What is it with old guys that don’t want to replace/update their appliances? The man who had this house built and lived in it for over forty years, didn’t replace the appliances - since the 80’s! And it was not by any stretch of the imagination a financial issue. Not at all.

I checked in my microwave - it was manufactured in 1987. 1987! Good Heavens! It’s a wonder the thing still works. Well, it has its moments, that’s for sure. It has a mind of its own and cooks things how it wants to - undercooked, overcooked, just right - depending on what kind of a mood it is in that day! Heh!

I have tried to figure out the manufacture date of the dishwasher, but, I can’t find it. Let me tell you, though, the thing is o-l-d. So when I was asked to review dishwasher detergent, I figured I was the perfect candidate for that job! I mean, just about any detergent is going to ‘work’ in a fancy schmancy brand new dishwasher, right? You (as a detergent) have to really work, to get the dishes clean in my washer!

The first detergent I tried was Electrasol Advanced. I had a couple pieces of silverware that were not completely rinsed off, and I just put them in the dishwasher like that to see how they would come out. There was a spoon with a tad bit of peanut butter on it and a fork with some tiny bagel pieces stuck to it, and they both came out clean. There were only two glasses in there (we use a lot of cups) and one of them was clean and one of them came out with spots. There was a small, plastic cup that the kids had used to melt butter in for popcorn, and it was still very greasy when it came out. The rest of the dishes came out pretty clean. The second wash I ran with Electrasol had more glasses. Three out of four of them came out with spots.


The next detergent I was asked to try was Cascade Complete. Five out of six glasses came out spot-free with the Cascade. The really cool thing I noticed was that my pretty silverware came out super shiny! I had saved that greasy (with melted butter) cup for this detergent and it got it squeaky clean! One of the nights I used the Cascade, my hubby hadn’t rinsed the steak knives after dinner - at all! I get so entirely fed up with asking everyone to rinse their dishes, and I was tired and cranky, so I just stuck them in there like that! I’ve even told the kids recently, “If you get out silverware to use from the drawer, or dishes from the cabinet, and they are dirty - too bad! I’m sick of rinsing for everyone!” So I was quite smug when I stuck those steak knives in the dishwasher. Foiled again! Cascade Complete got those knives completely clean! Wow!

My vote is definitely for Cascade Complete! Electrasol was pretty good, but, Cascade was definitely better! I’m glad I got the opportunity to try them both out!