What is your choice for Dishwasher Detergent?

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David (Zip),

I'm surprised you haven't seen the two boxes of Kirkland powder bundled together with a plastic wrapping. The price is considerably less than that of the similar size single box of Cascade Complete (that is, 1/2 the price per oz). I haven't seen any buckets of the Kirkland powder, but, then, I haven't had to buy any dw detergent for some time now so I haven't looked recently.

Boyz, most of the major DW detergent powders sold in the US still contain lots of phosphates. All they have done is to substitute enzymes for chlorine bleach - which seem to work better at removing food particles than the chlorine did. The removal of the chlorine probably has something to do with environmental concerns, I suppose. I can still find chlorinated dw detergent at my local Mexican grocery. It's the "Power House" brand, made by Personal Care Products in the USA. The price was $2.29 for a 30 oz box. I use this on the rare occasions when I fire up the '58 KA top loader dw, as I feel the short wash cycle probably doesn't give enzymes enough time to do their thing. I've also tried some of those little rubbery packets of enzyme detergent plus rinse aid and haven't noticed a whole lot of difference in the KA results. The trick is to keep them from getting wet and leaky during the prewash part of the cycle.
 
I don't think the removal of chlorine had much to do wit

I'm assuming that they took it out because plastics tend to permanently take on the smell of chlorine. My family had a set of melamine dishes and glassware in the early '70s, and it all ended up smelling strongly of chlorine once we got a dishwasher. We ended up replacing them with Corelle ware.
 
That's interesting....

I've had good results with Sunsations.

However, I usually use Cascade powder, either Complete or Pure Rinse (less expensive). I prefer their current scents to the original, vaguely pine scent of years ago.

I have used the Wal*Mart Great Value powder, and it does work well, however, I just have trouble giving Wal*Mart any money at all. Just do not like the place.

I am very glad to hear that the Target dishwasher detergent has improved. Next time I am at Bullseye Boutique, I am sure a box of it will leap into my cart.

I've had a flirtation with the Electrosol 3-in-1 tablets, but they suds so fiercely in my GE Nautilus.

When I'm through with the box, I won't get another.
Other than the sudsing, they work pretty well.

I tried the Cascade packets, and they were perfectly ok, but I went back to the powder.

As I said before, I miss the original American Calgonite of years ago.

I've thought of giving the Seventh Generation powder a try, but the store here in Kent that has it wants nearly 8.00 USD for the 45 ounce box. !!

As for rinse aides, I just get whichever is on special, or whichever I have a coupon for. I have a strong guess that they are more alike than different.

The Jet Dry basket ones are cute, however. Ater a few years, the dispenser on our first Maytag went, and I just used the Jet Dry baskets.

Kent City Water is just hard enough to make a rinse aide desirable, though not strictly necessary. Last I knew, it was around 4 grains per gallon.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
I like the Electrasol 2 in 1 tabs except for having to remove the little wrapper and discard it each time. I buy the 75 tab round container whenever I find it on sale like 2 weeks ago at Costco, $8 each which will last me for months. I tried the Cascade Gel with Dawn tabs a few weeks ago and they worked well though I saw no difference except that you don't have that little wrapper to remove and toss.
 
I like Electrasol too!

I have some of the 2-in-1 tabs, used those in the old Kenmore... since I put the KDS17a in use last year I have been using regular Electrasol powder, and I am pleased with the results.
 
I think the age of Melamine dishware came and went long before mfg's removed chlorine from dw detergent. Melamine tends to absorb odors and stains from many different things. It may have kitch collectable charm but as a material for dishes it left a lot to be desired, in my humble opinion. Corelle on the other hand is great stuff and so far none of it has made its way into pet food :-).
 
David, my soul sista.....

Mind me asking what you guys paid for yours?..We got ours for about $1100 at Southeast Steel...
 
Walmart Great Value is excellent for the $$$...Cascade paks with Dawn are the best I have ever used. They are great for dirty, greasy dishloads. I have used the Sunsations brand as well, and it works well also...can't beat it for $1.00. I agree that chlorinated detergents are better for coffee stained cups, but they are not recommended for stainless steel tub dishwashers...they will dull the finish after a while. Electrasol gelpacs do poorly, unless they have changed the formulation.
 
Chlorine versus Oxygen Bleach & Enzymes

Chlorine is a very effective bleaching agent and activates at low temperatures. The downside is that it is somewhat aggressive on certain metals, decoration and glassware. It has also been linked to the formation of toxic dioxins in waterways.

The enzymes used in dishwasher detergents are typically Amylase for starchy residues, and Protease for protein based remains. The function of enzymes is to 'crack' the adhesive stains' bonds, so that other components in the detergent can 'sweep' the remains away.

Oxygen bleach is typically percarbonate. It has poorer bleaching effects than chlorine bleach. It works best in hotter temperatures, though a bleach activator is usually added to allow the bleach to work to a certain degree, in cooler phases of the wash. Tea stains, and in particular tomato sauce stains on plastic, can be virtually impossible to remove with oxygen based bleach. They do fade with chlorine based detergents; but may take several cycles for there to be a noticeable improvement.
 
In my vintage dishwashers (I haven't used a modern dishwasher in years) Cascade 2 in 1 Action Packs with Dawn by far out clean anything else. They have a new version supposedly with bleach, but that version doesn't seem to work as well as the blue, orange or red ones.

8-4-2007-21-16-49--Unimatic1140.jpg
 
Sista Shane....

I think we paid around $1,200, which included installation. We sold the Whirlpool that our builder put in (it had only been used for three weeks) which helped offset the price of the Bosch a little.
 
There is a lovely

product called Cascade Plastic Booster.....

It is a gel of Benzoyl Peroxide that is used to eliminate red stains on plastics and brighten plastic dishwasher liners.

It works very well.

It eliminated some rather set-in carrot stains on a white plastic cutting board that I thought had been set in with boiling water. (Long story).

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
I vary between the Wal Mart brand and the Cascade Pure Rinse formula and have been quite pleased. Both work incredibly well in my KA, which was probably one of the last pre tall tub models and it is around 8 years old. Occasionally I do need to a bit of chlorine bleach on certain loads,especially if I have been working with eggs. I have a sensitive nose and even after the dishes are clean, I can still detect a slight egg smell. Of course I notice that on "hand washed" dishes as well. Same thing with chicken, by the way... One way around that is to rinse the affected dishes in cold water with a bit of bleach, then do them in the dishwasher.

Anyway, if I do the bleach thing in the DW, I use it in the prewash which is short so I haven't noticed any dulling of the stainless tub yet.

On the vintage side - I miss "Dishwasher All" That actually worked quite well in our 1970's GE waterhog.
 
I'm with Robert the Cascade 2 in 1 packs are the best in my machine. I like the blue or orange. The ones with bleach as Robert said don't make any difference other than making your dishwasher smell like bleach. I just can't stand the smell of the red ones. I'm definitely a no rinse person and if I have an extremely dirty load or a really huge load I will toss one in the washer and one in the dispenser at the beginning of the pots and pans cycle. Just in case.
 
We use Electasol Powder (no scent), Great Value (no scent) and Cascade Complete on occasion.

Even though these detergents are not marked as being unscented, they arent't orange, or lemon, or lime, or fruit scented at all.

The only lemon scent I like is in the lemon oil you put on your wood furniture.
 

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