Best dishwasher detergents for big dinners
Lots of people enjoy cooking the holiday meal. But cleaning up after? Not so much. The last thing you want is to have to run the dishwasher a second time because it didn't do the job on your leftover-smeared dishes, greasy pots and pans, and messy silverware. A top-rated dishwasher is key, but you also need to choose the right dishwasher detergent. We see a wide range of performance in our tough tests, which are meant to simulate a detergent's worst nightmare. The following picks, each with specific strengths, should get the job done.
Best all-around The Cascade Complete ActionPacs, 29 cents per load, earned the best overall score in our tests. It was tough on dishes, silverware, and pots, plus it didn't leave behind water spots or white film. The Cascade Complete Powder, 21 cents per load, is our top-rated powder, though it wasn't quite as effective on pots and pans.
Warehouse club winner Store brands are starting to rival the big name brands, which can mean big savings. Case in point: the Member's Mark Ultimate Clean Dishwasher Pacs cleaned dishes and pots nearly as well as the top-rated Cascade and it costs just 10 cents per load. The Kirkland Signature Dishwasher Pacs, 9 cents per load, also performed very well overall.
Cleanest dishes Not a warehouse club member? Two detergents sold everywhere deliver the most sparkling results on glasses and dishes. Finish Powerball Tabs, 18 cents per load, and Finish Gelpacs, 21 cents per load. They're also excellent at resisting water spots, so your glassware should come out crystal clear. But as for pots and pans, results were mediocre.
Bargain buy Gel dishwasher detergents are the least expensive, but most of them had serious struggles in our tests. The one exception is Palmolive eco+, which was tough on dishes and superb at resisting water spots. Its cleaning performance was merely so-so on pots, so you may want to wash those by hand if you go for the Palmolive.
Green champ Lots of detergents make green claims. But the only one that performed well enough to make our winner's list is the Seventh Generation Powder, 19 cent per load. It had an even harder time than the Palmolive with pots and pans, but it was excellent in every other way. One green-claiming detergent to avoid is the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Auto Dish Pacs, which came in dead last among single-dose detergents and also costs the most.
—Daniel DiClerico (@dandiclerico on Twitter)
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