Anyone use or tried using eco friendly dishwasher tabs? Do they work?

[FierceShushing]

I usually wash up because our dishwasher seems to not work very well: there's always food left on the dishes which is infuriating. DH says it is because I insist on using Ecover tablets which won't ever work properly. Is he right?! Salt and rinse aid are topped up; stacking seems logical, cycle is 60 I think. I'm trying to use enviro. non-damaging products, but perhaps this is a contradiction in terms with a dishwasher!

I find the ecover ones really good, we've always used them. And as long as the dishwashers full it uses less water than the equivalent being done in the sink. Dishwashers are the best invention ever.

Ecover tablets are shit. Sorry. After much experimentation the best are Fairy/Finish liquitabs. The more unenvironmentally friendly the more effective I'm afraid. You need something fairly hardcore to be able to rinse off dried on food rather than scrub it.

Thank you both. Two completely opposite views! Crunchie, do you rinse or dunk the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher?

We use the Eco ones Asda sell, green care or something. V cheap but also v highly rated by Which - against the full range. Yes, they work. There isn't quite the squeaky unnatural feel I've always associated with machine washed dishes but IMO that's a good thing.

I used to nanny for a family that used ecover everything.... except dishwasher tablets...... because we found the same, they simply didnt get the stuff clean

Buy a bag of soda crystals and add some to your wash - biodegradable and shifts the dirt. Aldi dish tabs excellent if you decide to go main stream. BTW My top of the range dishwasher can be hit and miss too so it may not be the product - keep it cleaned out , wash the filter etc and put it on a ' cleaning ' wash .

We've started using ecover tabs and find them better than or as good as the ones we used to use. Had to throw away a bag of fairy liquid tab things as they left a nasty taste on all our plates - especially DS's plastic plates & cutlery. Made the food taste disgusting!

lemon scented ones tend to linger, haven't found smell or flavour from others.

BTW I look for Which best buy tabs, I use Aldi Almat Magnum (scored 76%, cost 10p per wash, but Fairy Platium at 32p per wash scored 78%, and all the other best buys cost about the same, though most of them scored worse than Aldi)

I just looked, and don't see Ecover in the Which Best Buy list.

Have you checked and cleaned all the filters per the instruction book? My last Bosch had three levels of filtration. And cleaned out the arms?

Why not try one of the Best Buy tablets and see if they perform any better? if your machine has a grease accumulation in the waterways it may be difficult to get it working well.

p.s.

you have considered the possibility that you might not have a very good d/wr? what is it?

If you open the door mid-cycle, is it very hot, squitung vigorously, billowing steam, and the tablet fully dissolved and not stuck in the compartment or something?

I don't think Which tested Ecover, as they don't appear in the test results table at all...

I used to use them regularly - though only when on BOGOF or 3 for 2 - & had no problems, but then I am v kind to my d/w & scrape and/or rinse (& sometimes give a quick scrub) first; I reckon it makes more sense to assist before rather than after

But anyway I now use the super bargain Aldi tabs, which work fine & don't seem to do any damage either