6 Best Dishwasher Detergents, Lab-Tested and Reviewed
The best packs, pods, and tablets outperform the best gel dishwasher detergents when it comes to cleaning power
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You don’t need a pricey dishwasher detergent to get clean dishes. The best formulas from popular brands like Cascade and Seventh Generation excel at removing food and resisting residue in Consumer Reports’ tough lab tests. But plenty of store-brand detergents, which often cost much less per use, also do an excellent job.
Our dishwasher detergent ratings encompass nearly 30 detergents, including single-dose packs and gels, that have been tested in our labs. (We don’t currently test powder detergents because they make up only a small portion of the market.) Cleaning performance ranges widely between the best and worst of the bunch, and there’s a huge span in prices, too—anywhere from 7 cents to 57 cents per load.
According to our tests, the best-performing detergent packs clean better than most gels. That’s because they contain a wider mixture of ingredients that can boost cleaning, including enzymes, degreasers, bleach, and rinse aids. Different combinations of those substances can make a big difference.
“Generally, enzymes do help,” says Larry Ciufo, the engineer who oversees Consumer Reports’ dishwasher detergent testing. “But it’s too complicated to pin it on one ingredient.” These single-dose units—also known as pacs, packets, pods, tabs, and tablets—are easy to load into the detergent tray, with no squirting or scooping required. But gels and even powders still have their place, depending on your dishwasher’s performance and your personal preference. If you don’t need to wash away much stuck-on food, for example, a good gel might be all you really need.
Below, you’ll find a selection of the best dishwasher detergents we’ve tested, grouped as single-dose packs or gel, and listed alphabetically. All the single-dose packs (or pods) contain enzymes but not bleach. But if your dishwasher does a decent job and you’re not dealing with a lot of baked-on messes, there are more options from our dishwasher detergent ratings that may work for you.
If it’s time to replace your dishwasher itself, check out our dishwasher buying guide for information on how to choose a new one, or our list of the best dishwashers right now.
Best Single-Dose Detergent Packs
These top-rated single-dose detergent packs excel at cleaning dishes and preventing mineral deposits that can lead to discoloration.
For a reasonable price, Finish Powerball Ultimate dishwasher pods deliver above-average results in our tests, with excellent scores in both cleaning dishes and resisting film and mineral deposits. They also ward off water spots. They include scum-fighting enzymes but no bleach.
Presto Triple Action Dishwasher Pacs prove you can shave a few cents off the cost of your dishwasher detergent without settling for dirty dishes. These pods left our test dishes clean and film-free quite as well as the more expensive ones on our list, and resisted water spots, too.
Seventh Generation’s Power+ Packs are not only free of bleach but also free of dyes and artificial fragrances. According to the manufacturer, it also doesn’t contain phosphates, which can affect aquatic life. This detergent performs impressively in terms of cleaning power and resisting film and discoloration, though it doesn’t resist water spots well.
Target’s Up&Up Ultimate Dishwasher Packs excelled in our lab tests, leaving our cruddy dishes clean and film-free, so it’s not surprising that this store brand ranks at the top of our charts. These pods contain enzymes to help break down food, but don’t contain bleach, which can help remove stubborn stains.
Best Gel Detergents
Dishwasher gels generally don’t clean as well as packs, but these two CR Recommended gels outscore many of the single-dose packs we test.
Judging from its name, Cascade Complete + Oxi Dawn throws everything it’s got at getting your dishes clean, and it works. It gets a high score for leaving dishes clean, and a very good rating for resisting film and discoloration. It also resists water spots. The downside: It’s one of the more expensive gel formulas in our ratings when it comes to cost per load.
Great Value Dishwasher Gel (from Walmart’s store brand) lives up to its name, earning a spot as our overall top-rated gel detergent. It’s even better than Cascade Complete + Oxi Dawn at resisting film and discoloration, and it does an equally good job getting dishes clean. It uses enzymes, not bleach, to reach its level of cleanliness.
How CR Tests Dishwasher Detergents
CR’s test engineers smear eight dinner plates with a carefully measured portion of starchy goop, then bake each plate until the goop gets crusty and difficult to remove. After running the plates through a normal wash cycle using each detergent, we study how clean each dish is and whether any water spots are present.
Then we run clear dishes through 10 consecutive wash cycles, all with very hard water (we use well water, rich in minerals, to make the test extra challenging). After that, we use a spectrophotometer to assess whether any haze has formed on the dishes. We also put a set of glasses through the same number of cycles of hard water and check afterward to see whether any water spots have developed on the glass.
The best dishwasher detergents we’ve tested can make the dirtiest dishes spotless while resisting water spots and white film. The worst dishwasher detergents, mainly gels, are barely better than water at removing baked-on messes.
