I was right about dishwasher detergent - and now I can prove it

My one gripe is the cost... Which was one of your major selling points of powder vs pods in the original videos. I very much understand that the Green Lama powder is both sustainably made and donates to charity, but it is EXPENSIVE —more expensive than the ultra-premium pods. It feels odd that you didn't at least touch on that, even if to just acknowledge and/or justify it. In my area, the high-end pods, Cascade's Platinum Plus pods, are about 40% cheaper per load than Green Lama's powder, and that's with the subscribe-and-save discount. Don't get me wrong, I love that they made this, and I support them and you for it, I just can't help but feel like I'm being ripped off. Especially when you've implied (or said directly —I can't remember) that we're being scammed by markups on the big-name, flashy pods, and this is even more expensive than they are.

Wow! I remember when you were just a guy on the interwebs with an obsession for Christmas lights. And now, just look at you! All grown up with your own dishwasher powder! And yes, I will be buying it.

15:06 By compostable packaging, does it mean home composting, or industrial composting? A pet peeve of mine is when companies don't disclose that (or leave it to the fine print) and I don't see any clarification on the product pages.

Thanks so much for supporting Partners in Health. I didn't need the socks, but I was delighted to get the dishwashing powder. I have avoided powder my whole life due to my asthma, but I thought that since laundry powder doesn't bother me, maybe dishwashing detergent won't be so bad. Fingers crossed.

Is there any way we can get the study, I cant find it anywhere.

Isn’t a 40 minute video a bit against the whole point of no effort November, though?

This was awesome! Congrats on the product development tie-in and the vindication (said in Andre Braugher as Raymond Holt style)... We were buying the Seventh Generation gel for a while, but with tariffs it's now CAD 34/bottle plus tax from Mean Uncle Jeff's Everything Emporium. Instead I spent CAD 9 on a box of Finish powder, and will replace that with a box of Wallyworld's own brand product. Another thing I often do is to add some baking soda as part of the prewash - I don't know if it actually does anything, but I feel good doing it.

Did you do a total watt-hour energy use number for each test? I'd like to see the actual impact on an electricity bill. If you did that and I missed it, my apologies.

Alec, could you share what brand you compared it to? I am not questioning your thesis that powder can be just as good as tabs, my point is that the German equivalent to Consumer Reports (Stiftung Warentest) did a huge comparison in 2024 of dish washer tabs (all-in-one and single ingredient) and found that the most famous brands were worse in both cleaning and prevention of glass corrosion than some of the store brands. If, for example, you tested against Finish all-in-one tabs, those came out pretty bad in the testing, as did the local Henkel brand ("Somat"). I also add a bit of concentrated vinegar sometimes. In places with very hard water, it keeps the machine free of scale and glasses come out a lot clearer. Oh, yeah, and you will hate this: EU dishwashers mostly don't do prewash anymore because of water saving regulations. The detergent dispenser is mostly a relic of the past now.

It's Sir Roland, not Persnikitty!!!! 🤪 Interesting product, I see you ship to Switzerland as well, I need to think about if it's worth having it shipped regularly vs. buying a good (eco, premium) product locally... 🤔 But definitely: thanks for all your explanations about the workings of a dish washer!

The paper instructions hidden inside the door sound like something out of a spy movie 😂

I'm extremely disappointed in you Alec. This was clearly a lot of effort for a no effort November video.

FYI, I couldn’t hear* the leaf blower in the bloopers. *but I’m old…😬

I’ll try to watch this later on tonight, but Alec in my opinion has become the modern day version of the late consumer reporter David Horowitz.

I don't know where the power for my dishwasher comes from, it still runs when I turn off every breaker in the building.

I have some pods still that was given to me on a substitution on a pickup order from the grocery store. And I'm using them slowly because there's no point in wasting them but I'll put a pod in the main wash dispenser and then I'll put my normal detergent in the pre-wash dispenser. But I will never purposely buy pods because their needlessly expensive compared to powder detergent

Can my water be too hot for these enzymatic detergents?

I want phosphates back in my detergents.

Ah, this is what TC is ALL about. I assume your next video will be a rant about the refrigeration cycle?

Differences in dishwashers can drive a person mad. All the dishwashers I've had here in FInland have a few differences. They don't prewash! It's a selectable option you can use if needed. If not, they go straight to the normal wash cycle. Also, the regional difference, the instructions specifically warn NOT to connect to the hot water. There are (rare) special models that can handle that but all regular models need to be connected to the cold water side. Yes, I have done some observing on dishwasher behavior before you made it cool. :)

TC branded dishwasher? What's next? TC branded fridges? This made my morning

One nitpick about the video: The graphs at the bottom at 27:50 really REALLY need to be the same Y-axis scale!! I was mystified at why the graphs were the "same" until I noticed one was 117F and the other was 130F at the first peak.

Just curious, what do you think of liquid detergent vs powder? I think you’ve only talked about powder vs pods so far.

YES! ORDERED! I still have those POS boxes of crap under my sink...

