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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

Dishwasher Tablets

20 replies

MrsAlwaysRight · 30/12/2009 10:37

We are currently having a new kitchen put in and for the first time ever I will have a dishwasher!

Are the tablets all much of a muchness or are some brands better than others? Any you would recommend or avoid?
Thanks!

OP posts:

SpanishCYBILwar · 30/12/2009 10:38

Whatevers on offer. the 5 in 1 by Fairy seem ok to me. Eco ones are crapola.

Sidge · 30/12/2009 10:39

I would recommend Lidl's standard dishwasher tabs - think they are called W5. They are fab, cheap as chips (about £1.50 a box) and do a really good job, equivalent to Finish IMO.

Don't forget rinse aid and salt too.

emsyj · 30/12/2009 16:29

The engineer who installed our Miele dishwasher said that tablets are not as good for the machine and that it will last longer and perform better with separates, i.e. separate salt, rinse aid and a powder or liquid detergent. He advised against all in one tablets/powders. We use supermarket own brand separates, have heard that the Tesco ones are supposed to be the best but no idea how true that is.

AMumInScotland · 30/12/2009 17:10

Teco 5 in 1 ones got a good write-up in Which a year or so back - not quite as good as Finish, but nearly, and quite a bit cheaper.

If you have hard water though you definitely need to look at adding salt - we're fine on the tablets, but have soft water. There's a website where you can put in your address and find out about your water hardness -I can't remeber the address but Gogle would find it for you.

mumzy · 30/12/2009 19:30

I've got a Miele and I use Asdas value dishwasher tablets but add salt and rinse aid seperately the dishes come out perfectly clean and the combo is still cheaper than the finish all in one tablets.

SparkyToo · 30/12/2009 19:33

I use Finish ones and they've always been pretty good. My sister and mum use Fairy ones that they obviously find pretty good too.

bert74 · 30/12/2009 19:53

The engineer who came to mend a friends dishwasher said to use cheap and cheerful powder, like tesco daisy. So thats what we now use and it seems fine.

ilovepiccolina · 30/12/2009 22:52

I've got a Hotpoint machine and tried all sorts of cheapo tablets, but the machine didn't dissolve them, so I have to buy the fairy tablets, which are like washing-up liquid rather than solidified powder. They do a good job but are very expensive, 25p each. CBA with separates, too much storage/remembering salt etc.

clarea1 · 31/12/2009 20:29

The tesco Daisy tablet cost peanuts and are great. I have a box with a variety of tablets in so i don't have several boxes. I don't find the cheap daisy ones any less good than the tesco regular ones or the finish ones.
i use` seperate salt and rinse aid. (daisy rinse aid fine too)

sazzerbear · 31/12/2009 20:31

I second Sidge, Lidl ones are fab, as is their rinse aid!

BelleDameSansMerci · 31/12/2009 20:33

The new Fairy Platinum are very good. Also, these are the only ones I'm allowed to buy as my DD (2.3) thinks they are beautiful and wants to hold them for ages before throwing into the dishwasher. She'd hold one in her hand all day if I'd let her!

Onlyaphase · 31/12/2009 20:46

I think it matters more if you have hard or soft water really, rather than the brand of tablet.

I used to live in Essex, bought a variety of expensive dishwasher tablets and still never really had clean dishes - when the Bosch dishwasher broke after 5 years the engineer said it wasn't worth fixing it as we lived in such a hard water area it was near the end of its life span.

We now live in the north with soft water, I buy the cheapest dishwasher tablets I can find and have shiny sparkly dishes.

Intergalactic · 02/01/2010 08:29

Since getting my dishwasher I've tried Tesco own brand and Fairy tablets and found the Tesco better. I also use separate salt and rinse aid, the dishwasher has a setting to tell it if you're using these plus tabs and it does something to account for this (no idea what!).

nannyl · 02/01/2010 18:40

when which tested a few months ago they said that tesco VALUE were the best and recommended tesco value along with salt and rinseaid!

Buddleja · 02/01/2010 18:50

I'm in a soft water area and use lidl's find them great - though I get tesco ones too - didn't lidl used to do a big bottle of powder?

I wouldn't bother with anything else other than lidl's rinse aid and dishwasher cleaners

akhems · 02/01/2010 18:53

I'm in a very hardwater area and use the finish quantum tabs now, after trying almost every other one on the supermarket shelves.

MargaritaPracatan · 02/01/2010 18:54

I third Sidge, Lidl ones are fab, as is their rinse aid!

Original poster

MrsAlwaysRight · 05/01/2010 09:21

Thanks All! We are in a hard water area. I didn't realise there was so much to consider - soft/hard water, rinse aid, salt!

OP posts:

lozster · 06/01/2010 21:13

Don't make the mistake I did and try Finish quantum. Oh how DP and I mocked the little ball and compartments but after I saw the shine anything else seems second best and this product is SERIOUSLY expensive - not a good habit to be cultivating .

misscph1973 · 06/01/2010 21:23

I use powder, Sainsbury's own or Waitrose's own. Tablets are much more expensive than powder if you look at the price per kilo. Also, you can get away with putting less in than recommended, just start with maximum and work you way down per cycle, adding less and less, until the dishes don't get clean - then you know how much your machine needs.

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