1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,917 Howdy folks, hope you’re all doing OK out there. 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:05,919 We gotta talk about dishwashers again. 3 00:00:05,919 --> 00:00:09,867 I started writing a really long-winded script which got to a half-our long 4 00:00:09,867 --> 00:00:12,522 [crickets] 5 00:00:12,522 --> 00:00:15,028 yet barely covered half of what I wanted to 6 00:00:15,028 --> 00:00:19,420 so here’s draft two and we’re just gonna launch straightaway with; 7 00:00:19,420 --> 00:00:22,598 I’ve led you astray, and I’m very sorry about that. 8 00:00:22,598 --> 00:00:25,818 If you haven’t seen the original video, links are in all the places 9 00:00:25,818 --> 00:00:27,506 and I think you might want to check it out. 10 00:00:27,506 --> 00:00:29,267 But here’s a quick overview: 11 00:00:29,267 --> 00:00:31,262 Over the winter I made a video about how dishwashers worked 12 00:00:31,262 --> 00:00:35,182 and explained how they just fill up with a bit of water, pump that for a while, drain it, and repeat that few times. 13 00:00:35,182 --> 00:00:40,000 The detergent dispenser is there so that the dishwasher can hold the detergent back until its wash program calls for it. 14 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,596 It deliberately prevents the detergent from being introduced into the wash water 15 00:00:42,596 --> 00:00:44,296 until it has already filled with water once, 16 00:00:44,296 --> 00:00:46,785 pumped that around to get the real big nasty chunks off your plates and whatever, 17 00:00:46,785 --> 00:00:47,605 and drained. 18 00:00:47,605 --> 00:00:49,492 It then re-fills itself with clean water. 19 00:00:49,492 --> 00:00:52,450 If it didn’t have some way to hold that detergent back until that second fill 20 00:00:52,450 --> 00:00:54,073 it would all be gone after 10 or 15 minutes, 21 00:00:54,073 --> 00:00:56,374 but you see detergent is helpful for cleaning dishes, 22 00:00:56,374 --> 00:00:59,292 particularly because it’s an emulsifier and can get rid of grease and oils, 23 00:00:59,292 --> 00:01:04,455 so most dishwashers are designed to also have a nominal amount of pre-wash detergent available in that first rinse 24 00:01:04,455 --> 00:01:06,639 to help get those oils et cetera out quickly, 25 00:01:06,639 --> 00:01:10,743 and this is why many dishwashers have not one but two places you are supposed to put detergent. 26 00:01:10,743 --> 00:01:14,767 Because of that these pre-dosed detergent packs which bypass the pre-wash step annoy me 27 00:01:14,767 --> 00:01:17,334 and it’s my pet theory that they’ve led to dishwasher dissatisfaction 28 00:01:17,334 --> 00:01:20,735 which seems to have been backed up by various comments and feedback I received after publishing that video 29 00:01:20,735 --> 00:01:22,303 but we’ll get to that in a bit. 30 00:01:22,303 --> 00:01:23,605 Hoo! Alright, 31 00:01:23,605 --> 00:01:26,618 with that out of the way, let’s continue. 32 00:01:26,618 --> 00:01:32,087 This video is kinda all-over-the-place so there are chapter markers if you want to just skip around. 33 00:01:32,087 --> 00:01:34,207 And also I’m not gonna lie, 34 00:01:34,207 --> 00:01:38,656 this is essentially one giant response to comments. 35 00:01:38,656 --> 00:01:44,532 Although there are a lot of genuinely great things we’ve collectively discovered that I think you all should know about, 36 00:01:44,532 --> 00:01:49,199 there are also a lot of… things that I need to address. 37 00:01:49,199 --> 00:01:55,849 Now, I’m gonna to try my best to not get too snarky because I recognize that this is annoying to many of you and 38 00:01:55,849 --> 00:01:58,448 frankly I’m starting to see the light, there. 39 00:01:58,448 --> 00:02:00,934 Another thing I want to apologize for. 40 00:02:00,934 --> 00:02:03,157 However on a more positive note, 41 00:02:03,157 --> 00:02:05,855 I want to express how lovely it has been 42 00:02:05,855 --> 00:02:08,834 to receive all of the comments, tweets, and messages 43 00:02:08,834 --> 00:02:11,915 from folks who experimented with more basic detergent products 44 00:02:11,915 --> 00:02:16,325 and found their dishwashers were actually performing better than before 45 00:02:16,325 --> 00:02:18,872 now that they could be used as designed. 46 00:02:18,872 --> 00:02:24,157 And in fact a lot of people left comments saying that they never bothered using their dishwasher at all 47 00:02:24,157 --> 00:02:27,458 because they were convinced it couldn’t wash dishes well, 48 00:02:27,458 --> 00:02:30,587 but dosing detergent as their machine expected 49 00:02:30,587 --> 00:02:33,322 proved that it absolutely could. 50 00:02:33,390 --> 00:02:36,276 That really has been delightful and I’m glad to know that my video 51 00:02:36,276 --> 00:02:38,233 has helped some of you out there. 52 00:02:38,233 --> 00:02:41,981 Also before we move on, several of you shared examples of dishwashers 53 00:02:41,981 --> 00:02:44,552 - including some Bosch and Samsung machines - 54 00:02:44,552 --> 00:02:47,332 that actually said in their instruction manuals 55 00:02:47,332 --> 00:02:50,914 that when using normal cycles, you should add some extra detergent 56 00:02:50,914 --> 00:02:55,684 along the bottom of the door for the first rinse like so for best performance. 57 00:02:55,684 --> 00:03:00,931 Just because your dishwasher doesn’t have a marked space for pre-wash detergent in the dispenser 58 00:03:00,931 --> 00:03:04,552 doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not designed with that in mind. 59 00:03:04,890 --> 00:03:07,833 I mean, that’s terrible user interface design 60 00:03:07,833 --> 00:03:09,202 but hey, I didn’t do it. 61 00:03:09,202 --> 00:03:12,484 [voiceover] Oh, hey, remember how I said this video is all over the place? 62 00:03:12,484 --> 00:03:16,389 Well before we get any further I need to more strongly clarify 63 00:03:16,389 --> 00:03:20,405 that little qualifier that might have just slipped right past you in the last paragraph. 64 00:03:20,701 --> 00:03:24,537 If you aren't using the “normal” cycle of your dishwasher, 65 00:03:24,537 --> 00:03:28,476 a pre-wash fill might not be a thing that even happens. 66 00:03:28,476 --> 00:03:32,238 Express or Eco wash options often skip it, 67 00:03:32,238 --> 00:03:35,833 rendering the detergent dispenser fairly useless as a concept. 68 00:03:35,833 --> 00:03:41,885 Now I’m all for conservation, but these cycles will negatively impact cleaning performance. 69 00:03:41,885 --> 00:03:48,598 I’d argue an extra water fill is better than dishes that aren’t washed to your satisfaction and need washing again, 70 00:03:48,598 --> 00:03:54,104 but the point is - if you’ve tried to add some pre-wash detergent but got worse results, 71 00:03:54,104 --> 00:03:56,567 and you were using one of those cycles, 72 00:03:56,567 --> 00:04:00,654 you may have severely overdosed the detergent. 73 00:04:00,654 --> 00:04:04,585 Detergent dosing is the main point of this video, spoiler alert, 74 00:04:04,585 --> 00:04:08,678 but bottom line - if you’re satisfied with your dishwasher just ignore me! 75 00:04:08,678 --> 00:04:11,067 Keep on living your life how you want to. 76 00:04:11,067 --> 00:04:13,082 But if you want more out of it, 77 00:04:13,082 --> 00:04:17,797 try that normal cycle - or even the heavy-duty or pots and pans one - 78 00:04:17,797 --> 00:04:19,237 and see how it goes. 79 00:04:19,237 --> 00:04:21,504 You should feel free to experiment here. 80 00:04:21,504 --> 00:04:24,804 Worst thing that could happen is a need to re-start the machine, 81 00:04:24,804 --> 00:04:28,510 and there’s no rule against simply running it twice. 82 00:04:28,510 --> 00:04:30,807 So, how did I lead you astray? 83 00:04:30,807 --> 00:04:35,505 Well, like a fool, I read this box’s instructions to you. 84 00:04:35,505 --> 00:04:36,005 [thud] 85 00:04:36,005 --> 00:04:38,088 I know! How careless of me! 86 00:04:38,088 --> 00:04:40,709 Here, watch shorter-haired me do it: 87 00:04:41,132 --> 00:04:45,926 “For best results, fill both the pre-wash and the main wash cups completely" 88 00:04:46,180 --> 00:04:46,699 [thud] 89 00:04:47,079 --> 00:04:49,623 HOW'M I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT WITH ONE OF THESE, CASCADE? 90 00:04:50,806 --> 00:04:55,399 See, I was making fun of the fact that the instructions for this Cascade product 91 00:04:55,399 --> 00:05:00,598 are not possible with another, supposedly much-improved product of theirs. 92 00:05:00,598 --> 00:05:06,819 But in making that joke I forgot to tell you that these instructions themselves are… 93 00:05:06,819 --> 00:05:10,489 incomplete, and one might even say misleading. 94 00:05:10,489 --> 00:05:13,762 I neglected to give you the context these boxes are missing, 95 00:05:13,762 --> 00:05:16,031 which has led to problems for some of you. 96 00:05:16,031 --> 00:05:17,653 So here’s that context. 97 00:05:17,653 --> 00:05:20,556 You don’t actually need to fill the cups completely. 98 00:05:20,556 --> 00:05:21,435 The end. 99 00:05:22,238 --> 00:05:24,619 ♫ unexpectedly smooth jazz ♫ 100 00:05:24,619 --> 00:05:28,039 "No no no no, it’s too early for that part!" he says to a camera 101 00:05:28,039 --> 00:05:31,080 hopelessly trying to suspend your disbelief that this isn’t a bit. 102 00:05:31,841 --> 00:05:35,084 Here’s the thing. Unless your water is very hard, 103 00:05:35,084 --> 00:05:38,143 filling the main detergent cup completely is unnecessary 104 00:05:38,143 --> 00:05:40,788 and may in fact cause rinsing issues. 