Cascade: Run Your Dishwasher With As Few As Eight Items

[thomasortega]

Is there life without a dishwasher? WOW, I thought it was like air.

My very first dishwasher after I moved to the USA was when I finally moved to this apartment. A portable Haier that belonged to Steve Geoff (In Memorian) and ended up here thanks to Revvinkevin, after about a month having to do dishes by hand. Actually I think I was so pissed off, Darryl's hands were so destroyed and Kevin's ears were so tired of me crying about not having a dishwasher that the world ended up conspiring for that dishwasher to end here.

Everything was ok... except that that TINY dishwasher was a nightmare because, used to having DECENT dishwashers my whole life I never cared about saving dishes.

Each MEAL resulted in something like 4 or 5 loads. I was probably using a box of Cascade PER WEEK.

Then A Kenmore/ge 18 inch dishwasher appeared on Craigslist FOR FREE. It leaked, i had to keep the Hoover Floormate in the kitchen because of the urinary incontinence that old lady had, but It was a bit better At least I didn't have to run the dishwasher to wash ONLY the slow cooker ceramic insert and call it a Bobload.

Until the day I had 27 guests. on the 4th or 5th day, I don't remember exactly, Darryl arrived here and I was literally almost throwing dishes on the walls. He patiently grabbed me, helped me wear my straitjacket, gave me a triple dose of haldol, patiently put me in the car and off we went to Sears and bought a Kenmore "full size" Portable dishwasher.

It's not the best dishwasher in the world, it was the ONLY we could find in a hurry and also the cheapest.

It does a reasonably decent job. I can't complain at all. Of course, it's not like a TOL dishwasher or, like that old commercial said, "It's not like a Brastemp, but that's ok." Actually... I feel just like living in that Brastemp TV commercial.

 

[mattl]

Cascade Platinum is my go to.  I've been washing a bit more often too. and for smaller loads I have a box of Cascade Complete powder.  It's odd, I used the powder for decades but the dishes are simply just a bit cleaner with the pods.  Not sure I'll bother buying the powder once it's gone.

 

I know some here hate the pods but even with small loads they are perfect with my water and machine.

 

[appnut]

I'm running mine about every two days, sometimes daily.  Been using Bubble Bandit and love it.  I have a box of Cascade Complete and a dose of that is put in prewash dispenser 95% of the time a load is done.  (There are a FEW times when the load isn't soiled enough to warrant prewash detergent).  

 

[perc-o-prince]

the next day it will attract ants.

Bob- have you tried running a rinse and hold at the end of each day instead of a full load? Just wondering.

Henrik- I saw a Miele Gen 7 machine at the US HQ when I was training on the new Mastercool (junk) refrigeration. I was much less than impressed. The racks were much cheaper and the mounting was flimsy. They were almost like any other disposable d/w racks, though they were heavier duty than those. The racking system on Gen 6 was/is great IMHO. I have a G6987 and a PG8056 and love them both. I put a lower rack from Gen 6 in the PG!

Something re: less-than-a-load... With Miele, it senses how much water is being used and adjusts the water/time appropriately. It's a simple theory- the more water that's in the sump, the less water is clinging to dishes, therefore there are less dishes in the machine. The electronic senses this and lessens the water quantity and time for the cycle. It's like having auto-half-cycle capability on every load without pressing a button. We just use less of our powdered detergent for the half loads.

They may have screwed me, but I'll give credit where it's due.

Chuck

 

[appnut]

Chuck, I find if I do a Rinse & Mold (courtesy of Toggles), the odor becomes quite foul compared to just letting it sit for a few days and waiting for the load to accumulate.  

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>With Miele, it senses how much water is being used and adjusts the water/time appropriately. It's a simple theory- the more water that's in the sump, the less water is clinging to dishes, therefore there are less dishes in the machine.</blockquote> I've run across references to automatic adjustment of the fill level but dishware isn't absorbent like fabric so the effect presumably is subtle.

Regards to rinse/hold ... I figured out the odor issue wayyyy back with the KDI-17a and haven't used rinse/hold in many years.

 

[perc-o-prince]

so the effect presumably is subtle.

I don't have any numbers on it, and though dishware isn't absorbent, droplets do stay on it. Considering how little water they use per fill, I'd think there would be measurable difference with a 1/4 load vs. full load.

Rinse/hold- the G6987 tends to have an odor after a day or so of not running if there are dirty dishes in it. I've been using rinse/hold and haven't had the odor return. I know other Miele users have complained about the odor in the Gen 6 models, but r/h seems to have done the trick.

Chuck

*edit- The Miele drains out at the end of r/h. I don't remember if the KDS or others did. Maybe that's the difference?[this post was last edited: 4/18/2020-16:50]