What’s the best detergent for a Vintage dishwasher?

[thatwasherguy]

Hey everyone! Hope you are all well. I’ve read on here in the past that modern enzyme based detergents are just about worthless in these classic DW’s. I currently have a NOS box of phosphate based Cascade from 2008, so I should be good for a while, but I’d like to find a more permanent solution to this issue. I’ve been looking at some of the commercial phosphate based powder detergents intended for food service, and they seem promising. I would go for Cascade fryer boil out, but it appears to have been discontinued. Is there any specific brand that any of you guys would recommend? Or am I better off buying a gigantic tub of STPP and adding it to modern detergent? If the latter is the best option, what ratio should I mix them at?
Thanks,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[askolover]

I buy premiere chlorinated powder in eBay or from Zoro. Works great in my 94 KitchenAid and my 97 Maytag.

 

[dermacie]

I love the premier detergent, I don’t have a vintage dishwasher, but it works good in my modern one, my glasses and silverware look great too.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

Finish Ultimate

I'd go with Finish Ultimate. Same with Jet Dry.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Don't sweat it. Just add a tablespoon of Sodium Tripolyphosphate to the modern detergent and you will get great results. I have fond that modern detergents with the STPP give much better results with removing starch stains/film from pans. than older formulas.

 

[qsd-dan]

Cascade powder detergent mixed with STPP. Pods/Tabs don't play nice with these machines. Liquid oozes out of the dispensers.

Fool around with dosages by peaking inside the bottom tub near the end of the pre wash and main wash cycles. Cut back dosages if there's too much suds in either of these cycles.

At minimum, disassemble the machine to the drain impeller (inspect that as well) and check for glass and other items in the sump. Inspect the upper wash arm support for play/wear and the fine screen mesh filter for tears or full disintegration. Also confirm it's filling up to the proper water height. Check the blue water distribution tube in the upper rack for disintegration and a loose fit at both ends.

 

[combo52]

Best detergent for older dishwashers

As others have suggested experiment, but the new premium pods work very well in my older whirlpool power cleans for example, if you have harder water and wanna add a little, STPP, you can but be careful because too much detergent will etch things. this is why older dishwashers didn’t last near as long as they do today because of the very caustic detergent that Destroyed the pump seals and the racks, etc., in older dishwashers.

Don’t bother trying to find old phosphate powder detergent. I had about four boxes of it in my house in the mountains because we use so little detergent there and the stuff becomes useless, I have the same whirlpool power clean dishwasher in that house and I was just noticing the horrible performance of it And it turns out that the detergent isn’t any good took some new pod detergent up there and the thing is amazing.

John L

 

[Unimatic1140]

I use Cascade Complete Powder that you can get at Target or Walmart. It works extremely well in my KDS-18 KitchenAid. It is extremely rare to ever have anything that doesn't come out clean.

I use the Walmart advance dishwasher packs in my 1965 Lady Kenmore Roto-rack. They don't work quite as well as the Cascade powder but using two of them, one in each dispenser compartment works just fine. My detergent dispenser in this machine is mounted on the side wall so I can only use detergent packs after adding a large custom window to the front door.

 

[maytaga806]

It truly doesn’t matter. Modern detergent is fine for any dishwasher. It’s not worth paying for overpriced detergent online when you can get good quality detergents from the store. Cascade Finish store brand products all work fine for a machine that uses more water.