105 00:05:40,788 --> 00:05:44,080 There is such a thing as too much detergent, 106 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:49,554 and unfortunately following these instructions as written will often get you there. 107 00:05:49,554 --> 00:05:52,220 Now, we can choose to be cynical and say that 108 00:05:52,220 --> 00:05:55,435 "of course Procter & Gamble wants you to use as much dishwasher detergent 109 00:05:55,435 --> 00:05:57,980 as will fit in your dishwasher’s dishwasher detergent dispenser 110 00:05:57,980 --> 00:06:02,168 because they want you to keep buying their dishwasher detergent, and more faster please!" 111 00:06:02,886 --> 00:06:06,600 And yeah, it's kinda hard to escape that conclusion. 112 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,192 But if your water is up high enough on the hardness scale 113 00:06:10,192 --> 00:06:13,162 that it leaves you with scale that’s hard to deal with, 114 00:06:13,162 --> 00:06:15,918 you'll need more detergent than you might otherwise. 115 00:06:15,918 --> 00:06:19,789 Europeans, I’m gonna need you to hold your commenting finger-horses. 116 00:06:19,789 --> 00:06:22,756 Virtually none of us have dishwasher salt over here. 117 00:06:23,257 --> 00:06:24,581 Yes, dishwasher salt. 118 00:06:24,581 --> 00:06:25,857 It’s a thing! 119 00:06:25,857 --> 00:06:27,212 We’ll get to that. 120 00:06:27,212 --> 00:06:30,108 Detergents find hard water to be… 121 00:06:30,446 --> 00:06:31,270 difficult. 122 00:06:31,650 --> 00:06:37,050 The higher the mineral content, the more detergent you need for the same cleaning action. 123 00:06:37,050 --> 00:06:40,471 The specific reasons why aren’t important right now but, spoiler, 124 00:06:40,471 --> 00:06:45,359 some of the ingredients in detergent products are compounds which help to soften water 125 00:06:45,359 --> 00:06:48,081 and make the cleaning action more effective. 126 00:06:48,081 --> 00:06:51,536 How much you actually need depends on your water hardness, 127 00:06:51,536 --> 00:06:56,485 and wouldn’t ya know it dishwashers are designed with little fill lines in the dispenser 128 00:06:56,485 --> 00:06:59,550 to help you figure out how much detergent you should use. 129 00:06:59,550 --> 00:07:01,190 [voiceover] Haaaaa, not always! 130 00:07:01,190 --> 00:07:03,710 But don’t worry, I thought of that in the next sentence: 131 00:07:03,710 --> 00:07:09,326 With water of soft-to-medium hardness, that first line is all you probably need, 132 00:07:09,326 --> 00:07:11,830 which is generally about halfway. [Voiceover: See?] 133 00:07:11,830 --> 00:07:15,541 If you do fill it up all the way when your water is softer than some sort of 134 00:07:15,541 --> 00:07:20,805 really soft thing, you can end up with a powdery residue or film on your dishes 135 00:07:20,805 --> 00:07:25,639 simply because there was too much detergent in the wash water to be effectively rinsed away 136 00:07:25,639 --> 00:07:27,548 at the end of the cycle. 137 00:07:27,548 --> 00:07:30,459 So, If you fill the cups completely 138 00:07:30,459 --> 00:07:32,586 as I said you should, 139 00:07:32,586 --> 00:07:35,219 and you have soft-to-normal water, 140 00:07:35,219 --> 00:07:37,144 residue is likely to happen. 141 00:07:37,144 --> 00:07:40,996 And I know this happened to a fair number of you because several people, now, 142 00:07:40,996 --> 00:07:45,301 have asked me why they were getting a residue after trying powder detergents. 143 00:07:45,301 --> 00:07:51,146 In every case I explained the water hardness complication and suggested simply using less detergent, 144 00:07:51,146 --> 00:07:55,462 and in every case that I received a reply that fixed the problem. 145 00:07:55,462 --> 00:08:00,363 Again. Really sorry I read these instructions without contextualizing them. 146 00:08:00,363 --> 00:08:02,479 That was, frankly, careless. 147 00:08:02,479 --> 00:08:07,158 You’d be surprised how little detergent you actually need with typically-soiled dishes. 148 00:08:07,158 --> 00:08:12,357 Even with my very hard water I’m finding that only filling to the first line is sufficient 149 00:08:12,357 --> 00:08:17,029 (though of course, I also sprinkle some on the lid like it asks me to). 150 00:08:17,029 --> 00:08:21,441 So I very much regret passing on this box’s instructions as gospel 151 00:08:21,441 --> 00:08:28,319 and I have to wonder if they might be responsible for some of the negative perceptions towards powders and gels. 152 00:08:28,319 --> 00:08:32,515 Without telling you you don't need to fill it up if you don't have hard water 153 00:08:32,515 --> 00:08:35,878 they're kind of asking for problems to occur. 154 00:08:35,878 --> 00:08:40,440 I mean, they also put this on the back of the box. 155 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:41,440 Upgrade! 156 00:08:41,778 --> 00:08:42,778 Do it. 157 00:08:42,778 --> 00:08:43,778 More colors. 158 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:45,490 Prettyyyy. 159 00:08:46,926 --> 00:08:47,524 Hmm. 160 00:08:47,947 --> 00:08:50,495 OK, that’s the big boo-boo I wanted to fix. 161 00:08:50,495 --> 00:08:54,567 Seriously, even basic detergent products have improved over the years 162 00:08:54,567 --> 00:08:57,230 and you don’t actually need a whole lot. 163 00:08:57,230 --> 00:09:02,247 In fact, the inability to vary how much detergent goes into your wash water 164 00:09:02,247 --> 00:09:05,904 is one of the main reasons I don’t like these infernal things. 165 00:09:05,904 --> 00:09:12,294 A pre-packaged, fixed dose has to lean quite far to the side of too much detergent, 166 00:09:12,294 --> 00:09:16,617 yet not so far that people with soft water will have rinsing issues. 167 00:09:16,617 --> 00:09:21,292 They’re designed to work for the majority of people and in the majority of dishwashers, 168 00:09:21,292 --> 00:09:25,129 but that’s more detergent than necessary in many cases, 169 00:09:25,129 --> 00:09:27,311 and yet not enough in others. 170 00:09:27,311 --> 00:09:28,992 But wait! There’s more! 171 00:09:28,992 --> 00:09:30,494 Because of the simple fact that 172 00:09:30,494 --> 00:09:36,979 foods and oils effectively use up the dispersant and surfactant capabilities of a given quantity of detergent, 173 00:09:36,979 --> 00:09:42,259 you can - and one might argue should! - vary the amount of detergent you use 174 00:09:42,259 --> 00:09:47,525 based on how soiled your dishes actually are - and indeed how many you’re actually cleaning. 175 00:09:47,525 --> 00:09:52,289 These are, again, dosed right up to the line of too much detergent. 176 00:09:52,289 --> 00:09:57,407 In many (most?) cases that’s just way more detergent than you actually need, 177 00:09:57,407 --> 00:10:03,190 though to be fair it does have to make up for the sheer lack of detergent in the first water fill. 178 00:10:03,190 --> 00:10:06,585 Actually, fun fact, I bought a cheap loaf pan 179 00:10:06,585 --> 00:10:11,679 and it specifically says that detergent tablets are more concentrated and will damage the finish 180 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:13,205 so don’t use them. 181 00:10:13,205 --> 00:10:15,447 Whaddya know, it’s not just me. 182 00:10:15,447 --> 00:10:20,631 Now, although I personally see the ability to vary the amount of detergent used per load 183 00:10:20,631 --> 00:10:25,454 as a tremendous benefit of powders and gels that I would never want to give up, 184 00:10:25,454 --> 00:10:32,011 I can see how others might view that as adding an element of complexity and uncertainty to their washing routine. 185 00:10:32,307 --> 00:10:36,443 I think it’s worth some experimentation to figure out what might work best for you, 186 00:10:36,443 --> 00:10:41,505 and honestly only gels and powders even allow for that experimentation in the first place. 187 00:10:41,505 --> 00:10:45,929 But not everybody has the time or patience for that and I respect that position. 188 00:10:46,521 --> 00:10:49,111 Alright, so now let’s see if we can find out 189 00:10:49,111 --> 00:10:53,792 whether or not detergent packs are actually better than detergent in not-packs. 190 00:10:53,792 --> 00:10:57,832 Through the Magic of Buying Way Too Much F****ng Dishwasher Detergent 191 00:10:57,832 --> 00:11:01,282 we can do a number of tests and make some comparisons. 192 00:11:01,282 --> 00:11:02,976 Let’s start with a test: 193 00:11:02,976 --> 00:11:06,643 Some have claimed that detergent tabs dissolve in parts, 194 00:11:06,643 --> 00:11:11,010 mimicking the actions of pre-wash and main wash detergents. 195 00:11:11,010 --> 00:11:14,168 For the record I don’t think any manufacturers suggest this, 196 00:11:14,168 --> 00:11:17,174 but a lot of people apparently believe this is the case. 197 00:11:17,174 --> 00:11:20,447 Now I have three different kinds to test today: 198 00:11:20,870 --> 00:11:24,679 Cheap store-brand (my preference if you’re gonna use packs). 199 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:27,484 Cascade Platinum ActionPacs. 200 00:11:27,484 --> 00:11:31,513 And Finish Powerball Max-in-1. 201 00:11:31,513 --> 00:11:33,083 (They were out of Mega Millions) 202 00:11:33,083 --> 00:11:38,472 Of these, the only one that I have any hope for this theory panning out is the Finish tab, 203 00:11:38,472 --> 00:11:40,225 but we’ll find out shortly. 