Life with the GE Profile DW, 2016

[mark_wpduet]

Cascade with Dawn

Makes me think of the TV shows I've seen where someone puts liquid dish detergent in the dishwasher because they are out of automatic dishwasher detergent. It must be low sudsy dawn or something.

I think I have this mental BLOCK against any of the new Cascade, whether it be packs, power, or gel or whatever - It must be back when they first started taking phosphates out and their detergent was horrible. I guess years have gone by and they have improved it a lot. I know the platinum is supposed to be their best -

When I put a little stpp in with my finish powerball, the stainless interior looks so much shinier

Too bad your relative had to replace their dishwasher because of mineral buildup. You can use unsweetened lemonade drink mix powder and run and empty cycle and it cleans all the minerals out. It's full of citric acid.

 

[joeypete]

Cascade does work very well. I've been using the Complete powder and it's cleaned anything I've put in my KA. I'm sure the time right after taking phosphates out was a transition period. Seems odd they wouldn't have any idea how it would affect cleaning, but whatever. My powder says it has the cleaning power of Dawn too...and when I open the door to peak, the suds dissipate very quickly to the point where it doesn't look like there are any. The Platinum pacs looked like a sea of suds lol.

 

[askolover]

Cascade with Dawn

those do clean well but my Jetclean did NOT like them!  I could hear the wash arm slow down when I used them.  Haven't tried them in the KA.

 

[murando531]

It's odd how different people can have such different results and behaviors from the same detergent. For me, Cascade Complete and Platinum are really the only thing I have trust in. I've never had any issue with pumps laboring or lack of performance. I go back and forth between Complete and Platinum pacs depending on what I have coupons for, but I really don't see much a difference between the two. They both do an excellent job and don't leave any weird residues at all, and the stainless interior always looks sparkling when done. Finish Powerball tabs, on the otherhand, don't cause any sudsing problems, but they do sometimes leave just the slightest chaulky residue on plastics, and can leave a sort of film on the bottom of the tub that's almost like..microscopic suds or something. Quantum pacs are a complete no-go for me; oversudsing to the extreme and no better performance in cleaning than the Powerball tabs.

My granddad, however, doesn't like Cascade pacs, but gets excellent results with Finish tabs in their '08 Kenmore Elite Ultrawash-Voyager. They also live in Tuscumbia where the water is *HORRENDOUSLY* hard, as in he has to have a filter installed between the fill line hookup and the dishwasher because they were having major problems with the inlet screen and valve getting scale buildup. They had to get rid of a perfectly good and BEAUTIFUL Maytag JetClean ReverseRack that had gorgeous solid state controls, simply because the holes on the wash arms were so tiny that even the slightest mineral buildup would render the machine useless. He'd have to take the thing apart to descale it every other month or so.

So that all said, I think performance and behavior of detergent relies heavily on water type, as well as the type of machine. I guess with so many variables it's a good thing we at least have some variety when it comes to detergents on the store shelves.

 

[logixx]

Interestingly, the main ingredient in the, I guess, "with Dawn" part of the Platinum Pacs is antifoam agent. Other than that, it's mainly colored water.

 

[joeypete]

@andrew - I know it's weird huh? I think a lot of has to do with water situations, but also the machine itself. They all do their own thing so to speak so I guess the detergent can have different results.

I haven't experimented much with dishwasher detergent so I'm really limited to just a few brands that I have knowledge about.

 

[vacerator]

My

Dad used to tell me if suds were a problem in the D/W, to add 1/4 cup vegetable oil to it empty, and run it on a light wash.

 

[johnb300m]

Ugh

No actual Dawn in my Cascade!
Damn it!
P&G marketing jerking themselves off again!

Honestly? For a while, with heavy/greasy loads, I'd put a nickel sized blob of dawn dish liquid on the door.
Shhhhhhhh!

Seems to work ok.

 

[logixx]

I add dishwashing liquid to every prewash. Works flawlessly.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Must be a nightmare

for detergent companies to make detergents considering the major variables in people's water.

@ Andrew - I might try the Cascade packs when I'm done with the HUGE box of Finish powerball I have from costco. I don't get any residue at all but that might be because I add a wee bit of STPP in the main wash with the powerball. I dunno.

I think ONE time I had a sample of Cascade Platinum (but I may have just dreamed that), I don't remember anything other than the quantum causing any suds out of all the brands I have tried.

Do any of you have sediment in your toilet tanks? At the bottom? I never do at all but I've heard that's one of the ways to tell the quality of your water? I don't know. But I can only imagine what the inside of my hot water heater looks like. I remember someone posted something a LONG time ago on here. Their Miele dishwasher had a fishy smell, no matter what they did. They tried everything, and it ended up being their freaking HOT water heater of all things.

 

[jerrod6]

Cascade with Dawn is nothing but a marketing thing.  People associate Dawn with liquid Dawn dish detergent that is good on grease.  P&G knows this so they make Cascade with Dawn that must be good on Grease because it is Dawn...except it is not.  I wonder if the container says with the power of Dawn?  Anytime anything says with the "power of" on it...you can bet it doesn't contain the  product.  Just like the product Finish "with the power of Jet dry"  No jet dry ingredients can be found in it. 

 

Just like products with bleach.....the assumption is chlorine bleach..never mind that it is most likely oxygen bleach.

 

Tide with Febreze. Febreze is P&G trademark for scents...so that's all that is...some type of scent added to Tide.  Glad trash bags with Febreze...."OH it contains Febreze so lets buy this"....Yeah...

It's all marketing and not much more...it works for companies as long as it sells their products.  Meanwhile consumers are led along.....and follow.

 

[askolover]

yeah Jerrod, even the Cascade powder with the power of Clorox...has no Clorox in it.  Now the gel does but not the powder.

 

[johnb300m]

So the Cascade worked well.
We cleaned pretty much everything in the machine except for a stainless steel pan. Which was technically clean but he left this weird surface stain.
The filter was also sort of decent except there was some film left in there as well. But not nearly as bad as with the cascade platinum!

 

[joeypete]

Nice! That happens to my stainless pans too...they come out perfectly clean but have the rainbow effect. I usually then scrub them with Barkeeper's Friend and they look brand new.

 

[vacerator]

I don't put good pans

in the DW. It removes the seasoning on them.

 

[johnb300m]

Stainless pans don't have seasoning.

 

[askolover]

Barkeepers friend

works on my stainless too.  After cooking beans or peas especially I get that result left on the bottom even though they are clean.  Have used Comet and Bon Ami too.

 

[joeypete]

But be careful you'll scrub off the stainless seasoning! hahahaha :-D

 

[vacerator]

whatever you think

but, when you coat a stainless steel pan with oil, as with cast iron, and heat it just to the smoke point, that pan is seasoned to have a level on non stick property.
Washing it at high temperature removes the oil out of it. It also dulls good cutlery.
I've been watching Julia Child since age nine.

 

[johnb300m]

Pointless of seasoning a stainless pan.
Why bother?
That's what iron skillets, ceramics are for.
To each their own.
Good for Julia Child ruining her stainless. She could afford it.