Cascade Complete Actionpacs horrible!!

[launderess]

Finish tablets

Going back to when they were first introduced as "Electrasol Power Ball" always had an issue with froth.

Would split tablet in half using one part per main wash and nothing in pre-wash, yet still could hear the dw struggling for all the froth.

Finally began taking out the red power ball and saving it for rinse cycles and turning off/down the built in rinse aid dispenser.

Once completed that stash moved onto Cascade Complete and never looked back.

That is until got a stash of Finish "powertabs" or whatever for free. They sit unused as have a good enough stash of Cascade Complete am working through.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Well

Just used Powerball and no overwhelming smell while the dishwasher was running and when opened, nothing but the smell of clean dishes......no perfume.

I guess it is different water conditions for people. I should specify the type of Powerball I'm using is Powerball Max in 1. Each tablet is wrapped and on the packaging, it says "no need to unwrap"

How weird quantum doesn't foam for you and Powerball does - and for me it's the opposite.

 

[retro-man]

I just came across a stash of the Finish dishwasher tabs in my MIL house and brought them home. No original container. These appear to be wrapped in a silver foil. I have been unwrapping them prior to use in the dishwasher. Do you not need to unwrap these? It seems a pain to be opening these. I also found some other ones with 3 colors in a plastic type covering. Those I have used as they are in the dispenser and it is gone upon the cycle completing. Neither so far seem to be making a lot of foam in either of my dishwashers.

Jon

 

[henene4]

If the foil is opaque you probably have to unwrap them.
Easy test is to just toss one in a glass of water without unwrapping.

Different detergents have different make ups that can produce wildly varying results even in the same water and machine.
Some use more enzymes, some more chlorine bleach, some more tensides.
Some are designed to get rinsed away less easy so that more of their shining and drying agents make it to the final rinse.

We always just used a cheap one purpose detergent based on mostly oxygen bleach and a rinse aid and - as we are EU here - our water softener in the machine was always well fed.

We barely washed any dried burnt on starchy stuff, so the lack of enzymes didn't make a difference to us. However, all the coffee cups stayed white no matter how long they were left to dry.
We also had all white porcelain, so no fadeibg of decor.

 

[mark_wpduet]

YES~!

Unwrap them if they are wrapped in foil then put tab in dishwasher. A few years ago they changed to the clear plastic wrapped tablet where you don't have to unwrap it.

 

[jamiel]

I bought some cheap private label powderpacks and am not finding them to be very good.

 

[superocd]

I have made it a policy to never buy any dishwasher or laundry detergent pacs. I've heard that it is bad news for the pump of the machine. It's also usually cheaper just to buy the powder or liquid (I use powder Cascade). I'd love to get my hands on institutional-grade detergent just to see if I could throw some dishes in my ca. 2014 Whirlpool Gold DW without having to scrape and rinse.

I've always scraped and rinsed anyway and would do it even if I had a Hobart KitchenAid or a true commercial DW with lots of hot water, a forceful spray and steam hot enough to cause a 3rd degree burn, lol, but I just find it funny that people are encouraged to let the machine's turbidity sensors do the work because I've tried that once as an experiment and was not impressed at all, even though I used my usual Cascade powder (which is supposedly the best for consumer detergents) and started that load with a clean filter (which I rotate, I ordered an extra cartridge for my machine -- one is always washed while the clean one is installed in place).

Even just a small speck here and there is unacceptable to me, so I scrape and rinse to avoid disappointment (and handwash any wares with stubborn messes, like baked on cheese of a casserole dish, before they go in). I wonder if an institutional/commercial grade detergent would improve the wash performance of a load that was never scraped or rinsed.

 

[launderess]

"I wonder if an institutional/commercial grade detergent would improve the wash performance of a load that was never scraped or rinsed."

Well it wouldn't would it? I mean commercial/institutional dishwashers largely see dishware that is already well scrapped and or rinsed before going into machine. Dishwashers basically act to sanitize while getting rid of trace foods, greases and so forth.

Some of the newer flight dishwashers have a pre-rinse section that does away with doing all that scrapping and rinsing by hand.

Unlike automatic dishwasher detergents for residential use enzymes are largely absent from institutional/commercial versions. What you do find there are high amounts of chlorine bleach and strong base substances (washing soda, sodium metasilicate, maybe phosphates (TSP or STPP), and surfactants among other chemicals. Idea is to emulsify fat/oils via saponification and destroy protein substances.

Commercial dishwashing is much like commercial laundries; cycles are short so there isn't much time for mucking about with enzymes. Instead both largely rely upon what they always have; chemical action, pH and high to very temperatures.

