More Powder to you! (Finish Power Powder)

Member Name: TheChocolateLady

Product:	Finish Power Powder
Date:	26/05/08 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cleans dishes well, economical

Disadvantages: Lemon scent doesn't do anything, tends to spill out too fast

I've been using Finish products since I first got a dishwasher, over 15 years ago. Back then, there was little choice of dishwasher products on the market and we could only find this powder. Although these days I now use tablets, I thought I should tell you my opinion of this powder.

First of all, I have to say that this dishwasher powder works just fine. It always seemed to have gotten my dishes clean, with good results even with dishes that had caked on food. Of course, part of this has to do with how the dishwasher performs, but when I tried a local brand to try to save money, I found that things didn't come out as clean. Once I'd switched back, I was again happy with the results Finish powder gave me. But this powder doesn't have any extra stuff in it so you'll still have to put salt and drying agent in your machine to get the best results.

From the picture you can see that this comes in two scents - original and lemon. Since the original scent was only okay smelling, when the lemon one came out I switched to that. However, I can't say that your dishes will come out smelling lemony, since that just isn't the case. Yes, there's a tinge of lemon when you open the dishwasher right after the cycle, but that's about it. I do have to say that the lemon scent was a bit more obvious while the machine was running with my old machine. But with my new dishwasher, you can't smell any of the products you use, so adding a lemon scent is mostly going to bring fragrance to the cabinet you put it in, and not your dishes.

I liked the size this came in, which meant I didn't have to buy it as often and it worked out to be very economical. The packaging isn't bad either, with a solid plastic jug and side-handle that makes this easy to carry and the top has a flip-down spout. That spout is supposed to make it easier to pour this into the receptacle on your dishwasher. Unfortunately, that spout doesn't work all that well when the jug is really full, and you'll probably find that until you've used some up, it will spill out too fast. Also, when you get to the bottom of the jug, you might find yourself tipping it too much and again, the product might come out too quickly. So this good idea isn't perfectly engineered. Also, if you're short on storage space, you might not find it easy to put this large jug away.

The most convenient thing about powders is that you can regulate the amount you put into your machine, so if your dishwasher has a half-load option, you won't be wasting a whole tablet for that cycle and can put in half the amount of product. That means you might find this less expensive than the tablets and other new fangled cleaners, and yet it will still clean your dishes perfectly well.

To sum up, this is a good, basic dishwashing powder. The pros are that it's economical and will clean your dishes just fine. On the cons side, the scent doesn't seem to do much for your dishes, and the packaging has its drawbacks with its size and spillage problems. I'll give this product three stars and recommend it.

Thanks for reading!

Davida Chazan © May, 2008

Summary: Finish's classic dishwashing powder