over sudsing/excess foam

[cehalstead]

Does anyone else have a problem when using dishwasher pods with over sudsing/excess foam? When I use these in either of my dishwashers (2016 Maytag and 2016 Amana), there is so much sudsing and foam that the wash action is smothered and foam is left in the bottom of the tub when the cycle finishes. I don't have this issue when I use powdered detergent, which is getting hard to find.

 

[DADoES]

 
Yes.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

pods

Are we talking Cascade or Finish?

 

[appnut]

Try a liqiid gel dishwaher detergent such as Cascade in the green jug.

 

[combo52]

Excess foaming with dishwasher pods

You can try putting your dishes in a lot dirtier, even including up to a quarter cup of cooking oil that will often stop the foaming. You can also add a simethicone tablet to the detergent dispenser along with the pod that will stop the foaming. That’s what we’ve done quite a bit.

You don’t mention your water hardness if it’s fairly soft you can probably get away with using the liquid detergent or powdered detergent but if your water is over seven grains of hardness, you really need to use pods to protect your dishes and the dishwasher and get good results.

John

 

[maytaga806]

What kind of pods are you using to be more specific? I’ve had this problem for years indeed, but only with Cascade platinum, especially the lemon scent formulated pacs. It causes so much oversudsing that it will just about leak from lower door. I’ve been using Cascade platinum plus and it doesn’t do this shockingly given it’s much more potent than any of their other pacs. I complained to Cascade twice about this issue in the past three years. Soft water conditions will exasperate the issue of oversudsing, a good quality gel detergent like Cascade complete is a perfect detergent for soft water and it creates zero suds. All the finish pacs I’ve tried do not cause any sudsing at all in my environment but is possible in much softer conditions, regular OG Cascade Platinum has been oversudsing dishwashers ever since it came out. I don’t know if the ratio of Dawn is just too much or what.

Also, it’s probably time to give the dishwasher a good cleaning. Soap scum builds up quickly in dishwashers under the door lip and other hidden areas which can add to any sudsing going on, give the entire floor a scrub down with some anti bacterial or whatever cleaner you have and rinse it well. Take apart your filter and wash in the sink, if yours comes out that is, check all wash arms to ensure no holes are plugged. Run a empty cleaning cycle on the longest and hottest cycle available, with dishwasher cleaner added to the main cup of the detergent dispenser.

Another thing that gets quite sudsy that a lot don’t consider is Rinse aid during the final rinse. If your machine has a setting level for the dosage of rinse aid, set it lower and see what happens. Suds remainding at the floor of the tub after cycle completion generally indicates there was a little too much rinse aid introduced into the final rinse, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have two issues going on with suds-causing pacs and a higher amount of rinse agent being dispensed, but as said before you may just have softer water which will make any small amount of rinse aid foam in a lot of cases and some detergent pacs will suds more than usual in softer water conditions.

 

[qsd-dan]

I'm fully convinced that pods are engineered for hard water. Too many suds are created in soft water or vintage machines that aggressively wash.

You can use a gel detergent, such as Cascade but I found cleaning results to be mediocre. Powdered Cascade works best when measured out correctly. It's not as easy to find in most stores but still available. Worst case scenario, Amazon caries it.

 

[DADoES]

 
I have unsoftened well water.  Cascade pods still generate excess suds.  Much Less with Finish but the residual perfume scent is overwhelmingly objectionable.

 

[maytaga806]

Just curious, what variety of Cascade are you using that caused you the sudsing as well??

I called and complained to Cascade twice about this and it’s totally over their heads and they can’t comprehend the issue, it was an argument with them both times to get them to understand the issue. And by the way, call cascade customer service and report the issue!! They will give you a Visa card or enough coupons that equal the amount of money you spent on the container or bag of pacs you bought that are causing the sudsing, so atleast they take care of it somewhat for you and you can buy a different cascade product with the money/coupons they give you back.

 

[DADoES]

 
It was Cascade Platinum in my case.  I bought a small package of 5 pods to try them.  I don't use pods as a matter of normal course because they don't work with DishDrawer detergent dispensers, as discussed in another thread.

