Bear Flag Blog

Dishwashers. I have had several - probably pushing a dozen - thus far in my life, and there are few more aggravating recurrent annoyances than a dishwasher that just doesn't get the dishes clean. If the dishwasher works, you don't think much about it. But if it doesn't, you're constantly holding ostensibly clean glasses up to the light and scowling at grease smears, picking dried crusts from the tines of forks, and irrationally shoving bowls back into the dishwasher in the hope that perhaps a second go-round would actually do some good.

The one appliance we replaced in our starter house was the dishwasher - a dishwasher we ultimately used for less than a year before we moved out. I hope it's being good to the new owners.

I bring this up, of course, because recently the dishwasher in our current rental house - which had initially been entirely satisfactory - began to fail in cleaning the dishes. All of the aforementioned symptoms began to crop up, day after day. I began to consult the Internet for reasons a dishwasher might go bad, clogged lines or broken plastic bits or what have you. I would sit next to the dishwasher as it ran, listening for tell-tale noises. None of my investigations turned up aught awry.

Before calling the rental agency handyman, however, I had a final, low probability card to play. Someone on the Internet said that changing one's dishwasher detergent - not so much brand as form factor, liquid versus solid - might play a role, as some dishwashers were designed to use one sort and not the other. Seemed unlikely, but what the hell, eh?

Turns out the Internet was right.

We had been using Cascade liquid in this dishwasher since we moved in. Just recently they "updated" it, in the way that consumer products are wont to do, and I think they made it thicker and more gel-like.

I picked up a package of ElectraSol cubes - I think they call them "tabs" - and gave that a whirl instead of the Cascade. The difference was stark. The dishes came out sparkling clean. As they have every time since.

Great was the joy at once again having a dishwasher that actually cleans the dishes.

I have to tell you, Procter & Gamble, this is the sort of thing that breaks brand loyalty. I've purchased Cascade, to the exclusion of other brands, for a decade and a half. But not again. Sure, the powder might work just fine, but you're the folks who turned your liquid into a gel and gave me greasy glasses. You probably should have considered backwards compatibility.

Good luck in your future endeavors.