question on dishwasher detergent?

[pierreandreply4]

hello to all aw member i have a question on dishwasher detergent what is the best choice for dishwasher detergent cascade action packs or liquid gel the problem i tend to have on occasion with the packs is it tends to cause some suds inside the dishwasher witsh slow down the wash performance and cause the dishwasher to adjust the cycle time so i would like toughs if i should go back to cascade liquid rather than use cascade action packs?

thank you in advance for your answers

 

[awooff]

Suds

-Also experienced suds with the quick packs. Gel leaves some tough items unclean but gels typically contain bleach which is nice to use sometime if smells linger in dishwasher or light soiled loads. Traditional powder suits me best especially for cooked on foods.

 

[turquoisedude]

I still prefer powders, especially in the vintage machines that can't really hold a gel-pak.  Trouble is that it's getting harder and harder to find powdered detergents here in La Belle Province.  Provigo and Maxi seem to be the best source; they no longer carry powdered Cascade or Finish in the either of the Wal-Marts in St-Hyacinthe or Magog!

 

[iiijohnnymaciii]

Finish Powerball

I’ve heard people using Finish Powerball and not having issues with sudsing.

 

[ultralux88]

I also vote for powders, and I’ll shamelessly promote using either Cascade fryer boil or Bubble Bandit. I use either, and especially if you have hard water they work much better. Used Finish power ball tabs for years, the dishes seemed clean enough, although things like coffee or red stains never came out, but the dishwasher definitely wasn’t keeping itself clean. This white pulp-like residue and a dog slobber smell would build up, it got to where the smell wouldn’t go even with dishwasher cleaner, it’d die down for a while and come back. The dirty dishwasher stench and the yibbles on the glasses are what made me switch.

 

[kb0nes]

I had pretty significant frothing with Finish Powerball tabs, I have half a box I will no longer use. It seemed a little better if I popped the red Powerball out, I assume this is a rinse agent.

I use a Tablespoon or so of gel/powder for the first wash (any detergent will work no matter how cheap, just use something). Then a Cascade Complete or Platinum pack goes in the dispenser for the main wash. I have never had objectionable foaming with this combination. Never had anything not come clean either.

I'm using mechanically softened water at about 130F in a KitchenAid/Whirlpool Powerclean machine.

 

[DADoES]

 
Cascade Platinum Actionpac.

Suds are up to the arm and even touching the bottom of plates.  The pac wasn't yet fully dissolved when the pics were taken (2018/03/30).  Unsoftened well-water.

 

[pierreandreply4]

switc to finish luid dishwasher detergent

just switch from cascade actionpack to finish liquid gel so next time i do a load in the dishwasher will see if it makes a diffrence

 

[tomturbomatic]

Bless your heart, Glenn; it looks like you have an ad for Dawn hand dish washing detergent going there, the one where the suds don't die.

 

[abcomatic]

I use Bubble Bandit.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Suds

I have had this issue for a while too.
I am using Finish Quantum Max, and grind up a little Simethicone gas tablet in with STPP. About 1 tablet per 5 tablespoons of STPP. After this is mixed up in the container, I use about 1 tsp of the mixture per load. No more suds issues here.

 

[joeekaitis]

Swiched to Cascade Fryer Boil Out . . .

 

. . . when Bubble Bandit discontinued the 4-bag pack.  Even their 13-bag pallet costs more per ounce than Cascade FBO.

 

I keep the unopened boxes in a bedroom closet away from the kitchen and dump the contents of a box into a Sistema Klip-It storage container.  The container is stored in a cabinet other than the one under the sink.  A 2-tablespoon Bubble Bandit scoop is the right dose for our hard water.

 

[DADoES]

 
I found a photo of the ingredient list on back of a package on Bubble Bandit web site.  A few characters are obscured by wrinkles and light flares.

No enzymes and nothing specific that would be a bleach, although I'm not a chemist ... perhaps one of the ingredients also forms a bleach.

Sodium Carbonate = washing soda
STPP
Sodium Metasilicate - ionic surfactant, water softener & cleaning agent
Sodium Polyacrylate aka "waterlock" - functions to sequester minerals in hard water (also used as an absorbent in disposable diapers and as a thickening agent in gel cleaners & products)
Alcohols C6-[10] Ethoxylated Propoxylated - type of alcohol, probably functions as a rinse aid

 

[ultralux88]

I just split a case of 6 Cascade boxes with a good friend, 3 boxes each at just over $11 a box. Maybe a little more than some detergents, but the results I’ve been getting completely justify any small additional cost. I know some will say you don’t need the STPP in there to get things clean, but in my (others’ may vary) situation experience has shown otherwise.

 

[ultralux88]

Very odd that the bubble bandit doesn’t have chlorine in it, I honestly thought it did! It definitely gets the stains off of things extremely well.

 

[appnut]

I think a lot of its ability to get rid of stains is because of the phosphates.  

 

[ultralux88]

Thats been my theory, I know there's other things about a detergent formula that change how well it works, but I have been giving a lot of credit for the additional cleaning ability of this stuff. It really does seem to be the magic ingredient.

 

[askolover]

I quit using tabs/packs long ago due to sudsing...coming out the bottom of the KUDI23 and onto the floor!  Occasionally will use a Finish powerball tablet with the hard ball and it does "ok".  Miele tabs do ok too.  I tried them because I figured, if a Miele dishwasher with a water softener built in doesn't foam out, maybe my KA won't either with household water softener.  But they don't have chlorine in them.  Palmolive Eco Gel or professional chlorine based powder works best for me.

 

[iiijohnnymaciii]

I use Cascade Platinum

I use Cascade platinum tablets. I checked last night during the middle of the cycle. I only had a thin layer of suds. It could be that my dishwasher uses 2 gal per cycle and dilutes it more. But Cascade platinum tabs seems to be working great. I have a plastic tub and when I don’t use them and just use the new recipe powder I get red stained tub if I wash a red sauce in there. That doesn’t happen with the platinum tablets. If the hard ball finish tablets sud as well, my next solution for you would be to try cascade lime green gel. The lime green is bleach based.