Thursday, February 20, 2014

"I Refuse to Live In a House Without a Dishwasher"

So were the words once stated to me by my sister.  And, quite honestly, I agree with her.  Of course, dishwashers are common these days.  They are like microwaves.  Every kitchen has one.  I use the dishwasher at Crest Avenue often.  But I use it wisely.


I bought this Kenmore dishwasher from Sears in 2001, the year I purchased Crest Avenue.  It has served me well through many dinner parties over the past 13 years.  It is a workhorse and I have been very happy with the reliability.  You see that it has a "Time Saver" cycle, which I use frequently if the dishes have been thoroughly rinsed before being placed inside.  "Pots and Pans" and "Hi Temp Scrub" are used less frequently to conserve energy.  But they are available when necessary.  The "China and Crystal" cycle is handy especially when cleaning up after Thanksgiving when we use one of the fine bone china sets and Waterford or Lenox crystal.  There is also a "delay" setting for 2, 4 or 8 hours.  I have used this in the summer months so that the dishwasher will wash at say, 2:00 AM, which is when fewer people are using electricity.  In some places in the country, electricity is cheaper at that time of the day, so there is another way to save.


As with most, if not all dishwashers these days, it has a rinse agent dispenser built into the door.


I keep this filled with liquid Jet Dry at all times.


In addition to the liquid Jet Dry dispenser, I have been using these old-fashioned Jet Dry solid baskets to add some additional sparkle and shine to the dishes.  Unfortunately, these solid baskets are becoming more and more difficult to find.  Back in the days when dishwashers did not come from the factory with the Jet Dry dispenser built in, these little baskets were the only way to get the rinse agent inside during the wash cycle.  I guess some of my readers will not remember those times, but many will.


Since the Jet Dry solid baskets and now passe, I decided this past weekend that I had to make a change and stay current with the times and say goodbye to the little baskets and step up to this new dishwasher booster called "Power Up" by Finish.  Actually, this is a good thing.  This new powder does even more than the little baskets.  You see on the bottle it "removes spots and residue, hard water film, tough stains and it maintains machine build-up."  That's certainly more than the little bit of added sparkle from the baskets.


That is liquid Cascade in the large cup and Finish Power Up in the smaller cup on the right.  We ran a "Normal Cycle" and the Power Up, along with the Jet Dry dispenser and the Cascade detergent, made the dishes and the inside of the dishwasher sparkling clean.



So, my new arsenal of products used to clean and sanitize the dishes is Cascade Complete detergent, Finish Jet Dry liquid and Finish Power Up as the final item in this triumvirate of products.  We have given all three of these products the WTCA "Thumbs UP" review.  Give them a try today.

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