5 ms·

> - why dishwasher detergent packs are stupid (use powder/liquid) ? I thought that powder and liquid for dishwashers have come out worse on any consumer report

by oezi 4y ago

> - why dishwasher detergent packs are stupid (use powder/liquid) ? I thought that powder and liquid for dishwashers have come out worse on any consumer reports test (at least here in Germany).

mschild 4y ago
Detergent packs in the US seem to be mostly gel packs. In Germany, most tabs are simply hard pressed powder. Gel packs did fail in their cleaning function and the recommendation generally goes for either tabs or powder, where powder can save you money because you set the dosage according to how full your dishwasher is.
- lupire 4y ago
  Fine tuning powder per wash sounds like overoptimization. Just useing powder instead of tabs will save most of the money.
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    But I save time by pouring in less when less is needed.
  - oezi 4y ago
    Prepackaged tabs with self-disolving packaging is actually the cheapest if you assign a non-zero amount of money to your own time.
    - kortex 4y ago
      How much extra time does it take to dump out some powder? I don't actually measure precisely and just eyeball it. The advantage is I can dump some extra in the bay to act as pre-wash. The cost is 4-10x more for the self-dissolving packs.
      - sokoloff 4y ago
        I looked on Amazon at Cascade powder ($0.22/oz in large packages) and the same name tablets ($0.30/tablet in large packages). A load with powder is typically 0.75 oz. ($0.165/load) or about 55% the cost, not 10-25% the cost. Being able to dump in extra for pre-wash is an advantage to powder for sure.
WastingMyTime89 4y ago
Most dishwashers are designed to do a pre-wash, change the water, then do a wash. Pre-wash requires detergent to work optimally, ideally one specifically designed for pre-washing. Even dishwashers which have no pre-wash detergent dispenser will typically tell you to add some detergent directly on the door in the instruction manual. Most packs are suboptimal for that. Technically they should be used in addition to pre-wash detergent but that kind of defeats the point of using a pack.
- oezi 4y ago
  Packs should be put in the dispenser so they don't act during prewash.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  Best advice I learned from that channel was to run the sink faucet until it’s hot. Then run the dishwasher so it starts its cycle with actually hot water.
  - oezi 4y ago
    A good dishwasher (based on testing) will never need some manual tinkering like this.
  - blacksmith_tb 4y ago
    Hmm, dishwashers I have had (including my current one) have a large heating element in the bottom, I would have thought that could heat the relatively small volume of water in there pretty quickly?
  - zo1 4y ago
    Most (actually all) dishwashers that I've encountered are designed to not get hot water coming in. Where I live a high-pressure hot-water outlet is not the norm at all. And yet, we don't have a catastrophic country-wide problem with dirty dishes. I'd argue that something else it at play.
    - 4y ago

by oezi 4y ago

> - why dishwasher detergent packs are stupid (use powder/liquid) ? I thought that powder and liquid for dishwashers have come out worse on any consumer reports test (at least here in Germany).

mschild 4y ago

Detergent packs in the US seem to be mostly gel packs. In Germany, most tabs are simply hard pressed powder. Gel packs did fail in their cleaning function and the recommendation generally goes for either tabs or powder, where powder can save you money because you set the dosage according to how full your dishwasher is.

lupire 4y ago
Fine tuning powder per wash sounds like overoptimization. Just useing powder instead of tabs will save most of the money.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  But I save time by pouring in less when less is needed.
- oezi 4y ago
  Prepackaged tabs with self-disolving packaging is actually the cheapest if you assign a non-zero amount of money to your own time.
  - kortex 4y ago
    How much extra time does it take to dump out some powder? I don't actually measure precisely and just eyeball it. The advantage is I can dump some extra in the bay to act as pre-wash. The cost is 4-10x more for the self-dissolving packs.
    - sokoloff 4y ago
      I looked on Amazon at Cascade powder ($0.22/oz in large packages) and the same name tablets ($0.30/tablet in large packages). A load with powder is typically 0.75 oz. ($0.165/load) or about 55% the cost, not 10-25% the cost. Being able to dump in extra for pre-wash is an advantage to powder for sure.

WastingMyTime89 4y ago

Most dishwashers are designed to do a pre-wash, change the water, then do a wash. Pre-wash requires detergent to work optimally, ideally one specifically designed for pre-washing. Even dishwashers which have no pre-wash detergent dispenser will typically tell you to add some detergent directly on the door in the instruction manual. Most packs are suboptimal for that. Technically they should be used in addition to pre-wash detergent but that kind of defeats the point of using a pack.

oezi 4y ago
Packs should be put in the dispenser so they don't act during prewash.
Scoundreller 4y ago
Best advice I learned from that channel was to run the sink faucet until it’s hot. Then run the dishwasher so it starts its cycle with actually hot water.
- oezi 4y ago
  A good dishwasher (based on testing) will never need some manual tinkering like this.
- blacksmith_tb 4y ago
  Hmm, dishwashers I have had (including my current one) have a large heating element in the bottom, I would have thought that could heat the relatively small volume of water in there pretty quickly?
- zo1 4y ago
  Most (actually all) dishwashers that I've encountered are designed to not get hot water coming in. Where I live a high-pressure hot-water outlet is not the norm at all. And yet, we don't have a catastrophic country-wide problem with dirty dishes. I'd argue that something else it at play.
  - 4y ago