Posted 3 January 2024

How do cheap dishwasher tablets do a good job?! conspiracy?

I joke with conspiracy, I've watched the long hour youtube video on the topic of dishwasher tablets and I have problems with using cheaper ones, mainly little bits of hard powder on some dishes

(using finish pods not liquid kind, powerball)

Things I know you need to do.

Salt and rinse aid.
Use hotter wash
don't prewash.
don't overlap too much

Yet I still have problems, yet I overlap and use fairy one and its fine, they just seem to do a better job, yet when i read online others say ''I use lidls'' and there fine.

whats the deal?


Do I put in 30% less stuff and pay 30% less for the cheaper tablet?
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  1. pcs7038's avatar
    Which? have been testing DW detergents for years. They are rigorous and independent. Year after year, Lidl and Aldi tabs come out as very good, if not the best. Finish used to perform badly but now they reformulating every time Which? test so they don't appear in the results.

    Why are Aldi and Lidl tabs so much cheaper? Same as any other own label product - you're not paying the advertising and marketing costs of brands. They have lower costs than other supermarkets, and they are the biggest in Europe, giving them so much more buying power with manufacturers.
  2. psychobitchfromhell's avatar
    I found finish ones left residue and didn't dissolve properly. Lidl ones work just as well as fairy platinum
  3. Pricklerickle's avatar
    Did you set up your dishwasher as well, for water in your area, sets salt and rinse aid levels

    I use aldi ones and there fine,

    I also found the basic finish with powerball are rubbish, try aldi /lidl one (edited)
    fdbgdfbdfbdfbdfbdf's avatar
    Author
    what do you mean by sets salt, there is a setting on dishwasher for how much to use?
  4. jco83's avatar
    Lol OP. "Do I pay 30% less for the cheaper tablets?" That is a crazy price comparison between Finish Powerball pods and Lidl / Aldi tablets. Absolutely crazy. I'd like to know the true percentage difference. Maybe you got it the wrong way around and it's actually 70% less
  5. Timbonagasaki's avatar
    Once my tablet didn't fall out of the draw and the dishes were still clean.
  6. newbie68's avatar
    People get different experiences because they use the dishwasher differently (stacking/rinsing/temperature/rinse aid/salt etc etc) and have better/worse machines and live in harder/softer water areas and as a result they think because if it works for them, it should work for everyone

    It's simple - cheaper tablets are less effective. I have the best conditions for my tests (good machine, rinse all my dishes, never over fill and stack well and correctly - live in the softest water area) and over the years I have tried and still today use various tablets.

    Cheaper ones work in the above conditions, but once I throw something a little more challenging at it they fail that test. The top 2 or 3 pods on the market can deal with just about anything, from very dirty/baked dishes to poorly stacked machines.
    fdbgdfbdfbdfbdfbdf's avatar
    Author
    I question what's actually in the more expensive ones, salt and rinse aid but is the chemical actually any better
  7. cis_groupie's avatar
    Powder residue on dishes suggests that the water isn't being allowed to circulate properly - either the dishwasher is being badly loaded (e.g. big plates stopping the water from getting to smaller items) or the spinner arm (that throws the water about) is being stopped/blocked by a big item from spinning.
    Justintime12's avatar
    Or there is an obstruction in the way of the tablet release compartment

    I also make a couple of slits in the tablet wrapping to speed up the dissolving time as lidl ones are quite thick
  8. Justintime12's avatar
    Lidl are fine

    No need for a hotter wash either
    fdbgdfbdfbdfbdfbdf's avatar
    Author
    do you live in a hard water area?
    what dishwasher do you have?
    do you fill to the brim?
  9. jjmmww1's avatar
    Lidl ones work fine for us as well
  10. RoosterNo1's avatar
    We use the liquid Aldi pods .. they are great.
    Went through a period of using finish powder, but it was rubbish...and tablets often didn't fully dissolve. (edited)
    fdbgdfbdfbdfbdfbdf's avatar
    Author
    Turns out I've only just found out dishwasher have hardness settings for salt and they ship on 0, I need highest lol
  11. hubcms's avatar
    I use the cheapest of dishwasher tablets from Lidl, never any issues.
  12. bluetang's avatar
    Absolutely none do glasses properly and every time. Over the years I’ve tried many brands from expensive to cheap, with and without rinse aid.
    Brand new glasses end up cloudy after several dishwashing goes. I live in a hard water area so maybe that doesn’t help.
    The only way to clean glasses is by hand in a bowl of clean water and any washing up liquid. (edited)
    jco83's avatar
    You need dishwasher salt in your machine
  13. GoodAsGold's avatar
    I used to buy the fanciest tablets from Finish but wasn’t happy with the results and thought the dishwasher must be faulty. Switched to Fairy Platinum and they seem to do a far better job.
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