I tried Finish Ultimate several months ago out of curiosity.  They don't suds but the residual scent is objectionable, and it's unreasaonble to always be pausing the cycle for adding a pod at start of the main wash period.  Pods are gone before the main wash on any but the shortest cycle that doesn't have a prewash and/or prerinse.[this post was last edited: 7/11/2024-20:37]

 

[cehalstead]

answer to questions

Thanks for the quick responses!! I never, never, never ever pre-rinse and the water is medium hardness, leaning toward soft. I don't use rinse aid. The over sudsing happens all the time with Cascade and often with Finish. Currently I have been using WalMart's Great Value powder, but I hate going to WalMart. When I can find it, I use Cascade powder. I haven't seen Finish powder for several years. Don't even know if it's still made. I don't like not being able to control the amount of product I use. (and I feel the same way about laundry pods, but that's another story). I always load both dispensers and mostly use the 1 hour cycle on both machines that uses more water and less time. Unless an item has something burnt or baked on, this cycle never fails me.

 

[DADoES]

 
I bought six boxes of Cascade Complete powder several months ago at Target an hour away.  Online said they had 8 boxes, probably twelve or fourteen boxes were there when I arrived.  I checked online several days later, said none available (which I doubt) so online doesn't always reflect the truth.  Walmart here has it now, didn't then.

 

[combo52]

Foaming and sudsing problems in dishwashers

There were definitely problems with the platinum cascade foaming too much in many dishwashers, especially older ones that had a lot of water action going on, I do think that cascade has reformulated soma and it would be worth trying a new package also as suggested call up proctor and Campbell and complain and get your money back And try another product.

As mentioned, we bought simethicone tablets if you throw one of those in with the detergent, the foaming problems will be gone. We’ve been doing this for several years customers also have good luck with this technique.

Hi Dan in reply number five you list a lot of excellent advice, however Detergent does not build up in dishwashers and cause foaming and the crud that builds up around the door and other places of the dishwasher will not cause foaming, it’s impossible for detergent to build up in a washing machine or a dishwasher detergent will be quickly rinsed away by hot water and a couple water changes .

Hi Chuck , I would be very careful using the one hour cycle on most dishwashers. It does not heat the water much if at all, we see some really messed up dishwashers where people have always use the one hour cycle. I would monitor that very closely, the one hour cycle is not meant for really dirty loads of dishes, it’s meant for occasional use of lightly soil dishes when you’re in a hurry.

John

 

[gelaundry4ever]

sensor cycle

I'd stick with the sensor cycle for most loads. I find that in my dishwasher, it works very well on heavily soiled loads of dishes.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

rinse aid

I would use a rinse aid for better drying results. I'm currently using power dry.

 

[panasonicvac]

This happens to me whenever I use Cascade Complete pods, the Cascade Platinum I tried out before did the same thing. Another reason why I like Kirkland pods more cause I never noticed. But luckily my dishwasher rinses the dishes out well where I don't see it as much of a problem.

 

[mrboilwash]

On our last trip to the States we`ve had a BOL GE dishwasher, one of those builder`s grade water hogs with a pop up tower and a mechanical timer and in the second location a super annoying Frigidaire (annoying because of the the high pitched noise and the pauses before alternating spray arms).

Had Cascade Original Pods from Dollar Tree and never noticed any unusual sounds in the GE but the Frigidaire obviously struggled with the foam in the main wash.
So apparently it`s not only the Platinum version that misbehaves and it also seems to make a difference what dishwasher is used.

In my Bosch at home I can hear there`s lots of froth too but on the plus side those pods seem to cope very well with greasy loads which I usually don`t have because I don`t like a lot of grease in the dishwasher but I can tell that glasses look better than with most of the usual no suds tabs.
Might be the way to go for those who are looking for an exceptional shine beyond Finish or whatever. Unfortunately not marketed here, but at least Fairy Pods intended for other European countries sometimes pop up at Action discount stores. Not sure about specific cleaning performance, haven`t done enough loads so far but again those suds are great for shiny dishes.

 

[appnut]

Since I got my Bosch May 2021, I've only used Finish tablets. No foam issues whatsoever as compared to using Cascade in my previous two Kenmore Elites produced by Whirlpool/KitchenAid.

 

[petek]

Never have a problem with anything I've used. Our water is from Lake Huron so I'd imagine it's the same water that tens of millions of people surrounding the great lakes are using.