On 15 Dec 2006 06:44:44 +0200, Wayne Boatwright
wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com wrote:

Oh pshaw, on Mon 11 Dec 2006 05:01:44p, mm meant to say...

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?

If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

All dishwasher detergents that come in tablets or gel-pacs are recommended
to be placed in the "main" detergent cup, which is the one that is covered.
The open cup is for a "pre-wash" cycle, which is a relatively short cycle
at the beginning of the wash.

I may just be confusing my dishwasher with my clothes washer, but I
thought in my 27-year-old machine, the first cycle was as long as the
second. I'll have to do another load, or at least look at the knob.
Soon.

For years I used powedered deterent, either Electrasol or Cascade.
However, when we moved to another location where the water chemistry was
much different, I began getting some bad deposits on everything I washed.

I switched to the Electrasol tablets and have found it to give a creditable
wash, but sometimes found that there was a bit of an oily residue left on
the dishes. In other words, not "squeaky clean".

DAng. I have long depended on my dishes for squeaking.

I attribute that to the
lack of detergent in the pre-wash cycle, which would dissolve most of the
greasy stuff on the dishes and drain it away before the main wash kicked
in.

Someone recommended trying a bottled gel made by Palmolive to use in both
the pre-wash and main cups. Since it contains baking soda, I found that it
left a whitish residue (from the baking soda, no doubt), and that wasn't
acceptable.

The next time I bought detergent they were temporarily out of the solid
tables of Electrasol so I bought the Electrasol gel-pacs instead. They
worked just as well as the solid tablets, but still didn't leave things
speaky clean.

Since I had most of a bottle of the Palmolive still left, I tried filling
the open cup about 1/4-1/2 full of the Palmolive and using a gel-pac in the
main wash. Now I get absolutely spotless and squeaky clean dishes. I will
continue this method.

Wow.

Although I could go straight to this method and probably get the
results you did, that is not my style. I will have to examine all
facets of the process, and then maybe do what you are doing. I'm not
being funny. I only fill the washer about once a week, so the
required study will take a long time. I'll try to get back to you
all.

If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)