204 00:11:40,225 --> 00:11:45,996 Of note, all of these products instruct you to put them in the dispenser and close the door. 205 00:11:46,376 --> 00:11:48,611 Not just put them directly into the tub. 206 00:11:48,611 --> 00:11:54,299 That means, if used as directed, the first fill remains water-only. 207 00:11:54,299 --> 00:11:58,490 I think that alone kinda voids this theory but let’s keep going anyway. 208 00:11:58,490 --> 00:12:04,490 To see how these would dissolve I put them in a pan and gently added water as hot as it comes from the tap. 209 00:12:04,490 --> 00:12:10,169 And much as I was expecting, the Cascade and Great Value packs quickly disintegrated. 210 00:12:10,169 --> 00:12:12,993 I hadn’t even finished pouring the water into the pan 211 00:12:12,993 --> 00:12:14,606 before the membranes were breached, 212 00:12:14,606 --> 00:12:16,882 and once that happens their contents spill out 213 00:12:16,882 --> 00:12:19,090 and start to become one with the water. 214 00:12:19,090 --> 00:12:23,349 Note that this is with almost no agitation whatsoever - 215 00:12:23,349 --> 00:12:26,676 only that which came from pouring the water into the pan. 216 00:12:26,676 --> 00:12:30,029 In a real dishwasher, the flow of water every which way 217 00:12:30,029 --> 00:12:32,568 would speed up this process dramatically. 218 00:12:32,568 --> 00:12:37,316 But the thing I want to show here is that the membrane isn’t holding anything back for later. 219 00:12:37,316 --> 00:12:41,276 It’s just serving to hold the contents together until it gets wet, 220 00:12:41,276 --> 00:12:45,182 and of course to hold three pretty colors of something to convince you it’s better. 221 00:12:45,182 --> 00:12:49,750 In less than two minutes all of the pockets of colored liquid had broken apart. 222 00:12:49,750 --> 00:12:53,423 And again - this is with mostly standing water. 223 00:12:53,423 --> 00:12:57,006 The Finish tab, though, doesn’t dissolve nearly as quickly. 224 00:12:57,006 --> 00:13:00,256 This particular tab has a dissolving membrane as well 225 00:13:00,256 --> 00:13:03,852 but it’s just to allow for handling the tab without touching it. 226 00:13:03,852 --> 00:13:08,457 Cheaper Finish products are individually-wrapped (at least in this market) 227 00:13:08,457 --> 00:13:10,903 and that’s why I made that quip in the last video, by the way. 228 00:13:11,241 --> 00:13:18,134 I have no idea how anyone could *possibly* find that more convenient than just pouring from a box 229 00:13:18,134 --> 00:13:19,331 but whatever. 230 00:13:19,331 --> 00:13:24,119 Once its membrane is no more it behaves like a giant soapy Alka-Seltzer. 231 00:13:24,119 --> 00:13:28,109 This is taking a long time to dissolve without agitation, 232 00:13:28,109 --> 00:13:32,131 but I can’t say that the blue and white parts appear to be dissolving at different rates. 233 00:13:32,131 --> 00:13:36,661 It kinda looked at first like the white part might be dissolving faster 234 00:13:36,661 --> 00:13:42,240 but I brought a knife in to go a pokin’ and yeah, I couldn’t really feel a difference between them. 235 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,164 Whatever initial difference there seemed to be sure didn’t stick around. 236 00:13:46,164 --> 00:13:48,626 And to give this argument a true Finish, 237 00:13:48,626 --> 00:13:52,330 I decided to put a tab in the bottom of my loaded dishwasher 238 00:13:52,330 --> 00:13:56,412 to see if any of it would be left after it drained its first fill. 239 00:13:56,412 --> 00:13:59,980 Here it would get the proper water-washing-over-it experience 240 00:13:59,980 --> 00:14:03,177 and would dissolve as it normally would in a dishwasher. 241 00:14:03,177 --> 00:14:06,821 I can report that absolutely none of it was left, 242 00:14:06,821 --> 00:14:10,551 and my dishwasher only spends 10 minutes in the pre-wash. 243 00:14:10,551 --> 00:14:14,230 I suppose small bits could have remained below the grates in the sump, 244 00:14:14,230 --> 00:14:18,350 but any that got in there before it drained would have been chewed up by the macerator 245 00:14:18,350 --> 00:14:19,802 and pumped out. 246 00:14:19,802 --> 00:14:25,963 I believe we can conclude that the blue and white coloring is there because more colors equals better sales. 247 00:14:25,963 --> 00:14:28,355 The red ball is the cherry on top. 248 00:14:28,691 --> 00:14:31,650 OK, hopefully we’ve put that theory to bed. 249 00:14:31,650 --> 00:14:36,199 Now I want to address a nomenclature disaster which has confused this whole issue. 250 00:14:36,199 --> 00:14:39,410 I keep calling that bit of detergent you’re supposed to give your dishwasher 251 00:14:39,410 --> 00:14:42,052 at the start "pre-wash detergent." 252 00:14:42,052 --> 00:14:44,616 You know because that’s what the dishwasher calls it, 253 00:14:44,616 --> 00:14:47,934 it’s detergent for the part of the wash before the main wash. 254 00:14:47,934 --> 00:14:49,417 The pre-wash. 255 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:51,225 Pre-wash detergent. 256 00:14:51,225 --> 00:14:54,269 But a lot of detergent products are out there which say something like 257 00:14:54,269 --> 00:14:58,506 “no pre-wash required!” or just “no pre-wash!” on the packaging. 258 00:14:58,506 --> 00:15:00,170 What gives? 259 00:15:00,170 --> 00:15:04,126 Well, those aren’t talking about pre-wash detergent, 260 00:15:04,126 --> 00:15:10,380 they’re just trying to get you to stop washing or soaking or rinsing your dishes before you load them into the dishwasher. 261 00:15:10,380 --> 00:15:14,991 They want you to try using your dishwasher as a dishwasher. 262 00:15:14,991 --> 00:15:16,524 And frankly so do I. 263 00:15:16,524 --> 00:15:19,266 And that little slogan isn’t exclusive to packs, 264 00:15:19,266 --> 00:15:22,273 you can find it on several powder and gel products. 265 00:15:22,273 --> 00:15:29,582 None of these here specifically say “no pre-wash” - instead touting their abilities to clean 24 hour stuck-on food. 266 00:15:29,582 --> 00:15:33,537 But also none of the packs here say it either - instead going for 267 00:15:33,537 --> 00:15:38,775 “no pre-rinse required” and “no pre-rinse even on baked-on pasta.” 268 00:15:38,775 --> 00:15:42,144 Cascade is curiously silent on the issue here. 269 00:15:42,144 --> 00:15:44,755 But most important to remember is that 270 00:15:44,755 --> 00:15:49,136 these are all just marketing ploys hoping to convince you to buy the product. 271 00:15:49,136 --> 00:15:51,801 Don’t expect un-stretched truths. 272 00:15:51,801 --> 00:15:53,305 But what about this? 273 00:15:53,305 --> 00:15:57,181 A fair number of you have made claims that independent lab testing 274 00:15:57,181 --> 00:16:01,589 proves detergent packs have superior performance to basic products. 275 00:16:01,589 --> 00:16:07,010 But if that independent testing came from the halls of one Consumer Reports, 276 00:16:07,010 --> 00:16:10,332 Twitter user Michael uncovered this bombshell - 277 00:16:10,332 --> 00:16:13,515 they don’t use the pre-wash cup in their testing! 278 00:16:13,515 --> 00:16:16,523 And it came right from the horse’s mouth! 279 00:16:16,523 --> 00:16:21,819 Now I suppose you could argue that makes the playing field more level for the detergent packs, 280 00:16:22,571 --> 00:16:24,568 but my whole, like, 281 00:16:24,568 --> 00:16:27,442 thing is that detergent packs by design 282 00:16:27,442 --> 00:16:32,592 take that part of the wash cycle away and therefore make it wildly less effective. 283 00:16:32,592 --> 00:16:34,396 They have to compensate for that, 284 00:16:34,396 --> 00:16:38,376 so they’d better do a better job than misused powder and gel. 285 00:16:38,376 --> 00:16:42,526 But do they do a better job than powder detergents used as directed? 286 00:16:42,526 --> 00:16:45,626 Well, my life experience says absolutely not 287 00:16:45,626 --> 00:16:48,644 but I’d love for Consumer Reports to re-run their tests 288 00:16:48,644 --> 00:16:52,533 while using the gels and powders as directed by the dishwasher. 289 00:16:52,533 --> 00:16:54,344 Not these instructions. 290 00:16:54,344 --> 00:16:56,963 Fill to line one, and add a little extra. 291 00:16:56,963 --> 00:17:00,334 You might be wondering what my life experience is. 292 00:17:00,334 --> 00:17:01,657 Well, I’ll tell ya! 293 00:17:01,657 --> 00:17:06,094 By my rough estimation I’ve lived with or otherwise extensively used 294 00:17:06,094 --> 00:17:11,331 nine different household dishwashers in four different geographic areas. 295 00:17:11,331 --> 00:17:16,281 These have ranged from recent, high-end, three-rack stainless steel designs 296 00:17:16,281 --> 00:17:19,534 to *utter garbage* landlord specials 297 00:17:19,534 --> 00:17:23,625 with a 30-year-old Kenmore somewhere in the middle there. 298 00:17:23,625 --> 00:17:29,302 All of these dishwashers, regardless if they were hooked up to Chicago Lake Michigan municipal water, 299 00:17:29,302 --> 00:17:31,710 or middle-of-Florida well water, 300 00:17:31,710 --> 00:17:35,300 or the incredibly hard well water I have out here 301 00:17:35,300 --> 00:17:38,776 have managed to do their job just fine. 302 00:17:38,776 --> 00:17:43,223 Even the utterly terribly landlord special washed dishes 303 00:17:43,223 --> 00:17:46,648 and it didn’t even have a spinner for the top rack. 304 00:17:46,648 --> 00:17:51,542 The only thing that I’ve consistently been doing across all of these machines 305 00:17:51,542 --> 00:17:55,589 is putting powder detergent in both labeled places. 