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I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

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Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#411
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 1.5 minutes in and I already learned to purge cold water from the pipes before running the dishwasher. Assuming this is evidence based and true, I mean come on! Is it really so alarming to see someone deep dive hard and do the work to mass educate the public?

It seems like it would be trivial for the machine to pump water in, turn on the heating element, and wait until it reaches optimum temperature before beginning the cycle.

They do in some markets and don't in others. In particular, in USA, regular 110v circuits don't carry enough power for water heating.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#412
post #391

His prior dishwasher videos rescued my parents' 30-ish year old dishwasher -- one they had previously been advised to avoid replacing as long as possible, as modern units don't have the same construction quality. Following his cleaning instructions and, subsequently, his usage advice, did the trick. Regarding the latter, notably adding the recommended prewash dose of detergent in addition to the main dose, and runnin…

My dishwasher says to do those things in the user manual. It even has a little indented dish for prewash powder on top of the main soap door. It also says to regularly clean the filter which makes a big difference preventing any of those “specs” from ending up in the bottom of cups.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#413
post #130

I love that there are people who will go into this much detail on stuff. It's really cool that they do. But the whole thing is that if you follow some sequence of steps, powder will clean as well as or better than pods for a third the cost. All right, this isn't a significant portion of my expenses so I'll pay the 3x cost since my dishes come out clean anyway. I wish the description of the video was like an abstract.

I much prefer the powders. They clean as well as the pods. You actually are supposed to do these steps with the pods too like running the sink to hot. If you don’t, at least with my washer, you are left with undissolved pod carcass somewhere in the wash.

The worst thing by far about the pods though is the smell. I don’t know why anyone would want to eat off a fragranced dish but that is the vast majority of the market I guess.

In terms of powder I use seventh generation fragrance free and I have no issues with it.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#414
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, too, went through like 18 months in the UK with the big stores not selling any until one reintroduced it recently. Alternatives on the internet were like 3+x the price, at least. It was incredibly frustrating. I now stock up and have 2-3 boxes of the stuff, in case it does vanish again. Doubly frustrating since mine is a small, single-drawer dishwasher, so pods are even worse since I can't break them down. It lead…

Or… use a (dirty) knife to split a solid tab; put 2/3 in the dishwasher compartment and 1/3 just in the dishwasher.

The tabs I had to buy for a while could be broken fairly easy by hand. This 1/3 2/3 worked noticeably better than just putting the whole tab into the dispenser.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#415
post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been his stance for a long time. He has a lot of dishwasher videos for some reason! One thing I can't get a good answer to is whether the "prewash" step is universally the case or not. I have a good Bosch dishwasher and there's no compartment for a bit of pre-wash detergent. I don't even know if my dishwasher cycle has a pre-wash step. I would assume the dishwasher manufacturer knows what's best. The owner's…

I have a Bosch as well, i sprinkle a bit of powder on the door. It has a pre-wash run which goes quick. The manual is likely referring to not hand rinsing dishes before loading them which was very common 30 or 40 years ago. I had to train my Mother to stop doing that.

I still rinse dishes because it keeps the trap from getting absolutely filthy in one load.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#416
post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My kids would routinely put in too much powder, which would gunk up the dispensing mechanism, requiring my time and effort to clean it out and fix it. Eventually the dispenser broke entirely and had to be replaced. We since switched to pods and haven't had any problems with the dispenser. The pods are worth every extra cent.

He says that having the ability to tailor the amount of powder for the size of the load is one of the selling points of powder. But I'm guessing most people would much rather waste the few cents of savings in exchange for not needing to think about their dishes even that tiny bit extra.

amount of water used in washing cycle is +/- same, not dependent on size of load. reducing amount of powder will create weaker concentration and reduce cleaning capabilities of machine/detergent.

in reality, reducing amount of powder won't change much most of the time, because majority of cleaning happens due to physical action of (hot) water. there were multiple times when I was forgetting to put detergent and dishes went out clean. it mostly makes difference for some very dry/backed on stuff.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#417
post #130

I love that there are people who will go into this much detail on stuff. It's really cool that they do. But the whole thing is that if you follow some sequence of steps, powder will clean as well as or better than pods for a third the cost. All right, this isn't a significant portion of my expenses so I'll pay the 3x cost since my dishes come out clean anyway. I wish the description of the video was like an abstract.

> All right, this isn't a significant portion of my expenses so I'll pay the 3x cost since my dishes come out clean anyway. It's good to know there's another HN poster out there like me who doesn't mind using Electron.

Oh I love Electron. The day of the Linux desktop arrived and no one noticed because there's no difference in platform anymore! All apps are available everywhere and the functionality is equivalent. This is so much of a difference from my childhood. This is definitely an example of increased computing power enabling new use cases (full cross-platform support) at lower cost.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#418
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't got space for a TIG. However a couple of weeks ago Hofer had an inverter gasless MIG about the size of a Commodore 64 power brick, not including the spool of wire. Can't say I wasn't tempted to get myself a hot-glue-gun-for-metal kind of tool.

> gasless MIG I hate when people use that term the G in MIG stands for Gas. If you are not running a Gas (argon, CO2...) it isn't Mig. There are flux core wires that are commonly used and called Mig, but they are not Mig (unless there is also a gas flow - this isn't uncommon) and have very different weld properties.

So do I, but everyone knows what you mean.

I've also got one of those wee inverter stick welders that's about the size of two VHS tapes, and that is an incredible bit of kit.

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been his stance for a long time. He has a lot of dishwasher videos for some reason! One thing I can't get a good answer to is whether the "prewash" step is universally the case or not. I have a good Bosch dishwasher and there's no compartment for a bit of pre-wash detergent. I don't even know if my dishwasher cycle has a pre-wash step. I would assume the dishwasher manufacturer knows what's best. The owner's…

Pods have become so ubiquitous that many companies ditched that powder compartment altogether. But you don't need one anyways just pour it into the cabin. The video explains why there always is a pre-wash step. Regardless of whether it comes with a pre-wash-powder compartment or not. I will try his solution.

video can explain anything, but reality is different.

my dishwasher manual breaks down each program. pre-wash exists only in half of programs

Re: I was right about dishwasher pods and now I can prove it [video]

#420
post #127
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

his dishwasher detergent videos are a good example of an "improved" product being more expensive and less effective (like disposable razors). With better understanding you can achieve far better results. I no longer rinse or even scrape dishes. with the right approach my dishwasher performance has been stellar. The user manual also includes proper tuning to local water hardness levels. Poor dishwashing also discourag…

I find his videos to have quite a bit of hand waving and poor methodology together with being overly verbose. For example, he kept on saying that pods are not better in previous videos, but in the study he presented in this video, it showed that pods are performing significantly better than powders in every category. The study (which was not linked and I couldn't find it) was sponsored by a powder maker which the vid…

I agree with that
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