Dishwasher Danger!!

I wanted to pass this information along to everyone I know, because it could....SAVE your DISHWASHER!!! (gasp---dramatic pause)

A friend of mine who shall remain nameless for namelessness' sake, is having to replace her dishwasher because of they type of detergent she was using. In the effort to be economical, she was using the big bottle of liquid detergent from Costco and low and behold, it ruined her dishwasher!! The repairman said you should always buy detergent in the smallest container possible--or even better, pay a little extra for the Electrasol Tabs or Cascade packets. The reason for this is that once the detergent (either powder OR liquid) is exposed to air the consistency changes and the longer it is opened the less it dissolves properly in the washer. He showed her how much hard gunk had built up in her machine and it was mostly all detergent. He also said, even if your dishwasher "claims" to have something inside that grinds up food (as mine claims), to PLEASE rinse as much as possible first anyways because that will save you repairs in the long run.

OH-- and he said to not use more than a Tablespoon of detergent. Notice that the tabs and pacs are pretty small? Lots of people use too much detergent.

So, to sum up--big container of dishwasher detergent NO, small box or tabs or pacs YES. I'll even add my testimonial here, that those Electrasol tabs work great! And the Cascade pacs work even BETTER!! I know it costs more, but the Cascade thingys get all my dishes clean and sparkly on the first time through every time. And I must admit, I am not a great pre-rinser and we have a lot of dried on gunk on our dishes.

I hope this helps save dishwashers everywhere!! Spread the word, people! I know I'd probably DIE without mine, so I felt an obligation to pass on this info. :)