306 00:17:55,589 --> 00:17:58,694 And I feel like I can’t have just been extremely lucky, here. 307 00:17:59,328 --> 00:18:04,657 I honestly feel like these products break the fundamentals of automatic dishwashing. 308 00:18:05,890 --> 00:18:07,434 Oh but that’s right, I forgot! 309 00:18:07,434 --> 00:18:12,800 My dishwasher’s manual actually says the same thing about packs being better! 310 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:17,640 In fact it’s really pushing those tablets and packs, just take a look at that! 311 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:24,296 As a matter of fact the dishwasher came with a sample of these very Cascade Platinum ActionPacs. 312 00:18:24,296 --> 00:18:27,920 Surely KitchenAid made that suggestion in my best interest! 313 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:32,420 I mean, I know they still put a little thing that says “prewash” on the dispenser, 314 00:18:32,420 --> 00:18:36,391 and I know the dishwasher still operates exactly like the one it replaced, 315 00:18:36,391 --> 00:18:40,260 but that’s probably just to keep curmudgeonly grandpas like me happy. 316 00:18:40,260 --> 00:18:42,719 They wouldn’t just include a sample of one product 317 00:18:42,719 --> 00:18:47,730 and tell me it’s proven to work better than some other one unless it was objectively true, right? 318 00:18:47,730 --> 00:18:51,368 I mean, look, we can even confirm here on the packaging from Cascade 319 00:18:51,368 --> 00:18:55,679 that this is the #1 Brand Recommended in North America, 320 00:18:55,679 --> 00:18:57,369 and hey look on the back 321 00:18:57,369 --> 00:18:58,828 there’s... there's KitchenAid! 322 00:18:58,828 --> 00:19:00,420 That’s, that’s my brand! 323 00:19:01,688 --> 00:19:02,986 Why is there an asterisk? 324 00:19:05,141 --> 00:19:07,529 [mumbling] more dishwasher brands in North America recommend Cascade 325 00:19:07,529 --> 00:19:09,803 vs. any other automatic dishwashing detergent brand: 326 00:19:09,803 --> 00:19:12,982 [in absolute shock] recommendations as part of co-marketing agreements! 327 00:19:13,953 --> 00:19:15,722 That… that... that... 328 00:19:15,722 --> 00:19:19,062 that sounds like… Procter & Gamble… 329 00:19:19,442 --> 00:19:24,861 might have had something to do with KitchenAid recommending this particular product to me! 330 00:19:26,252 --> 00:19:31,078 Well I suppose we will never know the exact details of this little co-marketing agreement, 331 00:19:31,078 --> 00:19:35,211 but we know there was one - it says so on every single one of their products. 332 00:19:35,211 --> 00:19:37,670 Frankly I’m amazed they have to disclose that. 333 00:19:37,670 --> 00:19:41,198 And, by the way, Finish does the exact same thing, 334 00:19:41,198 --> 00:19:44,897 though they claim to be the WORLD’s #1 recommended brand… 335 00:19:45,700 --> 00:19:48,010 as part of co-marketing agreements. 336 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:49,324 Cheeky. 337 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:51,173 Here’s the deal. 338 00:19:51,173 --> 00:19:52,983 Detergents are just chemicals. 339 00:19:53,279 --> 00:19:56,514 How they’re packaged makes very little difference to their performance 340 00:19:56,514 --> 00:20:01,550 (although gels do have an actual drawback which we’ll get to shortly). 341 00:20:01,550 --> 00:20:04,792 Do all detergent products perform identically? 342 00:20:04,792 --> 00:20:06,152 Of course not. 343 00:20:06,152 --> 00:20:09,207 But the chemicals in these products are not magic 344 00:20:09,207 --> 00:20:13,750 and you’ll find incredibly similar ingredients lists between them. 345 00:20:13,750 --> 00:20:15,139 How similar? 346 00:20:15,139 --> 00:20:16,469 Well... 347 00:20:16,469 --> 00:20:21,062 Now let’s talk about these chemicals and actually explain what they do. 348 00:20:21,062 --> 00:20:24,509 Cascade was kind enough to actually… 349 00:20:24,509 --> 00:20:29,014 list them and explain what they do on the back of this bag. So... 350 00:20:29,014 --> 00:20:31,530 Thanks, P&G! You’ve redeemed yourself slightly. 351 00:20:32,031 --> 00:20:36,559 I also had many a browser tab open to fact-check what they say here and, 352 00:20:36,559 --> 00:20:39,822 aside from little semantic differences, this all seems to be correct. 353 00:20:39,822 --> 00:20:44,819 So, starting with Amylase enzyme; helps break down starches. 354 00:20:44,819 --> 00:20:49,180 Colorants; there because pretty colors = better sales. 355 00:20:49,180 --> 00:20:55,164 Copolymer of acrylic and sulphonic acids; those are dispersing and surfactant agents. 356 00:20:55,164 --> 00:20:57,780 So soap parts. 357 00:20:57,780 --> 00:21:03,670 Dipropylene glycol is either another surfactant or a solvent or perhaps both. 358 00:21:03,670 --> 00:21:06,594 Fragrances are flagrantly unnecessary. 359 00:21:06,594 --> 00:21:07,588 Glycerin is… 360 00:21:07,588 --> 00:21:08,921 ok I’m getting tired of this. 361 00:21:08,921 --> 00:21:11,716 It’s soap chemicals. This is all soap stuff. 362 00:21:12,301 --> 00:21:18,340 What I’m most interested in is what is in the ActionPacs that’s not in the powder? 363 00:21:18,340 --> 00:21:20,800 By my count, it’s these five items: 364 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:21,800 What do they do? 365 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:26,470 Well, Dipropylene glycol and glycerin, also known as Glycerol, both appear to be used 366 00:21:26,470 --> 00:21:30,310 as either solvents or surfactants or possibly both. 367 00:21:30,310 --> 00:21:33,608 “Helps with liquid processing” is a little ambiguous, 368 00:21:33,608 --> 00:21:39,495 though Cascade’s website described dipropylene glycol as “fighting grease residue in dishwasher” 369 00:21:39,495 --> 00:21:42,510 and curiously doesn’t list glycerin at all. 370 00:21:42,510 --> 00:21:47,291 I was looking at some chemical industry trade news and it seems these are likely used in a 371 00:21:47,291 --> 00:21:53,010 formulation meant to replace 2-Butoxyethanol, sometimes called EGBE. 372 00:21:53,010 --> 00:21:56,112 But this is getting into chemistry weeds and I’m no expert so please, 373 00:21:56,112 --> 00:21:58,890 feel free to chime in, chemistry experts. 374 00:21:58,890 --> 00:22:02,905 In any case I’m gonna guess that these make up the pretty colored-liquids part 375 00:22:02,905 --> 00:22:06,868 since those two chemicals are, ya know, liquids. 376 00:22:06,868 --> 00:22:12,030 The other three missing chemicals are Isotridecanol Ethoxylated, which is another surfactant 377 00:22:12,030 --> 00:22:16,100 and probably works as an emulsifier based on Cascade’s description. 378 00:22:16,100 --> 00:22:21,161 Trisodium dicarboxymethyl alaninate which appears to be a water-softening agent, 379 00:22:21,161 --> 00:22:24,964 taking up the mantle of the now phased-out phosphates and so yeah 380 00:22:24,964 --> 00:22:27,419 probably does helps boost tough food cleaning, 381 00:22:27,419 --> 00:22:30,745 and lastly polyvinyl alcohol polymer. 382 00:22:30,745 --> 00:22:35,460 That’s just the dissolvable membrane. As far as I know it doesn’t help clean. 383 00:22:35,460 --> 00:22:41,234 So, do these five (or four) chemicals make a huge difference to cleaning power? 384 00:22:41,234 --> 00:22:43,346 Cascade sure wants you to think so, 385 00:22:43,346 --> 00:22:47,409 and at least there is something extra in here that your money is paying for, 386 00:22:47,409 --> 00:22:50,475 but I remain unconvinced these are game-changers. 387 00:22:50,869 --> 00:22:54,233 Every other chemical is also found here in this box, 388 00:22:54,233 --> 00:22:59,241 which you can also use in different doses better suited to your dishwasher and situation! 389 00:22:59,241 --> 00:23:02,140 In fact the box contains a bonus chemical! 390 00:23:02,140 --> 00:23:03,393 Sodium silicate! 391 00:23:03,393 --> 00:23:04,871 What’s it for? 392 00:23:04,871 --> 00:23:06,612 Well, Cascade says it is a 393 00:23:06,612 --> 00:23:14,512 Mineral-Based Cleaning Agent which Removes Dried/Burnt On Foods While Providing Special Care For China Dishes And Metal Pots/Pans. 394 00:23:14,512 --> 00:23:17,361 Geez that’s annoyingly specific yet also not at all. 395 00:23:17,361 --> 00:23:23,337 Some other sources just say it’s used as a water softener in detergents so I’m gonna say that’s what it’s for. 396 00:23:23,767 --> 00:23:26,692 That appears to bring the number of cleaning chemicals in the ActionPacs 397 00:23:26,692 --> 00:23:31,781 with a distinctly different function from those in the powder down to only three; 398 00:23:31,781 --> 00:23:35,285 all just variations on soaps and solvents. 399 00:23:35,285 --> 00:23:39,273 Still really struggling to see a reason to pay more for these things. 400 00:23:39,273 --> 00:23:41,845 And now let’s compare costs. 401 00:23:41,845 --> 00:23:46,263 This is legitimately why these pods annoy me so much. 402 00:23:46,263 --> 00:23:50,851 I’m a Midwesterner, I can’t help it, and I loathe paying more for things 403 00:23:50,851 --> 00:23:52,997 while getting less out of them. 404 00:23:52,997 --> 00:23:56,527 And frankly I’m hoping that might rub off on you a little bit. 405 00:23:56,527 --> 00:24:00,252 I understand that pods, realistically, are not that expensive 406 00:24:00,252 --> 00:24:02,236 but let’s compare costs anyway. 