Review: Cascade Complete

If I had to choose which kitchen appliance is my favorite – the one that I absolutely could not do without, then I would have to without hesitation say my dishwasher. In today’s fast-paced society, there just isn’t a lot of time for washing dishes by hand, and I’ve noticed that even with the dishwasher at home they still tend to pile up. Not having a dishwasher for a family of five is just something that I’m not willing to face. Although our current home did not have a dishwasher installed when we bought it, the first major purchase we made after buying the house was to put in a dishwasher.

Over the years, we’ve tried a few different dishwasher detergents, but have mainly been very satisfied users of Cascade. So when I was offered the opportunity to try Cascade Complete liquid detergent and to compare it to one of their major competitors, I gladly agreed.

What it is:

Cascade Complete takes the need for pre-washing your dishes right out of your hands (so to speak!). The formula dissolves even the toughest dried-on food and leaves your dishes both clean and shiny. There are several varieties of scent, size and type of detergent available.

We were sent a bottle of the Fresh Scent gel to try, along with a bottle of a similar product made by one of Cascade’s major competitors. Over a two-week period, I used each product several times to wash our regular household dishes.

Here’s my take on it:

To begin with, I’m now wondering why I’ve used powder detergent for so long – the liquid/gel is so much easier to use. Both products poured in easily without clogging up the latch mechanism of the soap dispenser on our dishwasher. I loaded the dishwasher the same way that I usually do every time, used the same rinse agent, and the dishes were all representative of what our household normally uses. And while I did not ‘pre-wash’ any of the dishes, I do admit that I rinsed several of them off before placing them in the dishwasher every time. Old habits die hard, I guess. 

When putting away our clean dishes, I did notice one main difference between the two products. While the competing brand left a slight residue on our dishes, the Cascade Complete did not. In fact, I went so far as to run a quick rinse cycle after almost every use of the competing detergent, which just added to the time it took to end up with dishes that were clean and rinsed well enough to unload and put away.

With only a few exceptions of dishes that accidentally had ‘nested’ to where they were blocked from the dishwasher’s spray, I did not have any problem with dishes not coming clean after washing them with the Cascade Complete. On one occasion I did have an issue with the competing liquid (beyond the ‘nesting’ issue mentioned above), but for the most part it did a good job as well.

One cereal that my family loves is Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but the sugary/cinnamon coating of this cereal is so difficult to clean off of dishes. Even with regular Cascade detergent, I would have to either pre-wash and scrub the cereal bowls or scrub and rinse them afterward. With Cascade Complete, I did not have any problem with the bowls coming completely clean.

The bottom line:

Cascade Complete is a great alternative for busy parents who don’t have the time (or want to use the water) to pre-wash their dishes before washing them in a dishwasher. I am extremely happy with the results that we’ve gotten with it and will definitely be switching over to the gel form in our daily use.

Where can you find it?:

Cascade products are available at mass, discount and grocery stores where household cleaning products are sold.

This post courtesy of: Cascade and MS&L Digital. No payment or compensation, other than product samples as described above, was received for this post.