Finish with Grease, Germs, and Limescale For Good! (Finish Power Ball 3in1 Tabs)

Member Name: shroud

Product:	Finish Power Ball 3in1 Tabs
Date:	31/05/07 (205 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Degreases, de limescales, and sanitises dishwashers improving sanitariness and performance

Disadvantages: dishwasher has to be ran empty

I have a dishwasher. I HATE handwashing dihes, and dishwashers use less water than handwashing as well as kill more germs with the heat.Washing the dishes with the machine is simple. I scrape the plates (would have to if handwashing aswell), load in the machine, put my detergent in, and switch it on. Easy peasy and at the end I have gleaming plates, bowls, cups, glassware, cutlery, and pots and pans.

But owning a thing means some care and mainteneace needs to be taken. In this case, the machine needs the filter degreased and any limescale that has made it past the salts removed. This not only prolongs the life of the machine, but helps it clean your dishes better. Enter Finish Dishwasher Cleaner. This little bottle of citrusy wonders may seem quite pricey at £3.50, but compared to the cost of replacing a dishwasher, it is peanuts. The dishwasher may get hot, but if you have allowed your filter to remain un sanitised and the grease to remain, slime builds and bacteria can still breed. Not a great picture, and the results are one that I don't mind forking the £3.50 for to avoid.

At first I thought it was all hype. We live in a medium water hardness area, and I use 4 in 1 tablets to make sure the salts combat limesclae. I duly remove the filter on a regular weekly basis and wash under the tap, dislodging any food I missed scraping off the dishes, using a soft brush to distribute washing up liquid to remove the grease. Despite this, 3 months into using it, I began to notice deposits on my dishes. It felt gritty. What was this? Then some of the dishes were not as clean as they could be. I checked the sprayer arms..they LOOKED okay. Hubby suggested we try the dishwasher cleaner as it could obviously get into places we could not see and it must need a clean out. So, off to Tesco we went and bought a bottle. This is found on the aisle with the dishwasher detergent, and costs about £3.50 a bottle.

Upon reading the directions I saw I had to remove the lid, leave the stopper in (it dissolves in the wash), and place upside down in the cutlery basket. The dishwasher was to be devoid of any dishes, and the wash cycle had to be at least 60 degrees. On mine, that meant I had to use intensive wash at 70, which was fine by me! It also warned to keep away from eyes, not to spill any onto skin, and that it was harmful to eyes. Obviously strong stuff, but with a stopper in, not a real issue!

I follwed the instructions, and when the cycle was finished, opened the dishwasher door. I had thought my dishwasher looked clean before. Wow! Every surface absolutely gleamed! A scent of oranges wafted up pleasantly as well, very nice!I removed the filter, and it was cleaner than I had seen it in a long time; it was in as new condition. But did it clear my problem? I loaded in my dishes and put it on the 40 degree 30 minute eco wash. Once that finished, I looked. Absoloutely perfect! I did not have any further problems for another two months, when I got the same problem again, which went away after my friend Finish got done with it!

I actually use this every other month, as we only run the machine once a day max. Everytime we do, the performance of my machine goes back to as new. Do I need to use it monthly as suggested? If you use your dishwasher more often, have an older machine, or live in a hard water area, I would, yes. It seems obvious by my results it cleans parts of the machine I cannot see and probably am best not trying to mess with to do by hand.

So long and short of it is, this IS not a product that is hyped up and you don't need. It fills a very real niche, and even if you THINK your machine is alright, I suggest you give it a try. It is worth every penny.

Summary: I love my dishwasher, and this helps me care for it so it keeps me happy!