407 00:24:02,236 --> 00:24:05,427 These are the on-the-shelf prices at my local Walmart, 408 00:24:05,427 --> 00:24:08,663 you’ll need to do your own comparisons for where you shop. 409 00:24:08,663 --> 00:24:14,857 The best price you can get here for these specific Cascade Action Pacs is $0.27 each. 410 00:24:14,857 --> 00:24:18,281 A more basic product works out to $0.22. 411 00:24:18,281 --> 00:24:22,775 Finish products appear range from about 20 to 24 cents each. 412 00:24:22,775 --> 00:24:24,706 Now this hefty box of powder 413 00:24:24,706 --> 00:24:25,359 [thud] 414 00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:29,313 costs a whopping $3.87. 415 00:24:29,313 --> 00:24:34,930 We only need to get 20 washes out of this to beat the best price of the packs. 416 00:24:34,930 --> 00:24:37,789 And how many washes do I get out of this? 417 00:24:37,789 --> 00:24:42,816 Well, loading the detergent like so - which has proven to be absolutely effective for me - 418 00:24:42,816 --> 00:24:47,195 uses 33 grams assuming my scale is reasonably accurate. 419 00:24:47,195 --> 00:24:50,200 That gets me 64 washes. 420 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:55,182 Funnily enough that’s just about as many washes as you get out of a bulk tub of these things 421 00:24:55,182 --> 00:24:58,028 and woah that’s a pretty huge price delta! 422 00:24:58,028 --> 00:25:01,792 Even if I want to go with the name-brand detergent here, 423 00:25:01,792 --> 00:25:10,622 at this store that works out to less than $0.10 per load, making it half the cost of the most basic brand name pack at the best bulk price. 424 00:25:10,622 --> 00:25:15,534 Now, does a savings of $0.10 a day make a meaningful impact to the average person’s budget? 425 00:25:15,534 --> 00:25:17,349 I wouldn’t say so. 426 00:25:17,349 --> 00:25:20,942 Is it worth $0.10 a day for the convenience of the pack? 427 00:25:20,942 --> 00:25:25,894 Even I would say that, so long as they work for you, sure. 428 00:25:26,252 --> 00:25:30,647 But I do think it’s worth considering that if you use your dishwasher daily, 429 00:25:30,647 --> 00:25:37,268 you could be spending $2/month on detergent instead of perhaps $10 for a super-duper pack. 430 00:25:37,268 --> 00:25:41,175 That $8 could pay for one of them streaming services or something. 431 00:25:41,175 --> 00:25:45,436 As it turns out, in this store the cheapest option on a per-ounce basis 432 00:25:45,436 --> 00:25:47,980 is actually the Great Value Gel. 433 00:25:47,980 --> 00:25:53,346 But, I feel like you’re gonna need to use more of this to get the same performance as the powder. 434 00:25:53,346 --> 00:25:57,074 A lot of what you’re paying for here is just water. 435 00:25:57,074 --> 00:26:02,073 A powder will always be more concentrated because you add the water yourself. 436 00:26:02,073 --> 00:26:05,495 There’s also the fact that, if you’re concerned about packaging waste, 437 00:26:05,495 --> 00:26:08,013 this is a large plastic jug. 438 00:26:08,013 --> 00:26:12,041 Powders come in a paperboard box with a little metal spout, 439 00:26:12,041 --> 00:26:15,230 probably the most sustainable option out there. 440 00:26:15,230 --> 00:26:20,932 And packs are just as bad if not worse than gels since larger quantities come in big ol’ tub things. 441 00:26:20,932 --> 00:26:24,058 Packaging aside, though, let’s talk about gels. 442 00:26:24,058 --> 00:26:29,056 It turns out gels are probably the worst-performing option available. 443 00:26:29,056 --> 00:26:33,651 Why? Well, these two Cascade products reveal their weakness. 444 00:26:34,067 --> 00:26:40,195 Notice that there’s a qualifying asterisk after "2X the cleaning power" on the bottle of Cascade Complete. 445 00:26:40,195 --> 00:26:43,430 That leads us to “on starch and protein soils.” 446 00:26:43,430 --> 00:26:46,598 That’s those lovely enzymes modern detergents have. 447 00:26:46,598 --> 00:26:51,080 But now notice that the Cascade Original (what the 2X compares to) 448 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,740 warns us that dangerous fumes are produced when mixed with other products. 449 00:26:55,740 --> 00:26:58,665 That’s because there’s bleach in this. 450 00:26:58,665 --> 00:27:01,586 Real bleach - Sodium Hypochlorite. 451 00:27:01,586 --> 00:27:03,521 There’s also sodium hydroxide in here, 452 00:27:03,521 --> 00:27:04,641 not gonna lye. 453 00:27:04,641 --> 00:27:07,790 Why isn’t that warning on the bottle of Cascade Complete? 454 00:27:07,790 --> 00:27:13,074 Because bleach and enzymes don’t like to hang around each other in a liquid suspension. 455 00:27:13,074 --> 00:27:16,090 If not separated the bleach will destroy the enzymes, 456 00:27:16,090 --> 00:27:19,368 so with gels you have to choose one or the other. 457 00:27:19,368 --> 00:27:22,558 Cascade Complete foregoes the bleach for enzymes, 458 00:27:22,558 --> 00:27:26,478 and Cascade Original doesn’t have enzymes but does have bleach. 459 00:27:26,478 --> 00:27:30,639 This is something I didn’t know when I made the video, and it’s quite interesting. 460 00:27:30,639 --> 00:27:37,720 I had a conversation on Twitter recently and someone mentioned that their gel detergent wasn’t removing coffee stains. 461 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,970 I didn’t seem to have trouble with that when using this specific Great Value gel (which has enzymes), 462 00:27:42,970 --> 00:27:47,530 but I have noticed a gradual buildup of deposits on some of my cookware. 463 00:27:48,246 --> 00:27:53,160 I attributed that to my ridiculously hard water but I started using powder again 464 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,420 and at least after a few washes those deposits haven't returned. 465 00:27:56,420 --> 00:27:58,450 That’s likely no coincidence. 466 00:27:58,450 --> 00:28:02,124 Because powdered detergents are produced as dry… 467 00:28:02,124 --> 00:28:06,800 powders they can contain both enzymes and bleach. 468 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,720 Now in this Cascade Complete it’s not true bleach, 469 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:15,483 instead it’s sodium carbonate peroxide also known as sodium percarbonate also known as 470 00:28:15,483 --> 00:28:17,559 the stuff in OxiClean. 471 00:28:17,559 --> 00:28:20,809 But the point is powders, along with tabs and packs, 472 00:28:20,809 --> 00:28:26,270 can keep the two components molecularly separated until water gets added by your dishwasher, 473 00:28:26,270 --> 00:28:31,144 making the mixture of enzymes and non-chlorine bleach shelf-stable. 474 00:28:31,144 --> 00:28:37,551 Notably the only product here that contains actual bleach is the cascade original gel. 475 00:28:37,551 --> 00:28:43,488 All of the tabs and packs also feature sodium percarbonate as their stain-fighting champion. 476 00:28:43,488 --> 00:28:50,330 Also notable is that apparently Cascade has cracked this problem in gels, or it least it looks that way at a glance. 477 00:28:50,330 --> 00:28:53,259 They sell a Complete Oxi Gel. 478 00:28:53,259 --> 00:29:01,340 However the ingredients list on the P&G website doesn’t show sodium carbonate peroxide as an ingredient so maybe not? 479 00:29:01,340 --> 00:29:02,018 I don’t know. 480 00:29:02,018 --> 00:29:06,204 But literally all of the other products here contain that ingredient. 481 00:29:06,204 --> 00:29:08,000 Only the gels don’t. 482 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,970 Now I want to note that I’m not saying gels are bad. 483 00:29:10,970 --> 00:29:15,078 I’ve had completely satisfactory results with both of these gels, 484 00:29:15,078 --> 00:29:18,638 and I think they’re definitely easier to use than powders. 485 00:29:18,638 --> 00:29:22,361 Pouring powder into the dispenser requires a fair degree of dexterity 486 00:29:22,361 --> 00:29:24,630 because it just spills out. 487 00:29:24,630 --> 00:29:29,170 But thick gel doesn’t leave the bottle ‘til ya squeeze it so you have much more control. 488 00:29:29,170 --> 00:29:35,563 It’s just that, compositionally, they have that “gotta pick one: enzymes or bleach” weakness 489 00:29:35,563 --> 00:29:38,050 which powders and tabs don’t. 490 00:29:38,050 --> 00:29:42,820 But then again, they also have one more rather huge advantage up their sleeve: 491 00:29:42,820 --> 00:29:48,370 I started using gels because of a design flaw with a previous dishwasher of mine. 492 00:29:48,370 --> 00:29:53,280 I had to be mindful of how I loaded it because if I put dinner plates or other large items 493 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:57,870 in front of the dispenser, those would block the door from opening fully. 494 00:29:57,870 --> 00:30:00,754 The top sprayer probably had a jet like you see here 495 00:30:00,754 --> 00:30:04,121 designed to blast the dispenser and help dislodge detergent, 496 00:30:04,121 --> 00:30:10,120 but if the door only opened a smidge into some plates the door itself would block that water jet. 497 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:14,906 And that happened to me more than a few times with that dishwasher. 498 00:30:14,906 --> 00:30:20,260 I ended up with loads where my trusty powder had become a giant cake stuck in the dispenser 499 00:30:20,260 --> 00:30:22,770 and didn’t help wash anything. 