Problems With Your Dishwasher?
Lots of people are having problems with Cascade dishwasher detergent by Procter & Gamble. They are finding loads of their favorite dishes ruined and there are even some people who have needed to replace their dishwashers. They claim that it has to do with Cascade.
What we’re finding is that people have switched to other dishwasher detergents like Finish and then all their problems go away. Dishes get clean and things return to normal. Another solution is to add some vinegar or Borax to the load along with Cascade. Personally, it just seems easier to switch detergents.
Why Is This Happening?
That main reason, it seems, that people find out that Cascade sucks is that Cascade has had to change their formula. In order to keep environmental groups happy, many states now have passed laws that take the phosphates (a good cleaning agent) out of detergents and soaps because of claims that these phosphates end up in ponds and streams, where algae feed on it and crowd out other aquatic life. Finding another suitable cleaning agent as good as phosphate has been a difficult chore for some manufacturers of soaps and detergents, like Cascade.
What Should I Do?
Well, the obvious choice is to switch detergents. There are some “green” detergents out there and some people claim that they work. How effective each one is will depend on what kind of water you have. You should try several and see which one works the best for you.
Another option is to clean your dishes more before you put them in the dishwasher. Some people have even gone back to doing their dishes by hand since they figure that’s cheaper than having their expensive dishes ruined. Dishwashers have become more efficient, so we’re waiting for some environmental groups to come out and say how doing dishes by hand may actually use more water and more energy to heat the water, which is causing more damage to the environment. We haven’t seen much of that, so I guess they’re picking the lesser of two evils in their eyes.
Our Opinion
Our opinion is basically that nature is stronger than these environmental groups believe it is and that nature can indeed recover from anything that man can do. There are countless examples of this. You kind of have to have a really big ego if you think that you’re more powerful than nature. Nature always will eventually recover and adapt. It has for a long, long time.
Even though nature does recover, we do, however, need to be good steward of what we’ve been given – but only up to a point. When environmentalism halts progress and economic growth, then there is not a good balance.
What Do You Think?
We’ve had some good discussions going on this website already about how Cascade detergent sucks, what other detergents work, what appliance/dishwasher repairmen have to say and some horror stories about dishes being ruined in the dishwasher. Tell your story and leave some comments here.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
It seems that all the dishwasher detergents are acting the same way. I haven’t used Cascade for a few weeks, but we bought some Sun and actually thought that was the problem when our dishes came out looking horrible — the silverware even has a film on each item that you can even feel in your mouth. Ugh!
I then bought some Finish thinking that would work and everything came out looking the same. I saw on line that if you pour a cup of white vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher when you put the detergent in the holder that that would take care of the problem. Things might look a tad bit better, but not as good as they should look. Please, somebody make them give us back our phosphates!! The government needs to take care of some of our really pressing needs and leave our dishwasher detergent alone!
All my cookie sheets and aluminum pans have oxided. I have always used cascade complete. It started when they were out of the regular box and I had to buy another cascade product, I bought the lime green box. Now all my pans look terrible and I am afraid to use them. Any help with this would certainly be appreciated.
The inside of my FisherPaykel dishwasher has become embedded with a huge calcium build up thanks to the new Cascade formula. I have spends hours cleaning, scraping the parts from the inside of the dishwasher. I will never purchase Cascade again and am searching for something that still has phosphate in it. Or I will return to hand washing dishes. Is this progress?
The greenies will have us living in caves again before this is over. Cascade, as well as all other phosphate free dishwashing detergents are a failure. Frankly, I am moving to a commercial product as the government seems to understand clean dishes are a necessity to commercial facilities (thus, they are exempt from the save the planet folks), maybe they just don’t care if YOUR family gets sick.
I spent several months researching this problem and found a solution. It is all-natural, contains no phosphate, and it works great. CitriClean is an additive that works with your detergent to remove hard water deposits. You use 1-2 tablespoons per wash and less of your normal detergent. So your cost per wash does not increase. I use CitriClean with the cheapest store brand detergent and get great results.
I have used Cascade forever with no problems. About 4 months ago the drain in the dishwasher clogged up. We dug handfuls of caked detergent from the drain pipe. It was semi-hard. It was starting to happen again, even under the door of the dishwasher. I will start washing by hand. Have we gone back to the 50s?
No phosphate = dishwashers will not wash away food left on them = hand washing before or after = a LOT MORE WATER USAGE = totally inept environmental policy.
At any reasonable physical distance away from open water, (lakes, ponds, streams), phosphates in detergent and fertilizer were simply NEVER a problem to anyone. The soil easily ‘fixes’ it. (Additionally, a report I found said that a little phosphate in the drinking water actually helps to stabilize lead in piping thus preventing from leaching into the water.)
From my research online the solution seems to be TSP. Yes, go buy yourself some phosphates at your local paint store or online at many sites, such as . Search for “Savogran 10621 Trisodium Phosphate (TSP)”. It seems that 1/2 tablespoon added to your regular dishwasher detergent at the time you start your dishwasher solves the problem. I just ordered mine… Google “How to get your dishwasher back” and you will find the site that has a lot of info.
Or another option is to Google “Cascade with phosphates”. It is still available at restaurant supply stores. Apparently, the ban on phosphates does not apply to commercial facilities. It is available in 6-pack cases of 85 oz bottles for ~$65-$80 shipped.
Correction…
85 oz boxes; it is only available as a powder.
And the best deal I found was at for $50.33 + ~$12 shipping.
Ahhh… no fair; they won’t let me include web sites for you… Let’s try this:
TSP is available at a site you will find if you Google “Amazon”.
And the best deal I found was at a site you find by Googling “FoodServiceFireSale” for $50.33 + ~$12 shipping.
I too have had trouble with my dishwasher soap. All my pans are ruined, they oxidized and turned dark and spotty, the plastic is coated with a lime like surface. They look terrible. I just bought some round cake pans from Sur La Table and they are ruined. Cascade better find an answer to this, I am very displeased with thier product. You need to be responsible for all the ruined pans, silverware etc.
I also had a white powdery substance all over my glasses, flatware and dishes after using my cascade tabs. I took all flatware and soaked it for 15 minutes in 1/2 vinegar 1/2 water then washed it by hand to start fresh. All the dull film came off and the flatware looked like new. Then I ran all my dishes and glassware in the dishwasher with straight vinegar. Again everything came out shiny like new. I have now started using the Finish – quantum tabs in the dishwasher and after 4 washes so far no issues with the dull white film on any item. Hopefully using the vinegar option will save people from having go throw out their flatware or dishes. I was about to when I read about this option for removing that awful white powdery film. If anything changes after using the Finish tabs I will repost.
Horrors-the interior of my Maytag dishwasher reveals all blades have turned black! I just recently bought Cascade (blue package) and wondered if this was the problem. I had used vinegar to try and clean up the dingy glassware —couldCascade have cause the oxidation of the blades? Can anything be done or should I just buy a new dishwasher?