According to Which?
The "Don't Buy" was (I think!) 'Gumption 6-in-1' tablets. It had dismal performance across the board.
Lavamat_jon:
Yes, you can still get chlorine powders and liquids, but you have to look hard. Finish liquid is chlorine-based.
For chlorine powders, you have to visit the Farming Supplies Stores, or 'Cash & Carry' places like Makro, Costco, etc. The brands of detergent are typically 'Sun', 'Bryta' and possibly 'Finish'. They will all mention "Professional" on the boxes, but look for "chlorine based bleaching agents" in the composition list. Finish may have switched to an enzyme formulation for its 'power powder', from what I can gather from the internet.
The professional tablets of any of the brands though, are the modern enzyme formulations.
For what it's worth, my Bosch dishwasher manual gives the following advice for problems with discoloured plastics:
"Plastic items/parts are discoloured: Not enough detergent was added to dispenser, or detergent with lower bleaching effect was used."
"Remedial action: Use detergent with chlorine bleaching. Comply with manufacturer's (dosage) specifications."
"Tea stains / lipstick not completely removed: Detergent doesn't have a sufficient bleaching effect. Washing temperature was set too low."
I consistently wash on the Auto 60-70 degree Superwash, with a good amount of detergent (2 tablets for heavily soiled loads: one in dispenser, one in cutlery basket). Result: plasticware goes pink/orange, tea stains build up over time on stainless steel.
The only thing that brings back the gleaming steel, and brighter plastic is the chlorine based detergent.
View attachment 9-10-2008-19-16-17--Rolls_rapide.jpg