500 00:30:22,770 --> 00:30:27,450 With gels it would at least always ooze out, and since I would occasionally forget about 501 00:30:27,450 --> 00:30:31,675 this loading requirement I decided to stop using powders with that dishwasher and 502 00:30:31,675 --> 00:30:35,334 kind of got into the groove of buying gels for a few years. 503 00:30:35,334 --> 00:30:40,250 Although one other possibility was that the gasket on the door wasn’t sealing well, 504 00:30:40,250 --> 00:30:44,268 causing water intrusion during the pre-wash which turned the powder into a clump 505 00:30:44,268 --> 00:30:46,249 before the dispenser even opened. 506 00:30:46,249 --> 00:30:52,520 After all if it had stayed dry, it should be able to fall out through even a pretty tiny crack. 507 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:57,630 So pro-tip for those out there - if you can get to that gasket, give it a good cleaning 508 00:30:57,630 --> 00:30:59,050 and descaling. 509 00:30:59,050 --> 00:31:03,670 If you don’t have an actual gasket, do the same for whatever mating surfaces there are. 510 00:31:03,670 --> 00:31:08,198 I don’t know what the exact problem was but my new dishwasher has a sliding door 511 00:31:08,198 --> 00:31:12,556 which eliminates this problem, and so back to powders I go. 512 00:31:13,129 --> 00:31:15,489 After I go through all of this nonsense of course. 513 00:31:15,740 --> 00:31:17,950 The things I do for you... 514 00:31:18,234 --> 00:31:20,010 OK, next item of interest. 515 00:31:20,010 --> 00:31:24,552 I saw a few comments claiming that powder detergents have abrasives in them 516 00:31:24,552 --> 00:31:27,380 that cause the water to act something like a sandblaster. 517 00:31:28,884 --> 00:31:30,725 Ehhh… I don’t think so. 518 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:32,740 I mean, it all dissolves in water. 519 00:31:32,740 --> 00:31:34,280 You can just test that. 520 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,663 Some little granules might stay behind but if you rub them between your fingers 521 00:31:37,663 --> 00:31:39,730 they just disintegrate. 522 00:31:39,730 --> 00:31:43,428 And I don’t see anything in the ingredients list that’s not water-soluable. 523 00:31:43,428 --> 00:31:45,882 Some other comments were claiming something to the effect of 524 00:31:45,882 --> 00:31:52,467 “powder detergents destroy dishwashers!” and, well, I don’t know what you base that on. 525 00:31:52,467 --> 00:31:57,508 Especially since these packs are just powder in a pouch. 526 00:31:57,508 --> 00:32:01,619 Maybe it’s a little bit more concentrated but it’s basically the same stuff. 527 00:32:01,619 --> 00:32:07,030 Honestly of these products the only one that I’d be concerned with harming my dishwasher 528 00:32:07,030 --> 00:32:10,970 is the one with bleach and lye in it, but even then I trust it’s fine. 529 00:32:10,970 --> 00:32:15,201 You’re mixing a couple spoonfuls of detergent with several liters of water. 530 00:32:15,201 --> 00:32:16,236 And now, 531 00:32:16,236 --> 00:32:17,507 Rinse Aids! 532 00:32:17,507 --> 00:32:19,656 What are they and what are they for? 533 00:32:19,656 --> 00:32:24,236 Rinse aid is really quite simple - it’s just a concentrated mild surfactant 534 00:32:24,236 --> 00:32:27,416 with the sole purpose of reducing the surface tension of water 535 00:32:27,416 --> 00:32:32,627 so that it doesn’t bead up on items and instead sheets off them in a film. 536 00:32:32,627 --> 00:32:36,484 This reduces water spots on your stuff, especially when you have hard water, 537 00:32:36,484 --> 00:32:41,447 and also just makes drying easier because less water stays on your stuff. 538 00:32:41,447 --> 00:32:49,510 Now some detergent products claim to have a rinse-aid, though you’ll notice all these are still trying to get you to buy some. 539 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,550 And actually, they’re right. 540 00:32:52,550 --> 00:32:57,267 Your dishwasher was designed by smart people and the rinse aid part is quite clever. 541 00:32:57,267 --> 00:33:01,700 Generally as part of your detergent dispenser, there’s a place to put rinse aid. 542 00:33:01,700 --> 00:33:05,976 At the very end of the cycle, after it’s drained the soapy wash water away 543 00:33:05,976 --> 00:33:12,244 and filled up with clean water to rinse, the dispenser will squirt out a few milliliters of this stuff. 544 00:33:12,244 --> 00:33:17,198 That has to happen at the very end after the detergent has been drained away, 545 00:33:17,198 --> 00:33:22,061 which is why detergents which claim to also have rinse aids are silly. 546 00:33:22,061 --> 00:33:24,471 Rinse aid is cheap and lasts a long time - 547 00:33:24,471 --> 00:33:31,201 you also don’t have to fill it up with every wash; there will be some sort of window or indicator to show you when you need to add more. 548 00:33:31,201 --> 00:33:35,680 So I’d recommend using some, but also absolutely just get the store brand. 549 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,067 This is a hilariously simple product. 550 00:33:38,067 --> 00:33:40,190 And now, maintenance! 551 00:33:40,190 --> 00:33:43,608 You heard my thoughts about dishwashers with filters in the last video. 552 00:33:43,608 --> 00:33:44,978 Those thoughts were; 553 00:33:44,978 --> 00:33:45,904 eww. 554 00:33:45,904 --> 00:33:49,199 But if you have them, you need to clean them at least periodically. 555 00:33:49,199 --> 00:33:50,432 Sorry. 556 00:33:50,432 --> 00:33:52,414 Regardless of if you have filters or not, 557 00:33:52,414 --> 00:33:55,789 your dishwasher itself could do with occasional cleaning. 558 00:33:55,789 --> 00:33:58,673 Gunk builds up over time, it’s just a fact of life, 559 00:33:58,673 --> 00:34:01,546 so periodic cleaning cycles can do some good. 560 00:34:01,546 --> 00:34:05,325 That gunk mostly builds up in the sump where you can’t see it, 561 00:34:05,325 --> 00:34:08,656 and this could be making your dishwasher perform less effectively. 562 00:34:08,656 --> 00:34:11,148 If you’ve never run a cleaner product through it, 563 00:34:11,148 --> 00:34:12,979 by gosh go do that now. 564 00:34:12,979 --> 00:34:15,842 There are many dishwasher cleaner products out there. 565 00:34:15,842 --> 00:34:18,196 I’m personally a fan of this one. 566 00:34:18,196 --> 00:34:21,789 Don’t know if other brands are available, but I like it because it’s clever. 567 00:34:21,789 --> 00:34:25,248 There’s a wax plug which melts at high temperatures. 568 00:34:25,248 --> 00:34:30,393 All you need to do is put this upside down in the silverware basket and run the dishwasher empty 569 00:34:30,393 --> 00:34:33,916 with the high-temp wash selected if you have that option. 570 00:34:33,916 --> 00:34:38,964 The bottle will hold onto the cleaner until the wash water is hot enough to melt the wax, 571 00:34:38,964 --> 00:34:42,559 ensuring it doesn’t get released until the long wash cycle. 572 00:34:42,559 --> 00:34:47,092 And because it’s so large, you get a lot of cleaning action, at least in my experience. 573 00:34:47,092 --> 00:34:54,058 All this is is really concentrated citric acid, and so you could just buy some citric acid powder and do this manually if you wanted. 574 00:34:54,058 --> 00:34:57,886 But it works really well, especially at descaling everything. 575 00:34:57,886 --> 00:35:00,315 Now about the salty Europeans. 576 00:35:00,315 --> 00:35:06,349 It’s apparently very common for your dishwashers to have what are essentially built-in water softeners. 577 00:35:06,349 --> 00:35:10,301 And frankly, that’s really neat and I’m jealous of that. 578 00:35:10,301 --> 00:35:13,213 Those dishwashers have a compartment for coarse salt 579 00:35:13,213 --> 00:35:20,000 which they use to make a brine solution and recharge the ion-exchange resin in their itty-bitty water softeners. 580 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,628 That makes detergents work much more effectively, 581 00:35:22,628 --> 00:35:26,070 and reportedly many of you neglect to refill this. 582 00:35:26,070 --> 00:35:29,531 This has resulted in European versions of me who are just as fanatical 583 00:35:29,531 --> 00:35:33,420 about keeping the salt full as I am about using pre-wash detergent. 584 00:35:33,957 --> 00:35:36,919 Look, we both really just want you to have well-functioning dishwashers 585 00:35:36,919 --> 00:35:41,101 and the first step to that goal is following the dang instructions. 586 00:35:41,101 --> 00:35:44,868 Many of us in the States have water softeners for our entire homes 587 00:35:44,868 --> 00:35:50,319 but many of us also don’t, in fact Google tells me it’s only a quarter of us that actually do. 588 00:35:50,319 --> 00:35:54,188 So most of us, including me, just cope with whatever water we have, 589 00:35:54,188 --> 00:35:59,059 and in the case of dishwashers that means a lot of us need to use more detergent than we might otherwise. 590 00:35:59,668 --> 00:36:04,040 There might be a few dishwasher models available in the US market with built-in softeners, 591 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:06,084 my money’s on them being Bosch models, 592 00:36:06,084 --> 00:36:09,634 but they’re absolutely the exception and not the norm. 593 00:36:09,634 --> 00:36:13,413 I have never, ever encountered one and I don’t think dishwasher salt 594 00:36:13,413 --> 00:36:16,640 is a thing I’ve ever seen sold in a store. 595 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:20,230 OK, now that I’ve covered everything that I’d call informational, 596 00:36:20,230 --> 00:36:22,726 it’s time for the video to get a little more… 597 00:36:22,726 --> 00:36:24,177 salty. 