Good Housekeeping Named This Brand the Best Powdered Dishwasher Tablet — Of Course, We Had to Try It
Finding the right soap for your dishwasher requires considering a lot of variables, including your water quality, the age and performance of the machine itself, and how dirty you tend to leave your plates. It takes plenty of trial and error to find a soap that leaves your dishes clean and sparkling — without the residue.
So when Good Housekeeping named Miele UltraTabs Multi Dishwasher Detergent as the best powdered tablet for all dishwashers, I knew I had to give it a try! I’ve toured the Good Housekeeping offices and labs and have seen firsthand how rigorous their testing processes are. If they think these pucks are top-notch — no matter which dishwasher you use — I actually might be able to forgo my pre-rinsing habit. It was worth a try!
When the box of dishwashing tablets arrived, the first thing I noticed was that the package was surprisingly compact. The tablets are super concentrated. Because they’re tidy little rectangles, they fit tightly in the box and take up very little space in my horrendously crowded under-sink cabinet. My usual tub of gel packs takes up far more space for the same amount of packs.
I immediately put them to the test with a full load of dishes that I scraped but didn’t rinse. For starters, there were sludgy coffee cups, glasses coated in old smoothies, and bowls crusted with day-old pasta sauce. I popped a puck in the dispenser, set the machine to my usual “energy saving” cycle, and let it go. The result: Every single item turned out impeccably clean, with no cloudy film on the glasses.
Emboldened, I continued to use the tablets for two weeks straight, not rinsing a single thing. This time I washed pots and pans, crusty baking dishes, and cookie dough scoops. I even did my own version of the Good Housekeeping test with lipstick-smeared glasses, plates with dried egg yolk, bowls with crusty oatmeal, and plastic tubs coated in greasy tomato sauce.
The tablets powered through it all and left everything shiny. The stainless steel pots were nearly blinding! The only thing these tablets couldn’t handle was dried-out, wet cat food — I washed the metal dishes on the top rack and a couple little stubborn bits were still clinging at the end of the cycle. I have a feeling if I had put them on the bottom rack closer to the more powerful jets they would have come out squeaky clean.
But all in all, these tablets are amazingly effective. And I love how they take up so little space in my cabinet. The one thing I don’t love is the price. At about 40 cents a tablet, they’re about 10 cents more per load than my usual. But there’s a lot to be said for a dishwasher soap that can practically guarantee you never need to pre-rinse your dishes again.
What’s your favorite, no-nonsense dishwashing tablet? Tell us in the comments below.