On 12/11/06 07:01 pm mm wrote:

1) Why is it that the insturctions for dishwashing tablets, all 3
brands that I checked, say to put the tablet in the "main dispenser"?
And which is the "main dispenser"? They are the same size. How am I
know to know which is main and which isn't?

Is it the one that dispenses first? I've figured out which one that
is, but I'll be most people don't even think about it. And although
which that is is clear, somehow it seems counter-intuitive to me (not
counter-logical, just counter intuitive. And why should the one that
dispenses first be considered the main one. And which of the cups is
the main one?

2) I got some free-offer electrosol Dishwasher tablet a few years
ago, and finally used most of them. I also had a full box of powder
that I had to use before going to buy more of something.

By this time, neither Electrol nor Cascade sold the same kind of
tablets. Now they are already part liquid and come in a water soluble
bag, and they warn you not to handle the bags with wet fingers. This
was too much for me so I bought the house brand (Food Lion) They are
still tablets like Electrosol used to sell. But they don't have 2
colors (seemingly two ingredients) like the old Electrosol. I wonder
if they are as good. I wonder if the new semi-liquid things are
better. Anyone know?


AIUI, the "main" cup is the one from which detergent is released for the
"wash" phase, rather than the one from which detergent is released for
the "pre-wash" phase. The cup for the pre-wash phase may be smaller than
the other; it may not have a cover at all; or it may have a cover with
holes in it.

I have never used dishwashing tablets, as I see no convenient way of
adjusting the amount of the product to take account of water hardness or
the size of the load or the condition of the dishes (Were they rinsed?
Were they left sitting out overnight? How dirty are they?). The
instructions for our new dishwasher suggest a wide range of (powdered)
detergent quantity for each cup, depending on how dirty things are and
how hard the water is.

Perce