598 00:36:24,177 --> 00:36:31,065 I’m gonna try to not go overboard here and I’ve been working and reworking this script for weeks to hopefully keep myself in check. 599 00:36:31,710 --> 00:36:33,946 Here’s the first thing I want to address - 600 00:36:33,946 --> 00:36:35,785 dishwashers absolutely, 601 00:36:35,785 --> 00:36:36,794 positively, 602 00:36:36,794 --> 00:36:42,167 honest-to-god save time, energy, and water compared to hand washing 603 00:36:42,167 --> 00:36:47,009 yet a shocking number of people out there are obstinately against these conclusions. 604 00:36:47,009 --> 00:36:52,538 Quick acknowledgement - I know that dishwashers are a luxury and that plenty of you don’t have one in the first place, 605 00:36:52,538 --> 00:36:55,641 and if you’ve made it this far into the video you deserve a cookie, 606 00:36:55,641 --> 00:36:57,963 but this criticism isn’t directed at you. 607 00:36:57,963 --> 00:37:01,629 This is directed at the people who have a dishwasher 608 00:37:01,629 --> 00:37:05,138 but smugly refuse to use it for some reason, 609 00:37:05,138 --> 00:37:08,313 and there are apparently a ton of you lot out there. 610 00:37:08,313 --> 00:37:14,038 Regarding water use - I showed you how little water they use by draining it into a tub. 611 00:37:14,038 --> 00:37:16,060 This is literally it. 612 00:37:16,060 --> 00:37:23,552 But I found a comment thread where dozens of people were skeptical about the 4.2 gallons / 16 liters figure I came to. 613 00:37:23,552 --> 00:37:27,434 Look, I - this person - weighed this thing 614 00:37:27,434 --> 00:37:29,669 and then subtracted the weight of the empty tub. 615 00:37:29,669 --> 00:37:33,299 Then I divided that figure by the number of pounds in a gallon of water. 616 00:37:33,299 --> 00:37:36,122 Then I did conversions so the rest of you would understand me. 617 00:37:36,122 --> 00:37:38,138 I didn’t just pull that number out of thin air, 618 00:37:38,138 --> 00:37:45,447 it was a real-world example from a real-world dishwasher, and one that did a just-fine job washing dishes for me. 619 00:37:46,271 --> 00:37:51,232 That is until its brain box started going bad giving me the perfect excuse to cut a hole in it. 620 00:37:51,232 --> 00:37:55,431 Look up how much water any reasonably modern dishwasher uses in a standard cycle 621 00:37:55,431 --> 00:37:58,387 and it’s going to be very close to that figure. 622 00:37:58,387 --> 00:38:00,541 And the thing is that is a constant! 623 00:38:00,541 --> 00:38:05,873 You can load the thing up with 8 place settings, some cookware, cutting boards, and whatever else will still fit 624 00:38:05,873 --> 00:38:10,374 and the same 16 liters of water will take care of cleaning all of it. 625 00:38:10,374 --> 00:38:16,704 Larger loads don’t take any more time or water, which cannot be said for manually washing. 626 00:38:16,704 --> 00:38:17,926 Now the time part. 627 00:38:17,926 --> 00:38:24,964 A frankly astonishing number of people are bothered by how long it takes the machine to wash dishes. 628 00:38:24,964 --> 00:38:29,415 Many people have proudly claimed they can hand wash faster than their dishwashers. 629 00:38:30,203 --> 00:38:33,670 Well of course you can, in fact I bet I could too, but 630 00:38:33,670 --> 00:38:36,401 (and I’m sorry I can’t avoid overt snark here) 631 00:38:36,401 --> 00:38:40,913 guess what I’m not doing while my dishwasher washes dishes? 632 00:38:41,343 --> 00:38:42,003 You guessed it! 633 00:38:42,003 --> 00:38:43,285 Washing dishes! 634 00:38:43,668 --> 00:38:48,819 Yes it takes the machine a longer period of time but I am not making that time investment. 635 00:38:48,819 --> 00:38:51,772 While it’s washing dishes I could be writing a script for YouTube 636 00:38:51,772 --> 00:38:52,474 or reading a book 637 00:38:52,474 --> 00:38:53,522 or playing a game 638 00:38:53,522 --> 00:38:54,359 or watching a movie 639 00:38:54,359 --> 00:38:57,219 or literally any activity at all. 640 00:38:57,601 --> 00:39:03,652 It’s not like the only thing you can do with that time is pace a rut in the floor waiting until you see your precious dishes again. 641 00:39:04,297 --> 00:39:08,856 Now, I don’t know who leaves those comments or what your motivations for doing so are. 642 00:39:08,856 --> 00:39:10,555 I’m not in your heads. 643 00:39:10,555 --> 00:39:15,693 But I just want to make abundantly clear that machine-time is not human-time 644 00:39:15,693 --> 00:39:20,490 and you’re not doing yourself any favors by equating the two, John Henry. 645 00:39:20,490 --> 00:39:23,033 In fact I know you don’t for other things. 646 00:39:23,033 --> 00:39:28,422 Are you still going to the river to hand-wash your laundry or have you given that task over to a machine? 647 00:39:28,422 --> 00:39:30,594 I bet you’re letting the machine do it. 648 00:39:30,594 --> 00:39:33,407 And just as is the case for my laundry routine, 649 00:39:33,407 --> 00:39:38,317 the longest part of my washing up routine is putting clean dishes away. 650 00:39:38,317 --> 00:39:44,715 I spend literally zero cleaning effort beyond pouring detergent and pushing a button. 651 00:39:44,715 --> 00:39:48,727 Why so many of you seem to take pride in hand-washing dishes 652 00:39:48,727 --> 00:39:53,637 when time-saving (and water-saving!) machines are at your disposal 653 00:39:53,637 --> 00:39:55,659 is entirely beyond me. 654 00:39:55,659 --> 00:39:57,320 And I’m a Midwesterner! 655 00:39:57,320 --> 00:39:59,778 I’m no stranger to principled suffering. 656 00:39:59,778 --> 00:40:01,319 But this ain’t it, chief. 657 00:40:01,319 --> 00:40:03,098 Is that still cool to say? 658 00:40:03,098 --> 00:40:09,075 And the last thing - even if you live alone or don’t generate large volumes of dirty dishes in a given day, 659 00:40:09,075 --> 00:40:12,975 I’d strongly argue the dishwasher is still your friend. 660 00:40:12,975 --> 00:40:17,755 I don’t run mine every day, I just put dirty dishes in it as they accumulate. 661 00:40:17,755 --> 00:40:19,818 Then when it’s full I run it. 662 00:40:19,818 --> 00:40:25,946 I’ve never had an issue with dried-on food (probably because of that magical pre-wash detergent I've been raving about) 663 00:40:26,555 --> 00:40:32,744 and if you’re living by yourself with only one or two place settings - wow I think you owe it to yourself to correct that. 664 00:40:32,744 --> 00:40:35,851 Plus you can clean most of your cookware in it, too! 665 00:40:35,851 --> 00:40:38,085 If you have a working dishwasher, 666 00:40:38,085 --> 00:40:40,678 stop wasting your time and energy. 667 00:40:40,678 --> 00:40:43,834 There are plenty of more fun ways to do that. 668 00:40:43,834 --> 00:40:47,600 And now, allow me to address a common criticism of the original video. 669 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:52,968 Some people complained that I only showed the incomplete results of the first 15 minutes of washing 670 00:40:52,968 --> 00:40:55,156 and didn’t compare end-results. 671 00:40:55,156 --> 00:41:00,397 After all, if the detergent pack managed to perform as well as my cheap gel in the end, 672 00:41:00,397 --> 00:41:02,249 does the pre-wash even matter? 673 00:41:02,249 --> 00:41:04,127 Isn’t the end result all we care about? 674 00:41:04,879 --> 00:41:06,592 I suppose that could be argued, 675 00:41:06,592 --> 00:41:15,616 but the central basis of my entire argument was and is that the pre-wash water fill handles your dishes at their most soiled, 676 00:41:15,616 --> 00:41:20,189 and so using water alone at this point is… silly. 677 00:41:20,189 --> 00:41:24,608 I was surprised, frankly, at how well water stood on its own in this task, 678 00:41:24,608 --> 00:41:26,554 and I even said that in the video. 679 00:41:26,554 --> 00:41:33,218 But my intent was to compare the cleanliness of the machine and dishes at the starting point of the main wash. 680 00:41:33,218 --> 00:41:36,954 I wanted to show what the pre-wash detergent itself did, 681 00:41:36,954 --> 00:41:40,320 especially because there are just so many other variables to contend with. 682 00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:43,800 So I stopped it there, and that was intentional. 683 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:49,898 If you’re still skeptical about my point that detergent packs go against the way most dishwashers are designed to function, 684 00:41:49,898 --> 00:41:51,995 well first of all don’t just take my word for it - 685 00:41:51,995 --> 00:41:54,358 look through some of the comments on the original video! 686 00:41:54,358 --> 00:41:57,389 A lot of people have seen a drastic improvement. 687 00:41:57,389 --> 00:42:00,573 But even better - just see for yourself! 688 00:42:00,573 --> 00:42:04,089 The next time you use your dishwasher, observe how it operates. 689 00:42:04,089 --> 00:42:10,954 Listen for when it starts draining the water - you can almost always hear that happen as a gurgling coming from your sink. 690 00:42:10,954 --> 00:42:16,703 Then, as it’s draining, go ahead and open it to see if the detergent dispenser is still closed. 691 00:42:16,703 --> 00:42:21,546 I’m betting that on a “normal” wash cycle it is and that it won’t actually open 692 00:42:21,546 --> 00:42:24,554 until it re-fills and starts washing again. 