Do you ever doubt your dishwasher? I do. The eco side of me says to take all of those dirty dishes, no matter how many days they’ve been sitting there, and load them up without turning the water on. The germ-a-phobe side of me insists on rinsing…even scrubbing that caked on food off. In reality, I typically fall somewhere in the middle, despite the fact that the manufacturer of our dishwasher advises owners not to rinse before loading (it’s also greener this way).
My husband and I have tried a variety of dishwasher gels and powders and have never found one to be effective. We prefer the pre-filled tabs/pacs that combine the washing and rinsing agents and easily pop into the dispenser. I have only tried one brand which we like and use, but was open to trying Cascade’s Complete All-in-1 ActionPacs to see how they compare.
These ActionPacs combine the action of both a powder and a gel to tackle tough cleaning. The combination pre-treats, fights stains, and rinses away food particles while removing grease and preventing leftover residues. To test the effectiveness of Cascade’s Complete All-in-1 ActionPacs, I had to leave a pile of dirty dishes (no rinsing allowed!) overnight (gasp!). I can’t stand a sink of dirty dishes so you can imagine how difficult this was. I loaded the dishwasher the next day, mostly without rinsing and then put these little ActionPacs to the test.
Now, I will say that having used a dishwasher for many, many years, I know there are several things that can assist in ensuring your dishes come out clean and spotless. I routinely run an empty load with vinegar to clean out the dishwasher and had done that about 2 weeks prior to my 24 hour challenge. I also ensured that the rinse agent chamber was full (when this is empty, the dishes don’t come out nearly as clean).
Voila! With minimal rinsing (I guess I sort of cheated?), my dishes came out without any food residues. I don’t rinse everything, but some foods like oatmeal really stick if they’re not rinsed off right away. I was quite pleased with Cascade’s tough cleaning action and ease of use. Now…if only a company would develop a greener dishwasher tab/pac that actually works at getting those dishes clean!
For more information, just visit Cascade!
I have a few sample packets to giveaway (5 to be exact). If you’re interested, just leave a comment!
No compensation was received for this post. Products for review (including a gift card) and giveaway were supplied by Cascade, P&G, and Walmart.