I actually have a dishwasher with no detergent dispenser! It's one of those countertop ones though. I finally decided to get one after the first dishwasher video - I had only ever used dishwashers in group houses where they always left dishes pretty dirty and smelling weird, and I didn't really have room for one, but I got inspired. It lives outside on a back porch and will not be usable this winter. It's not obvious to me that it takes less time than hand-washing dishes - loading such a small space is fiddly, and I also have to fill it with a bucket from inside and then dump the wastewater somewhere at the end - but it's less mentally taxing and it does seem to get things cleaner than if I washed them by hand without soaking. I was surprised and concerned that it didn't have a detergent dispenser, but again it seems to work surprisingly well when following Alec's suggestions! Regarding portable dishwashers, some info if you're thinking about getting one (who is going to see this comment anyway, I don't know): I got one for a neglected apartment I bought that I hope to move in to after renovating, couldn't commit to plumbing etc. for a dishwasher yet. I read a lot of reviews and the only one I could find worth buying was something like $700-$1k? which is more than I expected and a lot for a temporary dishwasher. But buy it I did. The hose is quite short but just barely reaches - consider whether you're willing to wheel it in front of the sink if necessary. Most important is that it doesn't work with your typical modern kitchen faucets with those cone-shaped heads. You need an old school small threaded head like the one in this video. I have since installed a modern faucet and now am installing a second tap with just hot water, just for the dishwasher (which is up to code without increasing the size of the hot water inlet tubing as long as you only use the second tap for the dishwasher, pleasant surprise).

I can't stand appliances that have programs, but that don't define what the programs actually do. They should all come with a sheet like that. Seems like dishwashers could benefit from being a bit smarter, such as self-purging the cold water from the hot water line.

Any chance we can get a bean-and-cheese-dip recipe?

Any chance of having both scales 70F - 130F??

I want to say I love how this dishwasher saga has culminated in you helping create a detergent out of sheer resolution. One question I have is, are there any reasons to get this powder over other powders besides not leaving a film for some people? You said you’ve always had great results using cheap generic powder, so I think it will be a hard sell getting people to buy a significantly more expensive option (Seventh Generation’s powder is $0.14/ounce at my local store). No hate! I think it’s a great product and I love that you got to be involved in formulating it, and that all profits are going to a good cause, I’m just not sure how many people will think the price difference is worth it.

Alec, thanks for all the effort you put into this. I love the indicators you put on the dishwasher. Many appliances have a schematic / wiring diagram hidden away inside. At least the older ones. Maybe they still do but I haven't taken any apart lately.

Nothing worse than the smell of dishes that went through with something peanut buttery. Hurk.

I'm about to go watch a guy talk about how he was right all along about dishwasher powder for 45 minutes... and I couldn't be happier 🤣

I wonder if people who insist on pre-rinsing are actually getting a better result because they're rinsing with hot water and therefore purging the cold water from the line before starting the dishwasher.

IT’S NO-EFFORT NOVEMBER BABY!!!

You deserve a pizza, do enjoy!

Does your dishwasher warn you if its wash water failed to reach an adequate temperature? One time I inadvertently ran my dishwasher while my oil furnace's safety cutoff switch was tripped off (I have a tankless coil), so the incoming water to the dishwasher was cold, and at the end of the cycle, the dishwasher was flashing its "hi-temp" and "sanitize" indicators, and there may have been an error code displayed on the 7-segment display too (I don't recall). So, if the dishwasher can tell that its water never got hot enough, then surely it must run its heating element as long as it needs to in order to hit a temperature target (and then only warns if that target cannot be reached within the cycle time).

Alec, how do you square the need to purge the cold water from the pipes with the dishwasher's Delay Start feature? I time-shift my dishwashing energy demand to off-peak times by utilizing my dishwasher's Delay Start feature, but that means I can't run the hot water in the sink immediately before the dishwasher starts. My Frigidaire dishwasher's owner's manual (yes, I read these things too) also says to run the hot water in the kitchen sink before starting the dishwasher, but it is mum on how that's supposed to be done when using Delay Start. Is it even necessary, though, when the dishwasher may (depending on the reading from its turbidity sensor) run multiple pre-wash fills and drains before starting the main wash? Maybe the first pre-wash will be cold, but the next one should be at least as warm as the main wash will be at its start.

This is so annoying, I JUST ran out of dishwasher detergent and bought more!!! Why can’t you time things for MY life specifically Alec cmon!

I knew you were right about the detergent!! The problem with the hot water is the number of dishwashers that are getting cold water, its surprisingly common.

So if someone has one of those systems that heats all the water even in the lines bi circulating doesn't need to pre-run the water. But people who have those systems have more money than sense.

Well of course you were! I got my dad to switch to the Walmart powder and now he spends like $6 every 2 months for dishes that are even cleaner than with the pods.

I was just randomly scrolling thru good store this morning and found the powder so I just ordered a bag! Curious to see the difference! I’ve switched to dishwasher powder since your previous video, and now let’s see this one!

asdfghjl ITS AVAILABLE NOW? *drops everything, buys* ... and then I'll watch the video 🤣 Thank you for your service to dishwashers everywhere!

Dishwasher Detergent Conspiracies?! In MY technology Connections?! I *love it*.

NO EFFORT NOVEMBER !!!!! LFG

Whelp. I have some important things to do. But I guess I'll be doing them ~42 minutes later than I'd planned.