693 00:42:24,554 --> 00:42:28,936 Now, some cycles like “express” or “eco” might not work this way, 694 00:42:28,936 --> 00:42:33,597 but the bottom line is it doesn’t hurt to try some basic detergents. 695 00:42:33,597 --> 00:42:37,982 I really think if you give ‘em a fair shot, they’ll do a great job. 696 00:42:37,982 --> 00:42:41,008 Oh, and that leads me to answer a question many of you had. 697 00:42:41,008 --> 00:42:48,008 Can you use a powder or gel as a pre-wash detergent but still use your favorite pack in the main wash? 698 00:42:48,903 --> 00:42:56,009 In general, yes... though I would suggest you make sure neither product has any warnings about mixing with any other products 699 00:42:56,009 --> 00:42:58,124 but in most cases this isn’t a problem. 700 00:42:58,124 --> 00:43:03,334 After all lots and lots of packs are literally just bound up, highly-concentrated powders, 701 00:43:03,334 --> 00:43:05,100 sometimes with flair. 702 00:43:05,100 --> 00:43:09,030 However, I now would like to ask a question about your question: 703 00:43:09,388 --> 00:43:11,334 why are you asking that question? 704 00:43:11,501 --> 00:43:14,922 It seems a large number of you thought I’m in the pocket of Big Detergent 705 00:43:14,922 --> 00:43:21,264 and I wanted you to buy *more* detergent by way of two different kinds, but no not at all! 706 00:43:21,264 --> 00:43:25,119 That was absolutely not where I was intending to lead you. 707 00:43:25,119 --> 00:43:28,734 I want you to try some of the cheapest product your store has on offer, 708 00:43:28,734 --> 00:43:31,049 ideally boxed powder if you can get it, 709 00:43:31,049 --> 00:43:34,664 and use that for both pre-wash and the main wash. 710 00:43:35,130 --> 00:43:40,490 If you want to use up some pods you already have and intend to switch away from, well great! 711 00:43:40,490 --> 00:43:44,640 Though I will say that I think you should try using powder or gel products by themselves 712 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:46,755 a few times to ensure that they will work for you. 713 00:43:47,829 --> 00:43:51,176 I’m pretty confident they will so long as you follow the path of the pre-wash, 714 00:43:51,176 --> 00:43:53,601 but there are never guarantees. 715 00:43:53,601 --> 00:43:56,215 And if you still need to use pods for whatever reason, 716 00:43:56,215 --> 00:44:00,867 such as their accessibility benefits or the simple fact that they’re all you can find, 717 00:44:00,867 --> 00:44:05,190 I suggest you try the cheapest pods your store has on offer. 718 00:44:05,190 --> 00:44:06,194 Go with the Kroger brand. 719 00:44:06,194 --> 00:44:07,194 The Great Value. 720 00:44:07,194 --> 00:44:07,979 The Smartly. 721 00:44:07,979 --> 00:44:08,979 The Essential Everyday. 722 00:44:08,979 --> 00:44:09,728 The Kirkland Signature. 723 00:44:09,728 --> 00:44:11,388 The Whatever the heck your store calls it. 724 00:44:11,889 --> 00:44:13,826 Throw one of them directly into the tub 725 00:44:13,826 --> 00:44:17,480 and put the other in the dispenser and see what sort of results you get. 726 00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:20,566 And if you’re having fine results using just one pod- 727 00:44:20,817 --> 00:44:21,590 Great! 728 00:44:21,590 --> 00:44:23,180 I’m not gonna stop you. 729 00:44:23,180 --> 00:44:26,771 If you’re happy with where you’re at, there’s no need to change things up. 730 00:44:26,771 --> 00:44:29,958 Unless you want the same satisfaction I do that comes from great results 731 00:44:29,958 --> 00:44:31,789 with the cheapest store-brand option. 732 00:44:31,789 --> 00:44:33,059 I just love that. 733 00:44:33,059 --> 00:44:34,740 It feels like sticking it to the man. 734 00:44:35,034 --> 00:44:39,697 I’d be way less annoyed with packs as a concept if they came in two-part tubs 735 00:44:39,697 --> 00:44:44,910 with two different packs - a big one for the dispenser and a little one to be thrown into the tub. 736 00:44:44,910 --> 00:44:49,260 Or they could even be little tear-off baby packs attached to the main one. 737 00:44:49,260 --> 00:44:52,214 It’s really not the concept of a pack that annoys me 738 00:44:52,214 --> 00:44:57,680 (though I myself would still choose to avoid them because, again, value-obsessed midwesterner). 739 00:44:58,181 --> 00:45:01,536 It’s that a single introduction of detergent doesn't make sense, 740 00:45:01,536 --> 00:45:08,093 and honestly I’m willing to bet that there has been a drastic increase in overall detergent chemical usage 741 00:45:08,093 --> 00:45:13,079 thanks to their need to overcompensate for the soapless pre-wash. 742 00:45:13,079 --> 00:45:17,599 Again, use detergent properly and you really don’t need a whole lot. 743 00:45:17,599 --> 00:45:22,099 Oh, and one last thing, if your preference of packs comes from the fact that they’re, 744 00:45:22,099 --> 00:45:25,130 quote unquote “less messy…” 745 00:45:26,276 --> 00:45:28,337 I would like to remind you that this is soap. 746 00:45:28,874 --> 00:45:32,266 If you spill some powder and it ends up outside the dispenser cup, 747 00:45:32,839 --> 00:45:34,000 so what? 748 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:37,991 It’ll just end up in the first rinse and become part of your pre-wash detergent. 749 00:45:37,991 --> 00:45:43,626 A bit of soap that gets spilled on the insides of a machine which washes itself 750 00:45:43,626 --> 00:45:47,920 is a very silly thing to be worried about. At least, to my ears. 751 00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:50,380 I get it, it’s harder to use, but messy? 752 00:45:50,990 --> 00:45:52,490 C’mon. It’s soap. 753 00:45:52,801 --> 00:45:54,499 OK. I think that’s everything. 754 00:45:54,499 --> 00:45:56,678 Bottom line, if you’re happy with your dishwasher - 755 00:45:56,678 --> 00:45:57,783 clap your hands. 756 00:45:57,783 --> 00:45:59,413 And keep doing what you’re doing with it. 757 00:45:59,413 --> 00:46:05,028 But detergents aren't magic, almost all the same chemicals in here are in there, 758 00:46:05,028 --> 00:46:10,115 and being able to change how much you use is, to me, a good thing. 759 00:46:10,115 --> 00:46:15,033 And I do think it’s interesting that basically the entire dishwasher detergent market 760 00:46:15,033 --> 00:46:20,423 has evolved to a place where you can’t see how far you can stretch your detergent anymore. 761 00:46:21,032 --> 00:46:24,304 Actually it’s kind of the entire detergent market, really. 762 00:46:24,304 --> 00:46:27,075 Did you know you can get powdered laundry soap? 763 00:46:27,075 --> 00:46:30,169 Yeah, maybe I’ll have to go on a tirade about that some day… 764 00:46:31,100 --> 00:46:33,636 ♫ sufficiently smooth jazz ♫ 765 00:46:34,352 --> 00:46:37,617 Over the winter I made a video about how dishwashers work and explained how they just pump up with… 766 00:46:37,617 --> 00:46:38,349 MMMMH 767 00:46:38,349 --> 00:46:40,364 It then refills itself with clean water. 768 00:46:40,364 --> 00:46:42,900 If it didn't have some way to hold the detergent back until that second fill it would it all 769 00:46:42,900 --> 00:46:44,874 be gone in the first ten or fifteen minutes but you see deter... 770 00:46:45,089 --> 00:46:45,589 Yep! 771 00:46:45,589 --> 00:46:47,834 I need to move the teleprompter faster. 772 00:46:48,443 --> 00:46:53,762 [reading the script quickly but you can barely hear him because he’s not by the mic] 773 00:46:54,415 --> 00:46:55,068 Riveting 774 00:46:56,468 --> 00:46:58,089 ...help get those oils, etc, out quickly. 775 00:46:58,089 --> 00:47:01,704 Ann this is why many dishwashers have not one but two places you are supposed to put 776 00:47:01,704 --> 00:47:02,524 detergent. 777 00:47:02,524 --> 00:47:05,720 Because of that these pre-dosed detergent packs which bypass the pre-wash step annoy 778 00:47:05,720 --> 00:47:09,930 me and it’s my pet theory that they’ve led to dishwater shissatisfdumbledefufy FAH! 779 00:47:09,930 --> 00:47:13,969 That was too much detergent for the wash water to effectively be rinsed away at the end of 780 00:47:13,969 --> 00:47:15,319 the cycle. 781 00:47:16,859 --> 00:47:19,782 That’s not what the words were… 782 00:47:19,782 --> 00:47:22,950 Cascade Action Platinum Packs (?) 783 00:47:22,950 --> 00:47:24,599 Whether initial…. 784 00:47:25,464 --> 00:47:26,545 nnnmmAGGH 785 00:47:27,261 --> 00:47:30,995 Is that these are all just marketing ploys hoping to convince you to buy the product. 786 00:47:30,995 --> 00:47:33,205 Don’t expect untretched… 787 00:47:34,136 --> 00:47:35,503 Tha… tha… 788 00:47:36,900 --> 00:47:41,683 that… that… this eh... that... tha... tha... 789 00:47:42,829 --> 00:47:48,823 [this nonsense continues for some time.] 790 00:47:54,016 --> 00:47:57,484 Probably could have washed a bowl or something by now 791 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,137 The best price you can get… oh that’s turned around. 792 00:48:04,534 --> 00:48:07,201 That’s right. WASHING DISHES! 793 00:48:08,924 --> 00:48:12,292 There's a word I didn't use in the script to describe detergent pods. 794 00:48:12,292 --> 00:48:15,366 In fact I edited the script down in two places because I didn't want to enrage our corporate detergent overlords. 795 00:48:15,366 --> 00:48:18,350 I just... you know when you need to get a printed photo into a computer you use a scanner? 796 00:48:18,350 --> 00:48:20,653 You get something called a scan? 797 00:48:20,653 --> 00:48:23,620 Just thought that's an interesting bit of trivia.