 

[mark_wpduet]

superocd

I understand scraping...That I do. But rinsing all dishes before putting them in? No way. It needs food particles for the enzyme detergent to work and actually makes the dishwasher work better. The ONLY thing I rinse off is EGG.... There's just something about egg that the dishwasher or detergent (no matter how hot or long of a wash), there's just this weird smell left EVERYWHERE with anything EGG. That's why I rinse egg off.

I've used the institutional Cascade and I really liked it. You can still get it I believe but it's called Fryer boil out. It's just like the dishwasher detergent of the 80s and 90s with phosphates (unless something's changed). I haven't looked it up in a while.

 

[liamy1]

Rinsing

advice here is not to rinse at all, as Mark says, scrape yes, rinse never - negates any efficiency saving of having a dishwasher.

Out of interest superocd - can you not get spotless results with any mass market available (not commercial/professional) detergent at all?

Have never rinsed and always get spotless results with either Fairy (Cascade) or Finish.

 

[DADoES]

Scraping and Rinsing

 
I scrape to a reasonable extent but *never* rinse before loading ... and I have one of those F&P Dishdrawers that are often disparaged as a "toy" dishwasher.

I use the Cascade Fryer Boil Out powder.

This is the condition of a typical oatmeal bowl going into the machine, and it may sit for 2 to 3 days until the load is run.  Always comes out pristine.

 

[pezzy669]

I'm honestly surprised at the bad reviews of the Cascade action pacs. Have used the Platinum version for 2.5 years now and swear by them, one of the very few items I don't go generic on. I have never had any remaining scent issue with them even on the HE Whirlpool dishwasher in my last apartment or the crude GE Nautilus in my condo.

The Platinum Cascade pacs let me put some pretty nasty baking dishes in my 18 year old GE Nautilus and have them come out sparkling if I do the "Hot Start" and honestly I think the Cascade has actually cleaned the dishwasher interior beyond where I started with it last year. The fact I can put baked on crap in this 18 year old builder grade dishwasher and have it come out perfect is testament to either cheap 2001 GE Appliances or the dish detergent.

Ge

 

[mark_wpduet]

complete action pacs - vs platinum

completely different. not talking about platinum (Cascade's best), I'm talking about the complete action pacs.

 

[appnut]

I use the Platinum pacs in the main dispenser. I use Cascade Complete powder in the prewash dispenser. I had been using Complete get in the prewash, but I figured out the gel was putting a film in my dishwasher and the pump system and inhibiting the cleaning as time went on in between me running Lemi Shine dishwasher cleaner through it as a "cleaning" cycle.

 

[rapunzel]

I detest pods and tablets - they are a complete waste of money and they don't dispense correctly during the various parts of a cycle. Not only that, but since I own F&P dishdrawers, the pre-measured dosages are far too high.

Now, what I do to get the best results, I use both Finish powder and dishwasher liquid. The liquid goes in the pre-wash dispenser and the powder in the main wash dispenser. A teaspoon of powder suffices and the same applies for the liquid. Both are slightly different formulations and they compliment each other.

I've noticed that if I only use the powder, the stainless steel filter plates go dull over time. When I only use the liquid my cups don't seem to clean all that well and they end up with coffee and tea stains.

Using both detergents yields excellent cleaning results and there is no heavy scent at the end of the cycle. Dishes just smell clean.

 

[ozzie908]

@rapunzel

I used to have F&P dish drawers loved them really superb machines and when you understand how they operate they are easy to repair too.
Like you I found the dosage of tabs and pacs too strong and found it more and more difficult to find powder so I had to sell my set and go to a standard DW I got a Miele and its a super machine but I do miss the drawer set as it was so easy to set one going with pots in and wait till the crocks one was full. I now have a Quartz work surface so would not have been able to screw the F&P set to it to stop them tipping over so maybe its as well I said goodbye?

Austin

 

[DADoES]

 
Austin, U.S. models (at least the older DD603) have anchor tabs at the sides of the cabinet at the lower drawer (two toward the front, two toward the back), not just at the top edge. Is that not the case for UK-offered units?  I have a granite countertop so can't anchor to the top but the side tabs anchor nicely into the side cabinetry.

 

[gregingotham]

old fashioned

my favorite is still old fashioned cascade in the big box. Does a good job, cheaper than the pods and no annoying scent!

 

[ozzie908]

DADoES

Now you say about it I do recall seeing those tabs and I could have kept them but I sold them a couple of years ago

Austin