I thought Somat Excellence Duo Power Gel was like $9 but it rang up at $17 making it more expensive than the Finish for half as much. (The laundry liquid bottle leaked in the bag so I don’t think I have a receipt to take back.) It claims to have a degreaser and something to make things shine which I assume is a rinse aid.

Be careful with this one. It has two holes in the top, the liquid is very runny and pours out of the bottle fast and excessive. I wiped out the excess and carefully poured in a few drops. Ran the rapid cycle and opened it to be hit by perfume. Ran a water only rapid cycle as a rinse.

Verdict: There was less residue and no visible spots of detergent however I could still faintly taste the detergent and ended up manually rinsing everything under the tap. Also the utensils weren’t properly cleaned. I could have added more of this detergent but was trying to avoid re-rinsing under the tap.

The Morning Fresh dishwashing gel was $6. I don’t like the smell of the Morning Fresh you use in the sink but tried this anyway. It’s thick and came out in a small glob. More generous usage than the first detergent so we’ll see.

I’m using it on the pet bowls and the utensils that didn’t get cleaned properly the first time. Same deal, rapid cycle followed by same for rinse without soap. (So I’m not doing 2x 1-3 hour cycles.)

After the first wash I opened it and could distinctly smell the soap. The utensils looked clean this time but after a second wash, putting the forks points up this time, and using more detergent I would hope so. Ran the ‘rinse’. (There doesn’t seem to be a separate rinse cycle.)

Verdict: Still taste detergent. Rinsing it myself.

Filter was clean, the second rack not in use was folded down.

For the stacking I could get a smaller utensil holder to take up less space (as putting them on the wine glass holder doesn’t really work) because the dishwasher doesn’t take much for its size.

But I don’t know. I paid a lot for this thing and while it kind of cleans and technically helps me shift the dishes, it is so much more hassle than it’s worth.

I’m already flat out dealing with constant other crap and instead of making life easier this dishwasher leaves me buying expensive detergents and I end up doing things twice anyway.

I may save this for emergency use only because kind of just ends up as hand washing and drying it yourself with extra steps. If I knew it would be like this I would have just kept my money.