It’s no secret in my house that I cannot live without my dishwasher. When it broke beyond repair a few years back, I was not the happiest person having to wait two weeks to have a new one delivered. The dishwasher and washer/dryer are in a tie for #2, with the coffee maker taking the #1 spot in our house for favorite modern luxury. With that said, I really should have been paying closer attention to what I put into the dishwasher.
I should also tell you that I’m cheap. Frugal, yes, but most definitely cheap. I am brand loyal to maybe a dozen items, but mainly if I think I can get a product for $0.45 cheaper, I’ll do it, or wait for my favorite brand to go on sale. Some things transcend the Scrooge in me, and I will purchase it regardless of sales. Cascade Complete is now one of them.
Strange thing, a few weeks back I was starting to notice that the dishwasher smelled like chemicals and so did all the plasticware coming out of it. Things like the baby’s sippy cups, the only baby bottle we own, and the large straws we use for our Six Flags soda cups (we get $0.99 refills all season long with the cup at the park). Nothing is more disgusting than taking a sip of Coke on a hot day just to find that the straw makes the soda taste like chemicals and you have to toss the entire drink. I had gotten Sun Light dishwasher detergent on sale, but it was making everything I washed with it TASTE bad.
Then, the way that Karma works for me, I received an offer to try out Electrasol and Cascade Complete - how could I say no? I was honestly having an issue with the dishwasher, and this was the perfect time to try something new. A head-to-head comparison of the two, with the brand I had in my cabinet as a third. I thought there would be no difference. I was wrong.
I’ve been using all three now for a few weeks. I got my mom in on the test since she’s been staying with us and helping with dishes after dinner. To our surprise, not only does the Cascade Complete not make my plasticware smell like chemicals, it gets the dishes clean without spots. An added bonus, the dishes are DRY when I open the dishwasher and I don’t have to spend time drying them off by hand before I put them away. That may sound like a little thing, but when you’ve got a baby crying for breakfast, taking an extra 10 minutes to dry dishes (that are supposed to be dry!) every morning is a pain. The Electrasol cleaned the dishes well, but depending on how well I rinsed the plates or how much glassware there was determined how many spots showed up. Plus, I almost always had water left on the plastic (not really the glasses or plates). My Sun Light, forget it. Every time I run the dishwasher with it, I can smell the chemicals in my kitchen. My only problem is now, I have two half-used bottles of dishwasher detergent that I really don’t want to use.
What stared out as a fun experiment turned out to make me into a brand-loyal customer. I guess “Cascade Recommended” is printed inside my dishwasher’s soap dispenser for a reason!
Cascade Complete:
- Pros: No chemical smell, clean dishes well, leaves no spots, removed some coffee stains from inside the dishwasher!
- Cons: Costs about 10% more than the bargain brands.
Electrasol:
- Pros: Cleans dishes well.
- Cons: Slight chemical smell, leaves plasticware wet even after ‘dry cycle’ in dishwasher.
Sun Light:
- Pros: Costs the least out of most major brands.
- Cons: Leaves plastic smelling strongly of chemicals!
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Original post from the Reviews From The Radio blog. This post is an unpaid and unbiased personal review of the products discussed. Disclaimer: The Cascade and Electrasol were gifted to me to be able to write the review. The Sun Light was already in my cabinet. My dishwasher is a Whirlpool QuietTouch II.
Technorati Tags: Cascade, Electrasol, Sun Light, dishwasher detergent
