Cascade Complete packs

[rolls_rapide]

@iej

Spot on!

I agree about Fairy contaminating the crockery with scents - my parents complained about the smell of the detergent on cups. (Maybe P&G are using Febreze technology here too?)

Regarding the in-line heaters: too much foam could cause premature heater failure. This is important, as modern Bosch machines now have a combined pump and heater assembly, rather than separate components.

And as we know, too much foam can cause leaks and activate the flood defence mechanisms.

A detergent recipe for disaster.

 

[rp2813]

I can't put my finger on it.  Water is fairly hard here.  Our Miele gets run once or twice per week.  Three times over the past couple of months I've noticed sudsing issues.  I blamed it on some dishes in the sink having been exposed to regular hand or dish soap.  Now I'm not so sure, but because it's not a regular occurrence, I've been hesitant to blame it on the Cascade pods.

 

[nmassman44]

So its not just me then with sudsing issues with Cascade Platinum pacs then. This evening I could hear my LG dishwasher cavatating during the wash cycle and I opened the door to find a good layer of suds over the bottom and the dishes covered in foam. I added more water, about a small pitcher full and the cavatating stopped but only for 5 mins. The load came out spotless as usual and dry. I do have a box of Cascade Complete powder that doesn't do that at all in this machine.

 

[iowabear]

Picture

This is the foam level about half-way through a heated wash cycle (to 145) in my lower-end Whirlpool using one Platinum Pac.  Not much water, not much foam.  Dishes are always clean though.

 

[strongenough78]

On mine the entire bottom of the tub was covered. At least 2 inches thick if not more. Would adding some vinegar cut the suds?

 

[rolls_rapide]

I think part of the problem with Procter & Gamble dishwasher detergents, is that they are formulated in the wrong direction. They appear to be geared towards a full size dishwasher, with heavily soiled pots and pans, and hard water.

In other words, there's too much product per liqui-tab/pod, so heaven help us if the dishes are only lightly soiled, or a partial load, or soft water - or all of these!

Unlike some compressed tablets, pods cannot be broken in half.

P&G would actually get more respect (from me at any rate) if they decreased the size of the pods, so that they could work properly in smaller machines (slimline and table-top models), and with lightly soiled loads.

 

[iej]

It actually gets extremely bad on my relatively new Miele during the intensive cycle as pump turned up to max and the jets are really spraying very intensively. It just churns up a huge amount of foam in the bottom of the machine and everything's dripping with foam if you open the door.

It doesn't seem to matter how dirty the dishes are. I think it's just not a great formulation. It's way, way too soapy and by the looks of the posts above its hitting a wide range of machines both ultra efficient news ones and old classics too.

 

[rp2813]

Those times I've encountered excess suds, I added just a few drops of de-foamer for the hot tub and suds disappear.  I hadn't thought of vinegar, but that might be a better option.

 

[ea56]

Since vinegar is and acid wouldn’t it lower the PH making the water softer and more inclined to oversudsing?
Eddie

 

[mark_wpduet]

I wonder

if all the foam could damage your dishwasher? I use Finish Powerball and it doesn't foam at all. The Finish Quantum foamed terribly when I used a sample of it. It made the dishwasher sound like a totally different machine. I remember thinking WTH is wrong because of the sound it made.I opened the dishwasher and foam all over the place and that is with hard water and non-rinsed dishes. This is why I've been afraid to try Platinum because I've read reports of too much foam and I remembered the Quantum sample I used. It did a great job getting the dishes clean and they were rinsed well...but it made me wonder if that laboring sound during the long wash cycle would shorten the life of the dishwasher.

 

[infusor]

Platinum pack in my whirlpool made kenmore portable, i use any other detergent and have zero foam, i since switched to finish quantum. My water is city water and not really soft eather.

 

[maytagbear]

I have not had

oversudsing in my new apartment's "Electrolux-idaire" dishwasher with Cascade Platinum, I do believe you all, though.

I DID have oversudsing with Platinum in my previous dishwasher, the GE Nautilus.

The best oversudsing treatment, besides getting a less sudsy detergent next time, is a small spoonful or so of an edible fat, like canola oil, or butter......whatever's at hand. Just open the machine and put the fat in the tub and restart.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[kb0nes]

With my water and a KitchenAid KUDS24 I had awful foaming to the point of leaking with Finish Powerball tablets. I gave a bunch of them to a co worker that doesn't have softened water.

