they turned into hockey pucks from being stored away for so long).

 

[mysteryclock]

I was using Cascade All-in-One gelpacs but I was having to add Lemishine to every load or my glasses would come out cloudy because of our hard water. I recently got some of the Finish Quantum Powerball pacs on the 50% off sale (bought about 7 boxes, actually!) and they are night-and-day better for me. No more occasional kibbles-n-bits on the dishes, and even glasses come out clear without any additives.

I am impressed. Hopefully it'll keep the buildup at bay in the dishwasher too!