I love my dishwasher. I love putting everything as it gets used in there and not having to watch it pile up in the sink, or on the counter. I love starting it before I go to bed and waking up to clean, fresh smelling dishes. Ahhhhh.
What I don't love is getting dishwasher detergent. It can be pricey. I did make my own recently, and while I do think it worked well enough, I do think that the store bought stuff does seem to have something extra, especially in my hard water area. Of course, store bought is expensive, but I can get it for a decent price by combining coupons with sales.
The two dishwasher detergents that most frequently appear in my house are Cascade and Electrasol. Occasionally Palmolive or a generic will appear, but I generally stick with Cascade or Electrasol.
Cascade is my favorite. It really does seem to get the dishes very clean, and you can use far less than the recommended amount. I've also found that the scent makes the whole kitchen smell good. It's there, and not overpowering at all. They offer several great scents. I've never had problems with water spots with Cascade, and even in my hard water area, I don't need to add vinegar to the rinse. I'm not the only one who loves it. However, I do not have as much luck finding decent coupons for the regular type. The super duper shiny with twenty extra dish polishing polymers type is almost always out of the question, even with coupons, and those are about the only coupons I see these days. I don't buy it nearly as often as I would like. Really, if the price came down and/or better coupons were offered, I would never even look at another brand.
Electrasol cleans well enough. It is not as great as Cascade, leaves a few water spots, and needs the vinegar rinse in my hard water area. It smells nice, and comes in several types- they have liquid, powder, and tabs. I prefer the liquid and powder, because I generally use less than the recommended amount, and I can't do that if it a tablet! The edge that Electrasol has for frugal me is that I can get it for very little, after combining coupons and sales. Usually I buy the best quality I can afford, but since we use a lot of dishwasher detergent over time, and Electrasol cleans well enough, I usually go with it. Or I use homemade detergent, which also does a pretty good job. It's sure not Cascade though.
Those of you who have dishwashers, what is your favorite detergent?
10 comments:
Great minds think alike! I just did my review at my Modern Homemaker Blog. I find that getting the REALLY big Cascade saves me big in the long run, and I only use half what the dish holds, except for the most sioled loads...it will last me a good 6 weeks up to 3 months that way...
Oops...that should be soiled. :)
I've used the Wal-Mart brand for quite a while now, and really like it. It rated high with Consumer Reports, and it's normally at a really good price. Something to try when you can't find good coupons. :)
I use Kirkland from Costco. Before that I would only use Cascade, Kirkland is not quite as good as Cascade, but its better than anything else I've tried, and for the price, its worth the difference. I still don't have to prerinse dishes, but there is the occasional water spot I didn't get with Cascade.
Yes, I like Cascade and Electrasol the best too, so fun to read your post. I haven't tried the walmart brand and should. I notice the powders sometimes cause a buildup or film on the dishes, which Cascade seems to remove if I use that every once in awhile or especially if I have a load with lots of glass. Is it worth it for the Cascade if you don't have to rewash items? Just a thought.
I share the same experiences and thoughts with dish detergents.
Although, we have not had to "buy" dishwasher detergent for a year. That's because we have been able to purchase Electrasol Tabs (works best for our dishwasher) for FREE or up to .50 cents each. This is accomplished by watching the sales, combining with coupons, and then rebates(you know how that works). :)
So of course we use Electrasol, but prefer Cascade.
I use the 'Truly' store brand sold by Zellers (I think the US equivalent would be Kmart). It's cheap and does the job well. I never pre-rinse and have had only a three or four things come out unclean in the six months I've been using my dishwasher. I once got some Cascade tablets and I liked how easy they were to use, but I didn't notice an improvement in cleaning quality.
We use Ecover. Not cheap, but it's a green alternative that my husband really likes! Unfortunately, we can only get it in tablets, so probably use more than we really need to. :( But it's the best we've ever had of any brand!
I just recently- like in the last couple weeks- switched to Cascade. I was using the Aldi brand, Reeva, and, while at Costco picked up the REALLY big Cascade box- and discovered I only needed to use half as much Cascade as Reeva to get the dishes even cleaner! I did the math, and it works out that Cascade is cheaper because I use less of it!
I really like Trader Joe's dishwasher detergent - it works great and is much cheaper than other brands. Of course, you have to live near a Trader Joe's...
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