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Finish Protector
by europe-chick
A dishwasher is something that I'd never be without - ever again. Even my husband agrees, years ago before we had a dishwasher I cooked the dinner, and he did the washing up. He always used to say, and still does, that I have the ability to use virtually every single pot, pan, and piece of cutlery just to make beans on toast. I think ... that I probably agree with him, as we have a full size dishwasher, there's only the two of us, and the dishwasher is on every single night. In fact some days it's on two or even three times if I've been baking that day.
Although having a dishwasher makes life easier i.e. no washing the pots, a dishwasher does require all sorts of products to go along with it; tablets powder or liquid, rinse aid, special salt, fresheners, cleaners, and protectors. Granted you don't need all of these products to run a dishwasher, and I would say that one of the products that you definitely don't need, and one of the biggest wastes of money that I've found has been the Finish dishwasher protectors.
I always buy Finish products to use in our dishwasher, I've tried cheaper brands in the past but they just don't give the same results that the Finish products do. I decided to try a Finish dishwasher protector after finding that some of my glasses were going cloudy after repeated goes in the dishwasher.
The Finish Protector is specially designed to keep your dishes looking new for longer. Apparently frequent dishwashing can leave your glasses cloudy and fade the patterns on your plates and crockery. I haven't had any problems with the patterns on plates and crockery fading, but I've definitely had glasses go cloudy over time. Apparently this change in appearance is caused by corrosion of the surfaces, which is irreversible. The glasses that had gone cloudy were just cheap glasses from Ikea, so I decided to replace the glasses and then purchase a Finish Protector to stop it happening to the next set. The Finish dish and glass Protector would then supposedly protect my new glasses from going cloudy and keep them clear and super shiny.
Normally one of the major supermarkets will have Finish products on offer, unfortunately I couldn't find the Finish protectors on offer anywhere - I normally shop in either Sainsbury's Tesco or Waitrose. So I ended up paying the full price of around £5 for each one. (I ended up buying 3 of these as obviously if you stop using the protectors once they run out then why start to buy them and use them in the first place- if they actually work that is!)
The Finish Protectors are easy to use, you just hang the protector on the inside of the bottom rack of your dishwasher, it's a bit like hanging a dishwasher freshener from the top rack of your dishwasher - it hangs on with the same type of little plastic clasp. You are advised on the pack that you will still need dishwasher detergent (er well obviously!), rinse aid, and dishwasher salt if applicable. I do always use rinse aid and dishwasher salt along with my dishwasher tabs, plus I've always got a dishwasher freshener in the dishwasher too. The protectors state that they last for up to 50 washes, so we're good to go for the next 50 washes, for us that's about 6 weeks. Apparently for maximum protection, you should replace the protector before the diamond is completely dissolved.
I was on my third Finish protector when I found that the new glasses had started to go cloudy again, so around the 4 month mark. It's probably around the 3 month mark when the glasses start to go cloudy without using a dishwasher protector. So I suppose it slows the process down a bit, but not by much, and I thought the whole purpose of buying the protectors was to actually eliminate the cloudiness - not just slow it down. I feel a bit cheated out of my £15 actually, as it actually didn't really make a blind bit of difference.
I haven't had any fading of patterns on crockery anyway so I can't comment on this aspect of the protector. As to leaving and keeping my glasses shiny - I didn't notice that they were any more shiny than prior to using the protector - obviously this is until they start to go cloudy.
I wouldn't recommend the Finish dishwasher protectors at all, they are very expensive, rarely - if ever on offer, don't last that long, and most importantly don't actually work!
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Finish Rinse Aid
by fallen_flame
To be honest, I'd never really considered using a rinse aid as we use the quantum finish dishwasher tablets so didn't think we'd need them and I didn't really understand the point of them. But then I started to find that sometimes there was still dirt on the plates which was when my partners mum suggested adding dishwasher salt and rinse ... aid to the loads.
Touch wood, we haven't had many issues since we started using it and I do notice the difference in the quality of cleaning if we forget to add it, or don't notice it's run out and needs refilling.
=Does it do what it says it will?=
On the Asda website it states:
"No. 1 recommended. Finish Shine & Dry lemon sparkle, with its Quick-Dry formula, actively dries your dishes for a brilliant shine."
This is where it goes from excellent to just good for me. It does leave my dishes sparkly and shiny however they are still slightly wet when they come out, the only ones that are ever almost completely dry are the plates. But I haven't found any other brands that even begin to compare to this.
=Value for money=
It's good value for money and lasts a long time. As stated in a previous review I have a tabletop dishwasher so lasts double the time for me. I have to top up once every 2 to 4 weeks and I used the dishwasher 2 - 3 times most days. So it takes a long time until the bottle itself is empty. I buy it from tesco but as I could find the prices for both types of bottles, this information is from the Asda website.
For a 400 ml bottle it costs £3 for an 800ml bottle it costs £5. I really don't think this is bad value considering how long it lasts for me. However the 800 ml works out cheaper from Tesco as I can usually pick it up on offer for £3 - £4.
=How much do you use? How irritable is it? Long lasting?=
I us the amount it says, as it's impossible to overfill the part that has the rinse aid in (you can put less in though if you'd prefer) and as stated above it lasts 2 - 4 weeks depending on how many loads I do a week.
As for being an irritant, I have spilt some by accident before and it hasn't burnt or anything, but I've always washed it off immediately, it may be a completely different story for someone with sensitive skin, or if it's not noticed straight away.
My dishes are cleaned properly and it remains this way until I need to clean the dishwasher with the cleaner. My dishwasher also stays pretty clean and shiny too.
Would I recommend? Yes.
~Also posted on ciao under the same name~
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Finish Powerball All in 1 Tabs
by k2705
After nearly 4 years in our home my husband decided we needed a dishwasher so we bought one in the January sales and it came with a voucher for Finish All In 1 Powerball tablets.
The dishwasher tabs are sold in a box which is mainly blue and red, the front of the box displays the Finish Powerball logo and informs the ... customer that these dishwasher tabs have a "fizzing action, are a "new formula and the box contains 39 of them", a strange amount I thought. The front of the box also shows 2 lemons which indicate the fragrance.
The back of the box gives some information on the different Finish products that are available and also gives the 6 powerful actions that the All In 1 tabs have, these are:-Powerful Cleaning, Salt Function, Rinse Aid Function, Tea Stain Removal, Grease Cutting, Machine Limescale Protection.
Inside the box the tabs are all individually wrapped in a foil type paper to keep them dry and fresh, the actual tabs are a rectangle shape with slightly rounded ends and are made of 2 layers, the bottom one white and the top a mottled blue, set into the middle of the tablet is a red ball which is the fizzing powerball. The tablets have a slight washing powder smell tot them and they also have a faint lemon smell.
The directions for use state 1 tab per wash which should be placed unwrapped in the dispenser compartment of your dishwasher.
I have been impressed with the performance of the Finish All In 1, all my washing up is clean and grease free. Glasses come out sparkling with no smears at all. I never find anything needs a second wash even dried on food is removed the first time. I cant say I can smell any lemon in the dishwasher afterwards and there's no evidence of it on the actual washing up.
I have also not had any problems with the tabs not dissolving properly, I know this can be a problem with certain brands but certainly not these.
I'm really happy with my Finish All In 1, everything I need is included in the tabs and the results are always excellent. Finish all in 1 are available in most major supermarkets, Tesco are currently selling them for £11.00 for 39 tabs however I bought my last box when they were half price.
If you have a dishwasher I would recommend giving these a try, they really are reliable.
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