70-Count Finish Powerball QUANTUM Infinity Shine Dishwasher Detergent Tablets

Tabs are for sure more profitable especially the expensive ones, my contention is just that people who promote powder over tabs always bring up the prewash argument which means they are filling the prewash section of their dishwasher which in turn means they are using a total of aroudn 3 ounces of powder per wash. So that makes it comparable to the cost per load of a tab. You can't do the math of ($$ per box of powder / loads of dishes stated on the box) to arrive at cost per wash because that's usually based on 1 ounce per load. I've tried gels and powders in the past year and honestly it made no difference for my use case and I don't even use fancy pods, I usually use Member's Mark which I think are the cheapest around. So I ended up sticking with pods. The R&D to create pods was for lining their pockets I agree but at this point they are actually improving them and not improving powders and gels. So at least for me, it makes no difference that I miss out on prewash detergent, they have improved pods enough that it doesn't matter and it costs the same per load anyway.

Tab don't allow for a proper prewash and honestly all a tab is, is compacted powder or high concentrated liquid. The R&D is for lining their own pockets. I use great value powder and have equal results to Finish or Cascade. I don't pre rinse I just scrape food of plates and throw them in.

Guys, I'm going to let you in on a secret I got from SD. Great Value Automatic Dishwasher Powder, Original Scent, 75 oz at Walmart is $4.98 for a box and works just as well as pods. Do as you wish but we're off the pod train. Our dishes are filthy going in. We don't prewash at all.

But these have: POWERBALL! INFINITY! QUANTUM!

With *three* buzzwords in the product's name, it has to be amazing!

Cascade sucks. Finish is superior.

After reading some of these comments, I have some thoughts to add.

First of all, my perspective is that of a kitchen appliance service technician (repairman), but I specialize in dishwashers. I'll try keep it concise, but to begin with, there is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution for "best" dishwasher detergent, for everyone. It depends greatly on the content and ph of your water supply, what your dishes look like when you put them in, and also (but to a lesser extent) the type of dishwasher you have and certain features.

I would 100% never recommend liquid detergent to a customer or friend. It is considered the bottom of the barrel in terms of efficacy and quality, because they only contain cleansing enzymes and no bleach. Additionally, liquid is much more wasteful than the other two options, because of the weight of the water content they are shipping around.

Powder detergent is great! Most people, if you are dealing with pretty balanced water without a high mineral content, can do just fine with powder—assuming it's a good quality. Powder is great because it can contain both bleaching agents and enzymes to kill bacteria and interact with grease. Liquid can't contain both, because in liquid form the bleach just kills the enzymes while in the bottle.

If powder detergent doesn't seem to be doing the trick, you may have very hard water and no water softener. This can cause a buildup of calcium and cause your dishes to become gritty or come out spotted or with residue. Using rinse aid will help this, or installing or cranking up a water softener could also help. If you can't afford this or already have one and it isn't enough, detergent pods are super helpful because they can contain bleach, enzymes AND water softening agents. This allows a lot of people to put up with their hard water and avoid a whole home water softener. Also, they're really easy for people who have a problem measuring accurately or have a tendency to use too much powder. Too much/too aggressive of a detergent can lead to over-sudsing, which could in turn lead to leaks or air cavitation within the wash pump.

I usually recommend Cascade Complete or Platinum pods. If you have hard water and those aren't quite enough, go with Cascade Platinum Plus—they have extra rinse aid and detergents. I use Cascade Platinum pods because I have a whole-home water softener. I could probably also get away with powder detergent and in the future I may try it out, but for now I'm lazy and usually find a deal.

Finish are also great. They may be just as good as Cascade for all I know, but I think I'm doing well enough just remembering the ins and outs of the one brand for now. Stay away from eco friendly offerings like seventh generation, unless you want an ecosystem growing in your dishwasher, but ymmv.

Edit: also I realize it may look like I copy/pasted this but that's just how I talk now apparently. I also like music and listening to nerdy podcasts about movies.