I started using Cascade Platinum packs and while I sometimes see a bit of foaming if I open the door, it never created a problem. I bought Cascade Complete packs last time to compare them and they seem ok sudsing wise, seem to clean just fine also.

 

[ea56]

I use Cascade Platinum paks and haven’t noticed any sudsing problem, but we have very hard water here too. It’s hard to get suds from most new detergents with our hard water.

I do very minimal rinsing, and always use the 1 hour cycle that uses more water, so that may also account for my not having a prob with excess suds. Anyway, the Platinum Paks clean very well and I like them.
Eddie

 

[kd12]

Rinse aids could be problem

I stopped using Electrasol several years ago because of sudsing and switched to Cascade Complete. Have not had any sudsing issues at all with Cascade Complete. I don't use Platinum because I don't really need the extra rinse-aids, so I don't know if it sudses or not. I did however have a sudsing issue with Finish Jet-dry years ago.

 

[mattl]

When I did dishes last night I used Platinum as I have been and looked to see just how foamy it was.  My new KA had a little puddle of water with just a little foam on top - noting that would cause and issue.  The foam may be a function of the water level and how the wash arm moves the water, no idea why some would have an issue.

 

[perc-o-prince]

I wondr if all the foam could damage your dishwasher

Myself and other Miele techs have been out on calls where the only problem is oversudsing. Soapy water can get by seals and trigger a float switch in the bottom pan as well as assist in water getting past door seals causing external leaks. It can also cause drain faults and door-switch faults, as well as heating faults. New machines only use about 5.4 liters a fill, so that's not much water! Less water, less soap needed.

In the field, we heavily suggest to folks that they not use pods. It's way more soap than is needed. If they use compressed powder pucks, we suggest they cut them in half for most loads.

FWIW,
Chuck

 

[rolls_rapide]

"we heavily suggest that they not use pods"

I'm pretty sure that I came across anecdotal UK independent engineer reports of them attending store brand dishwashers (e.g. Currys 'Kenwood' and 'Logik'; defunct Comet 'Proline', etc. It probably also referred to Argos 'Bush' and 'Russell Hobbs') - usually made in China.

Too much foam caused leaks into the flood tray. Unfortunately, due to poor build quality and poorly positioned components, the motor electrics got short-circuited too. Complete write-off as parts were difficult to get.

 

[askolover]

I've often thought those tabs/pods were too concentrated for the small amount of water the modern dishwashers use.

If I use one and hear the foam sound inside...and open the door to check it out...when I re-latch the door to start the machine it will bubble out under the door!  I just gave my last ones to my mother who has the same dishwasher as me but unsoftened water.

 

[ea56]

I’ve been using Cascade Platinum Paks for three years now and have been very pleased up until last Wednesday. I did a load in my Whirlpool WDF330PAHW using the 1 hour cycle with heated dry option, just like always. I placed the one Platinum Pak’s in the dispenser, just like always, making sure to run the hot water at the sink until it was really hot before pressing start. When the cycle was complete and I opened the door I immediately knew something wasn’t right. There was a white film all over the clear glass items, and upon further inspection I found the partially dissolved Platinum Pak on the bottom, left side of the tub. The dishes hadn’t been cleaned thoroughly either and I had to rewash several items. This had never happened before and I was concerned that there was something wrong with the dishwasher. So I ran a cycle with no detergent and an empty tub to see if everything was OK with the machine, and it was.

The next day I bought a box of Cascade Complete Powder and gave it a try. I found that it cleaned just as well, if not better than the Platinum Paks, and at $5.99 for the large box, compared to $13.00 for the 36 pak Platinum Paks, this will now be my daily driver DW detergent.

To keep it fresh, I poured the entire box into a 2 quart Rubbermaid pitcher, so its sealed against any moister. Since our water is extremely hard here I’m filling the main cup to the max line and also the prewash cup as well, using one of those little plastic measuring cups that come with liquid medicine.

And like always, I’m using rinse aid too. The real difference I noticed immediately is that the coffee stains came out of the white Corelle Stoneware mugs, stains that the Platinum Paks always left behind.

Thanks to all the members here that have posted favorable comments about Cascade Complete Powder. Your input helped me come up with an excellent solution right away.
Eddie[this post was last edited: 3/19/2018-01:08]