What is your choice for Dishwasher Detergent?

[~sudsshane]

I am currently using Sunlight powder which is a decent product.
I also have a box of Electrasol 2in1 tabs with the "jet dry" ball.

GadgetSwitch recommended Wal-Mart's Great Value Dishwasher Powder..any thoughts on this?

What does everyone use?...Powder,Gel,Tabs or gelpacks??

 

[zipdang]

Hey Shane! Usually I use Trader Joe's Next To Godliness powder or Whole Foods 365 powder. Both work quite well for me and are very reseaonably priced. Lately I've been using Bi-O-Kleen powder with oxygen bleach, and it does a decent job, too. (Plus it comes in a plastic canister which keeps the moisture out and prevents clumpiness when stored under the sink.)

Oh, and I have a Bosch, very soft water (1/2 grain), and I use rinse aid. I'm not sure how well the eco-friendly detergents perform in hard water.

Several months ago I participated in a product test for Ecover tablets. They worked really well, but are very expensive, and I think equally good detergents are available for much less.

 

[oxydolfan1]

"GadgetSwitch recommended Wal-Mart's Great Value Dishwasher Powder..any thoughts on this?"

Yep, and it works perfectly for me! Much happier with it than the Electrosol 2 in 1 tabs. I also use a small amount in with my white laundry after Venus' recommendation, and it excels there as well. Definitely my favorite dishwasher detergent powder, and affordable too!

When I use a gel, the only one I've had luck with in my soft water is the Palmolive with Vinegar gel in the purple bottle.
Bear in mind, I have an old-school GE dishwasher that uses water by the oceanful, though, and that might more to do with the good results than anything else.

 

[bellalaundry]

I go between,

two. I use Citri-Solve, a non clorine brand, and Somat (german brand) tabs. Does anyone else use any format of Somat?

I find both brands do a great job (so far) with anything that I throw at them.

Guy

 

[~sudsshane]

Hi David!

I too have a Bosch.. Wish I could remove this glare on the pic, but my camera phone sucks! =)

 

[~sudsshane]

pic 2

 

[~sudsshane]

pic 3

 

[~sudsshane]

Hi David!

Do we have the same model dishwasher?

 

[joeekaitis]

Target's house brand or Stater Bros. house brand. Any house brand that's confident enough to list a "compare to" brand.

And I have one thing to say about $1 Sunlight dishwasher powder from Walgreen's:

Don't.

 

[~sudsshane]

$1.00 Sunlight Powder??

I was ripped off!! I paid $3.99 for mine at Publix. =)

 

[zipdang]

Do we have the same model dishwasher?

Yes, I think we do! Mine's a SHU66C05UC/14.

 

[zipdang]

I think yours might be newer (mine was installed in January 2003), as the top rack in mine doesn't have the hand-grip like yours.

 

[sudsmaster]

Great looking Bosches, boyz. I have a MOL model, works great.

Been using the Kirkland enzyme powder. Works well enough, except for the occasional enzyme (I think) odor at the end of a wash. Generally doesn't happen if I go light on the detergent amount.

Consumer Reports consistently gives the Walmart Great Value powder top marks. I have tried it but didn't see that it cleaned any better than the Kirkland stuff. But when I run out of the Kirkland (somebody keeps on buying it in two-packs) I'll give the Wally World stuff another go.

 

[zipdang]

Kirkland stuff

Sudsmaster, I'm not sure I know of the Kirkland version that comes in a two-pack. Have only seen the one that comes in the huge bucket. Do you know if they are the same formula?

I'll bet your MOL Bosch cleans every bit as well as the ones Shane and I have. Seems like typically the differences are rack design and cycle choices, which shouldn't really affect overall performance.

 

[panthera]

Walmart, definitely

When I am in Germany, I use Somat. That 30% phosphate formula + enzymes + oxygen bleach = 100% clean, no pre-rinsing or scrubbing of anything.
But when I am in the US the best of the castrated stuff is one with tons of enzymes. And the cheapest is from Walmart.
Ecover, by the way, has improved a lot over the years. It is the alternative/natural, 'organic' cleaner of choice for wealthy people who like to think they are 'saving' the environment.
Their first automatic dishwasher detergent caused several breakdowns and equipment failures back in the early 90's. They learned from it and their detergent today is ok.
Funny, some folks just have to have something 'exclusive'...
European detergents, unless they are the 3in1 or 5in1 (or now, 7in1) tabs, are made to work in the softened water of European dishwashers. They might not work as well as expected here in the US.

 

[mrcleanjeans]

Here comes the Sun(light)

Joe,the 1.oo product is SUNsations poder,not Sunlight,and yes the 1.00 stuff is horrible.

 

[joeekaitis]

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

That was the brand. I couldn't remember the second and third syllables.

 

[mrcleanjeans]

Nice 'n' Bright with Calgonite

As I mentioned in another post,Calgonite powder,fully phosphated was far and away the VERY,VERY,VERY best stuff ever.The glassware in particular glistened and sparkled as if an electric buffer was taken to them.Today's enzymatic detergents may have an edge on baked on,super encrusted globules of soil over those old chlorinated varieties,but they ,overall are NOT good at disinfecting or at coffee and tea stain removal or at tomato stained plastic tubs,and still cannot produce that level of gleam.Besides,the RCA Whirlpool FP50 one level wash action could get virtually any dish clean.It was a 1959 TL portable that I had in the late 70s when this Calgonite was out.But I still saw lower performance with any other brand of soap,especially Palmolive Crystal Clear.

 

[logixx]

For years, I have been using Somat exclusively. Now, I'm trying different detergents. Since we got our new dishwasher, I've tried Calgonit powder (cleans just a good as Somat), Calgonit PowerGel with enzymes (again, no cleaning complains), Calgonit Quantum (great cleaning but causes sudsing due to the built-in rinse aid) and finally Claro 7-in-1 tabs (not overly impressed with it's cleaning but didn't cause sudsing).

I'm also using the new Calgonit Turbo Dry "drying agent", which seems to work but I'm not fully satisfied yet. (see link below)

FYI: Calgonit is made by Reckitt Benckiser and Claro is the same company that also makes the Miele tabs.

Claro 7-in-1, PowerGel, regular powder, Quantum

Have you tried Turbo Dry?--Jerrod--Others

Yesterday I was in the grocery store and noticed a new Jet Dry liquid called Turbo Dry. In fact the usual Jet dry says rinse aid but this says "drying agent". It says it gives superior drying even on plastics. Today I called Reckitt-Benckiser and asked the lady about it. She said that the...

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