Powder, Gel or Actionpacs for dishwasher
I know most of us prefer using powder laundry detergent for different reasons, but what about our dishwashers?
Under my sink I have Cascade powder, Cascade gel & Finish Actionpacs. I prefer the actionpacs for convenience but will use the gel for heavy dirty loads.
Are any of the dishwasher detergents good for the machine (as powder is better for the washer). Maybe it doesn't matter. Unlike laundry, a properly working dishwasher is always running hot water through it & should disolve any detergent.
What about the premium brands made for Miele? I also remember Mama saying she likes Somat.
My goal & reason for this post is for the concern of my dishwasher. I have a 10 year old Kitchen Aid dishwasher. Runs great & no cleaning issues. Last night I took apart the spray arm, filter & disposal. I found 2 little rocks & 1 piece of string. That's not bad for 10 years as I've never taken it apart before. I watched 5 YouTube instructional videos & saw what messes was hiding under the filters. I was absolutely shocked to find mine in such good shape.
Anyway - what detergents do you like? Are the premiums worth it for everyday dishes?
Comments (88)
whirlpool_trainee
8 years agoLarsi, how dare you to feed your dog leftovers?! It needs to be fresh, fresh, fresh! Cue: Germany's most spoiled dog, Bella, waiting for her share...
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Dishwasher Detergent and Products
Comments (133)I decided to do a patent search on DW detergent to see if I could find any information about the use of detergent tablets. The search turned up all kinds of information about DW detergents and patents granted to P&G, Palmolive and Reckitt Benckiser. Almost all companies state that the use of tablets provides easier dosing, and less storage and transportation costs. I wonder which is really important to them, the ease of dosage or reducing storage and transportation costs. Multi layer tablets solve some problems due to the fact that it keeps some components separate from each other avoiding reaction, instability and exhaustion of the components before they are even used, and some components are damaged by the compression used to make tablets so putting them together in layers helps prevent this. Given this I wonder if they can mix this stuff together into a powder? I know they could, but would it be as effective? Dishwasher Pacs are described as a tablet also, just that one compartment of them may contain a gel which may contain hydrogenated castor oil as a thickening agent. Oil this is the reason my hands were oily when I bought a bag of Cascade 2n1 action pacs reached in and found that some of them were busted, pulled my hand out and it was full of oil. P&G and Reckit Bencisker approach etching a little differently in that P&G uses insoluble zinc salts and RB uses a variety of soluble materials and could use zirconium, titanium and other things. RB also claims to add water soluble glass components to their mixtureI guess to help replace components that get worn away from washing. One patent for DW Gel stated that the Gel was developed because water was known to leak into the detergent cup during the dishwasher pre wash and once there would mix with the detergent and cause a very high alkalinity and a breakdown of the detergent before it was released into the main wash. The Gel worked because it had a higher surface tension and the water leakage was not consequential.Hmm never heard about this--I thought it just supposed to be convenient. If I remember correctly I had a Dw that you could not use a gel in because it would be oozing out of the cup during the prewash.so I guess water could run in also. I found something interesting in a P&G patent that was dealing with the use of enzymes. The information stated that chorine bleach required manufactures to use special processing and storage precautions to protect compounds and it caused some damage to metal rims on china and silverware, but that there was no known surfactant that could perform its function which was to prevent the formation and deposition of troublesome proteins and protein grease complexes on hard surfaces during the washing process. These statements make me wonder if this is the reason I get identical cleaning results from ElectraSol powder containing chlorine bleach and almost any other detergent containing enzymes. Both of these clean just fine for me. In the patents all companies give a series of scenarios and ingredients they MAY use in the products and they dont necessary state that they are using any method but they do state a preferred scenarioso no one can ever really tell what they are doing, but you can get an idea of the compounds involved. I found the search interesting and it seems that this is just one big research field in which all companies know a lot about the background and chemistry involved and are merely tweaking things by building on the past which makes sense. I did not do a complete exhaustive search so there may be other patents that are newer than the ones I found which are dated from about 1990 to 2003. The above comments about the information are mine. If you want to get the details you should do the patent search. Good stuff if you are interested in wading through it....See MoreBosch dishwasher leaving gel like residue
Comments (8)Here is the final update, we washed the dishwasher with the "Finish" Machine cleaner, it removed 90% of it but 10% which is at the bottom of the dishwasher was not removed. It was still there behind some parts, so we had to unscrew each part and clean it manually. The dishwasher now looks sparkling clean, it has got rid of the soap scum. We were cleaning out dishwasher once in every 6-8 weeks by removing the parts with hand, never tried to unscrew each part, I was not aware about this liquid. Also I changed my detergent to a tablet instead of the liquid. I would use the blue liquid every month to clean the dishwasher. Wish I knew about it before....See MoreDishwasher powder + STPP.... :) :) :)
Comments (29)Larsi, I hope you can report the brand/model info. of the GFCI to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, maybe send it to them-these are supposed to save lives and prevent hazards, and to default to a non-operational state if protection circuitry fails. Clearly not what happened in your situation. Where I live, BC Canada, most GFCI's now seem to be "CIC", Crafted in China, even the brand names you recognize for electrical components. Luckily you were there, able to respond appropriately, and equipped with the fire extinguisher. Several what ifs lined up for the best outcome of a bad situation. Pity about the Somat, they are pricy aren't they?...See MoreSunlight Dishwasher Powder by Lever Brothers
Comments (29)Alex- is your dishwasher the Miele Diamond? Do you have the grates and filters cycle? OMG I put in a horrible large roasting pan that I overcooked chicken, vegetables and rice in. I couldn't scrape the food off even with a metal spoon. I figured what the he**, try the grates and filters cycle. Yes it ran for almost 3 hours but at the speed and temperature that engages with the "short" option on cycles. I used a Cascade platinum pod and still figured there was no chance as it was by far the worst thing I have ever put into a dishwasher. The sides were burnt , the rice was stuck I mean really bad. I opened the dishwasher and the roaster was absolutely spotless. Not a speck of anything on it. It was a white pyrex dish. The dishwasher was blazing hot on the outside and my granite was hot above the unit. This is now my go to cycle for horribly dirty dishes like what I have described. I am not even sure my GE 2800 Potscrubber would have removed the hot mess inside that pan. I was stunned. I was mad that I didn't take a before and after picture....See MorePawprint
8 years ago
Cavimum
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoLOVE all your doggie pre-rinse pics! LOLz!!!!!
Our current dog is one step ahead of that. Here she is, waiting to lick her doggie-daddy's breakfast dish. (she wears a snood to keep her ears from getting into her own wet food).
She waits patiently . . . stalking her prey . . . staring him down . . . knowing that persistence will (because it always does!) pay off . . .
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javiwa
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoLooks like Target is running a 'Buy 2 Get 1" promo (out of stock online, however) -- is this a good price (~ $0.14/load)?
Finish is touted as having "glass protection...Recommended by renowned glass manufacturers...help prevent glass corrosion." Cascade gel etches my glasses terribly, and I find myself resorting to hand washing our glass items. Can anyone comment?
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javiwa
8 years agosandy -- I'm assuming it's glass etching and not hard water deposits as we have a water softener and notice no deposits on anything else that gets run through the DW. I've even tried soaking the glasses in vinegar, CLR, etc., then scrubbing (inside and out). Haze remains.
LOL...we've now moved from photos of stained t-shirt armpits to foggy glasses! Whadya think? (Sorry, sshrivastava! We meander where the conversation takes us.)
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7 years ago
larsi_gw