Is there a trick to getting 7th Gen dishwasher gel to work in my dishwasher?

[melissel]

Because I just bought 24 bottles of it on Amazon, and I need it to actually work : I would say that I remove an average of 7 items (not including utensils) from each full dishwasher load that has a fine food residue left on it (not chunks or crumbs, just a haze of yuck cooked onto it). It's becoming rather time-, labor-, and water-intensive to ensure that everything is carefully presoaked and wiped off--I mean, at that point, I might as well just hand wash them, you know? I've tried filling the cup halfway, and I've tried filling it all the way. DH says it works better when he uses the hi-temp wash setting, but I'm trying to scale back the energy usage--though, if I'm using more hot water to presoak and rewash anyway, I guess it comes out even.

The trial bottle I bought worked well at first, so when it was baout halfway done, I bought more via Amazon. But it's getting progressively less effective. I REALLY don't want to go back to the toxic-but-effective Electrasol tabs, but this is getting so annoying. Grrr :

Suggestions?

[dharmamama]

I gave up on 7th Gen for that reason plus it started leaving food stains on my plates.

A friend of mine has success with 7th Gen by soaking things she thinks will not get clean in water with baking soda for an hour before putting them in the dishwasher.

Too much work for me, but then again, I don't have 24 bottles of 7th Gen sitting around ...

dm

[melissel]

Originally Posted by dharmamama

I gave up on 7th Gen for that reason plus it started leaving food stains on my plates.

YEAH!!! That too! I thought I must be imagining it! I can deal with that though. It's all the extra effort and utilities involved in just getting the dishes washed that bothers me. Though, on the flip side, now that I think about it, the conventional stuff was leaving soap-smelling reside in all the cups, and I was rinsing and wiping them all out before I gave them to the girls anyway (nothing like a little Electrasol to keep your system squeaky clean . What a pain. Maybe I'll just switch to all-paper. :

What are you using instead?

[dharmamama]

Originally Posted by melissel

What are you using instead?

Electrasol. :

dm

[J-Max]

Do you have hard water?

We have very hard water and have a lot of trouble with our dishwasher getting things clean. I can not use any of the "natural" soaps. The only thing that works consistantly for us is the cascade/dawn packets.

[melissel]

Originally Posted by dharmamama

Electrasol. :

dm

No tomatoes here. I'm still using Comet in the toilet (at least until it runs out) and mildew spray remover on the shower walls (nothing else works ).

[melissel]

Originally Posted by Jessmcg

Do you have hard water?

We have very hard water and have a lot of trouble with our dishwasher getting things clean. I can not use any of the "natural" soaps. The only thing that works consistantly for us is the cascade/dawn packets.

You know, I have no idea. I do know we have tons of chlorine though! I'll have to look into that, thanks for the suggestion. The oddest thing is that the Electrasol always left everything soaking wet when it came out, in spite of the Jet-Dry ball. With this stuff, everything is nice and dry with no rinse-aid. Hmmm, do you think the rinse-aid thing might be a factor? It's so odd.

[Hera]

I didn't have the best luck with it either, I like Ecover powder or tablets much better. They have their own alternative jet-dry stuff, too.

Rinse aid might be a factor...