Best Dishwasher Detergents From Consumer Reports' Tests
Packs, pods, and tablets outperform gel detergents when it comes to cleaning power
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You don’t need a pricey dishwasher detergent to get clean dishes. The best formulas from popular brands like Cascade and Seventh Generation do a fantastic job of removing food and resisting residue in Consumer Reports’ tough lab tests. But plenty of store-brand detergents, which often cost much less per use, also do an excellent job.
Our ratings include almost 30 detergents tested in our labs, including single-dose packs and gels. (Powder detergents are increasingly unpopular, so we didn’t include them in our latest tests.) Cleaning performance ranges widely between the best and worst of the bunch, and there’s a huge span in prices, too—anywhere from 7 cents to about 60 cents per load.
But here’s the bottom line: The best-performing detergent packs clean better than most gels, according to our tests. That’s because they contain a wider mixture of ingredients that can boost cleaning, including enzymes, degreasers, bleach, and rinse aids. Different combinations of those substances can make a big difference.
“Generally, enzymes do help,” says Larry Ciufo, the engineer who oversees Consumer Reports’ dishwasher detergent testing. “But it’s too complicated to pin it on one ingredient.” These single-dose units—also known as pacs, packets, pods, tabs, and tablets—are easy to load into the detergent tray, with no squirting or scooping required. But gels and even powders still have their place, depending on your dishwasher’s performance and your personal preference. If you don’t need to wash away much stuck-on food, for example, a good gel might be all you really need.
Below, you’ll find a selection of the best dishwasher detergents we’ve tested, grouped as single-dose packs or gel, and listed alphabetically. All of the single-dose packs (or pods) contain enzymes but not bleach. But if your dishwasher does a decent job and you’re not dealing with a lot of baked-on messes, there are plenty more options that may work for you. You’ll find those, along with detailed results from our tests, in our dishwasher detergent ratings. If it’s time to replace your dishwasher itself, check out our dishwasher buying guide for information on how to choose a new one, as well as how specific models stack up in our testing.
Best Single-Dose Detergent Packs
These top-rated single-dose detergent packs excel at cleaning dishes and preventing mineral deposits that can lead to discoloration.
Cascade’s Platinum ActionPacs with Dawn is the most effective dishwasher detergent we’ve tested among pods and gels, earning the highest score. It excels at both cleaning dishes and resisting film and discoloration; it also resists water spots. It’s pricier than many other detergents—a little over 30 cents per use—but far less expensive than detergent formulas with extra additives to fight tough mineral deposits.
For a middling price, Finish Powerball Ultimate dishwasher pods deliver above-average results in our tests, with excellent scores in both cleaning dishes and resisting film and mineral deposits. They also ward off water spots. They include scum-fighting enzymes, but no bleach.
Presto! Triple Action Dishwasher Pacs proves you can shave a few cents off the cost of your dishwasher detergent without settling for dirty dishes. These pods left our test dishes clean and film-free quite as well as the more expensive ones on our list, and resists water spots, too.
Seventh Generation’s Power+ Packs are free not only of bleach but also of dyes and artificial fragrances. They also come in 90 percent plastic-free packaging, presenting a more sustainable choice than many other brands. And they don’t sacrifice performance for eco-friendliness. This detergent performs impressively in terms of cleaning power and resisting film and discoloration, though it doesn’t resist water spots well.
Target’s Up & Up Ultimate Dishwasher Packs excelled in our lab tests, leaving our cruddy dishes clean and film-free, so it’s not surprising that this store brand ranks at the top of our charts. These pods contain enzymes to help break down food, but no bleach, which can help remove stubborn stains.
Best Gel Detergents
Dishwasher gels generally don’t clean as well as packs, but these two CR-Recommended gels outscore many of the single-dose packs we’ve tested.
Great Value Dishwasher Gel (from Walmart’s store brand) lives up to its name, earning a spot as our overall top-rated gel detergent. It doesn’t prevent water spots quite as well as our runner-up, Cascade Complete + Oxi Dawn, but it does a better job at resisting film and discoloration and an equally good job getting dishes clean. It uses enzymes, not bleach, to reach its level of clean.
Judging from its name, Cascade Complete + Oxi Dawn throws everything it’s got at getting your dishes clean, and it works. It gets our highest score for leaving dishes clean, and a very good score for resisting film and discoloration. It also resists water spots. The downside: It’s one of the more expensive gel formulas in our ratings.
How CR Tests Dishwasher Detergents
CR’s test engineers smear eight dinner plates with a carefully measured portion of starchy goop (it’s a secret recipe), then bake each plate until the goop gets crusty (and very difficult to remove). After running the plates through a normal wash cycle using each detergent, we use imaging analysis to determine precisely how clean each dish is and whether any water spots are present.
Then we run clear dishes through 10 consecutive wash cycles, all with very hard water (we use well water, with a wealth of minerals, to make the test extra challenging). After that, we use a spectrophotometer to assess whether any haze has formed on the dishes. We also put a set of glasses through the same number of cycles of hard water and check afterward to see if any water spots have developed on the glass.
The best dishwasher detergents we’ve tested are able to get the dirtiest dishes spotless while resisting water spots and white film. The worst dishwasher detergents, mainly gels, are barely better than water at removing baked-on messes.
