Do you use powder or gel detergent in your dishwasher?
By jesssp
@jesssp (2712)
Canada
October 5, 2010 4:15pm CST
I have always used a gel or liquid detergent in my dishwasher. I always thought that powdered detergents wouldn't really 'work' with our super hard water, just like powdered laundry detergent. Plus when we moved in to our new house the dishwasher was all but destroyed from powder detergent - it was absolutely CAKED with hardened powder. After we replaced our hot water heater and got a water softener I decided to try a powder since I had a sample package. WOW!
Now I've officially converted to powder. I really don't think it's much cheaper (although you can get no name powder and I don't usually see no name liquid) but it was crazy how much cleaner the dishes were. I was starting to think that I hated my new dishwasher but now I realize it's just because it works better with powder. Everything's cleaner and there's no stuck on food bits on the dishes in the top rack.
So do you use powder or liquid and why? Have you had any bad experiences with either?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
8 Oct 10
Currently I am using liquid detergent in my dishwasher because I really didn't think it was doing a very good job when I was using the powder. However, I attribute a lot of that to the fact that it is an older, portible dishwasher. We have a dishwasher that we need to have installed in our kitchen and I probably will go back to using powder once we get that into our kitchen because the new one is a lot more modern.
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
6 Oct 10
When I had a dishwasher I used powder. The liquid would seep out of the receptacle almost immediately.
I don't have a dishwasher right now, although I would really like to have one. I live in a house built in 1923 and the kitchen was last redone in the 70's! I might get one in the future if I can find a portable one that I can roll in from the back porch or store somewhere out of site. I don't want to sacrifice my cupboard space!
@jesssp (2712)
• Canada
19 Oct 10
When we first went house hunting we looked at a few older houses that had portable dishwashers in them. You can actually get pretty nice ones, they usually have a wood top and can act like a modular counter top. I am so used to my dishwasher now that I don't think I could live without it. And I just read something the other day that said you actually use less water in a dishwasher than you do by washing them by hand!
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
6 Oct 10
When I had one I used liquid or those gel tabs. I dunno I think I had powder stuck to the inside of the lil dispenser many times. But you are right there isn't much of a cost savings between powder or liquid. But I will say the national brands did do a better job. Now if I had a dishwasher that could handle the job of the dishes here, now that's another discussion ;0)
@jesssp (2712)
• Canada
6 Oct 10
The dishwasher that came with our house was absolutely CAKED in powder. It took forever to get it clean, I literally had to chip it off in some places. I never tried the powder before we replaced our hot water heater but something tells me the temperature of the water makes a huge difference. It needs to be hot enough to dissolve the powder completely, and our new water heater definitely does that!
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
6 Oct 10
I no longer have a dishwasher, but when I did I could not use the powder. It would just sit there and turn into a caked mess. Maybe it's because I used the cheap stuff, I don't remember. All I know is I used gel all the time after that.
@jesssp (2712)
• Canada
6 Oct 10
The dishwasher that came with the house was covered in caked powder too. I think maybe it's more to do with the temperature of the water than anything. I always just used the gel too and couldn't believe that the powder even worked. I kind of want to try a store brand just to see what it'll do!
@maezee (41996)
• United States
5 Oct 10
I don't know what works better, but we've always used the powder stuff. I've never tried the liquid stuff. But I would like to try the little packet things with both in them (or whatever). I don't think we have hard water where I live.. But it seems like dishes always have to be "pre-washed" so that they turn out clean. lol.
