Which dishwasher detergent ?

trigger2

Hi

We move house in 2 weeks and the kitchen has an inbuilt dishwasher, (looks ancient admittedly). I've never had one so am a bit perplexed about what to use in it ? There are so many products - all in ones, powder, rinse aid, liquid. We are in a soft water area. The only time I used one before, on holiday, I had to rinse everything first otherwise it came out still dirty. Was it just me ?

I know it's a fairy minor query, and I know I should be packing boxes, but ........ !!

Cheers all


trigger

charliee_3

i normally get whichever one is on special offer, but i must admit none seem to work as well as finish quantum but they are hideously expensive if you cant get a deal.. im using fairy all-in-ones at the moment and they are ok but nowhere near as good as the finish, the glasses often come out with grit on and the plastic has all gone orange which never happened before. i do clean out the machine regularly and the only thing different is the detergent, so it does make a difference...

i have been lucky a couple of times.. supermarkets have a BOGOF or similar but if you look some of the packets may already have 33% extra free or similar.. last time i got 2 packs of the fancy fairy ones with 33% extra free for half price.. so 3 packs for the price of 1 essentially! i did the same with the quantums when i had them.. watching out for the next deal now...

ChapelGirl

Dishwashers are like washing machines or cars in that there are ones which are efficient and economical and others which are not so good.

Most of the ones I have had have worked OK but might struggle with a really burnt-on pan or oven dish, so it pays to put them in the sink to soak first, or even wash them by hand separately. If you are intending to leave the washing up until the next day some machines have a pre-rinse option which will stop the food getting dried on overnight.

NB - never EVER put anodised aluminium bakeware in the dishwasher, as the salts in the detergent will take the surface off. Likewise, don't ever put lead crystal glassware in there.

I have tried budget powders and rinse-aids from Lidl and top-of-the-range Finish tablets. The Finish etc. seem to have the edge as far as leaving glasses sparkling and streak-free with no residues.

I have had some glassware spoilt in that it can develop a milky bloom. I am not sure if this is a build up of salt deposits or if the glass has been etched by the chemicals, but I think probably the latter.

If you have enough storage space you can often find bargains in the supermarkets with boxes of higher-end tablets, and occasionally you get boxes where the packaging is damaged and they are reduced. But if any tablets are missing you need to get out your calculator to work out if it's really such a bargain after all!

jcr16

i've always found even of the tablet says it contains salt and rinse aid you do still need to buy it. I use whatever tablets are on offer but lately i have been using lidl cheap ones and they are fantastic.

i love the finish products but are very expensive, so when on offer stock up.

before you buy loads of products might be worth checking first that it does work properly. be a shame to stock up on bargains to move in and find out it doens't work.

thifty

thanks for posting this trigger as I am in exactly the same situation and had been wondering the same myself! I have heard some OSers say they snapped tablets in half. Does this work?

janeym8

for years i bought the cheapest tablets/powder/liquid that i could but found more and more was having to do a double run with each load plus soak and wash things even after that as they were not getting clean and had deposits on them.i used finish dishwasher cleaner at that time as well
i found a real bargain on finish tablets one day in home bargains and now would not buy anything else as i guess once i added up all the costs of electricity and wear and tear of all those extra loads finish prob cheaper option
hubby is very surprised at this as he knows i usually go for all cheaper options of cleaning things eg supermarket own brands etc

janey xxx

janeym8

BTW
forgot to mention Lidl have either this week or next finish tablets on offer at £3.50 i think-usually £5 cant remember how many tabs you get though and have deleted email from them

janey xxx

maman

jcr16 wrote: »

i've always found even of the tablet says it contains salt and rinse aid you do still need to buy it. I use whatever tablets are on offer but lately i have been using lidl cheap ones and they are fantastic.

i love the finish products but are very expensive, so when on offer stock up.

before you buy loads of products might be worth checking first that it does work properly. be a shame to stock up on bargains to move in and find out it doens't work.

I'm very happy with the separate own brand products from Lidl especially the salt in the box with a pourer. Except for any burned on things (which I soak first) everything comes out lovely and clean from my dishwasher. Glasses do 'bloom' after a time but everyday kitchen glasses are so cheap these days that when they get really unsightly I just put them in recycling.

maryb

There was a thread which I now can't find which had a dishwasher engineer saying he found that using separate powder, rinse aid and salt caused fewest problems in the long run. I prefer to use powder because it's easier to vary the amount depending on how dirty the load is. I use about a tablespoonful of the cheapest powder I can get which is usually Tesco's discount brand now that Lidl's have stopped doing powder (they now only do tablets). Everything comes out really well and if occasionally it doesn't it's usually because it needs salt or rinse aid not the powder.

I find I do need to keep an eye on the strainer and remember to empty it - DD2 thinks scraping plates before she puts them in is too much like hard work. (Actually she thinks anything to do with loading or unloading the dishwasher is an infingement of her right to do as little as possible!!!)

rosekitten

finish Quantom are the best of the
lot I just make a point of stocking
up when they are on offer.
Homebargains have the box of 21 for £2.99
often on offer for half price somewhere
or with either 50% or even 100% free.
Best buy on these was Asda box of 24
for £1.25,bought 15 boxes has kept me
going for ages.

My main reason for buyng them is that
I use the eco wash all the time,its a
35c wash cycle that only takes 35 mins and
Quantom are the only tablets that work on
low temp cycles like this.

julietiff

I buy the one in poundland which when you look at the side
panal says it is finish