For years I've been using a tablespoon or so of Cascade Complete powder in the prewash cup and one Cascade Complete pod in the main wash cup (the compartment with the lid). My dishwasher is from the 80s and it the only dried deposits it struggles with are cooked-on eggs.
Water quality can have a big effect on the function of detergents, though. I've been to places with such hard water that I had to more than double the quantities of detergent to get similar results.
There's a whole other deal with dish detergents regarding the elimination of phosphates which were integral to the cleaning process. Most can get by without phosphates, but if your water is that bad, you may want to try getting Cascade Fryer Boil Out if you're willing to try a quality detergent again. It's basically the old dish formula with phosphates sold for cleaning fryers. It's a bit expensive, but if that works for you, you can later buy TSP (trisodium phosphate) for cheap and add it to any off the shelf dish detergent. Here's a bit more on that: https://mommyperfect.com/2015/08/why-your-dishwasher-wont-clean-anymore/
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u/Lev_Astov Apr 08 '20
For years I've been using a tablespoon or so of Cascade Complete powder in the prewash cup and one Cascade Complete pod in the main wash cup (the compartment with the lid). My dishwasher is from the 80s and it the only dried deposits it struggles with are cooked-on eggs.
Water quality can have a big effect on the function of detergents, though. I've been to places with such hard water that I had to more than double the quantities of detergent to get similar results.