Affresh Dishwasher Cleaner – 3 Count

Didn’t seem to work well

I have used the Affresh Dishwasher Cleaner multiple times on two different Dishwashers and have not seen any evidence of it cleaning either dishwasher. The before and after pictures are almost identical.

In both dishwashers, I was experiencing a hard white substance being left over inside my dishwasher. This white substance was extremely difficult to clean, even with manual scrubbing. My first dishwasher eventually failed and I replaced it with a new one last year. Unfortunately, my new dishwasher started to exhibit the same hard white substance within 6 months until it actually prevented my detergent door from closing (which made it impossible to run my dishwasher). Although the Affresh Dishwasher cleaner didn’t work on my first dishwasher, I decided to try it again. Unfortunately, it did absolutely nothing again.

Using the Affresh Dishwasher cleaner, I put one tablet into the detergent dispenser (I was able to get it to close to do this) as instructed and ran a cycle. It did absolutely nothing. I then tried the recommended aggressive method of using two tablets (one in the detergent dispenser, one at the bottom of the dishwasher). Both times I did not have any dishes in the dishwasher. Again, it did absolutely nothing.

What DOES work:

Option 1 – Some improvement for very little cost:

I poured 500 mL of white vinegar into a glass and placed it upright in the lower rack and ran a normal cycle with the heat dry option off. This method did not completely clean the white residue off my dishwasher, but it did a much better job than the Affresh Dishwasher cleaner. I also found that soaking my detergent dispenser with vinegar helped break down some of the white substance, but overall this method only resulted in a marginal improvement (the white substance was still there but this let me close my detergent door).

Option 2 – What actually worked:

I switched to Cascade Platinum Detergent ActionPacs (available for sale on Amazon). I noticed that the Cascade Platinum and Platinum Plus ActionPacs were listed as cleaning your dishwasher in addition to your dishes, so I decided to try them since I had two samples that came with my dishwasher. I used one pod on a full load of dishes and found that it actually started to remove the white residue. As I continued to use it, the white residue continued to be removed with normal cleaning cycles with my dishes. It also cleaned my dishes better.

In all likelihood, the white residue was from the Finish Gel Dishwashing Detergent I used (it becomes hard and white when it dries). As I still have two bottles of this liquid detergent, I am cycling back and forth between the Finish Gel and the Cascade pods until I am done with the Finish Gel. Even in this case, the Cascade Platinum ActionPacs have continued to keep my dishwasher clean. Note that I am not even using the Cascade Platinum Dishwasher Cleaner pods (I have not tried these). The regular Platinum ActionPacs worked for me.

The attached photos show the white residue on my dishwasher door around the detergent dispenser. The white residue was caked on and would not scrub off. One picture shows the white residue still there after using the Affresh Tablets with an empty dishwasher, while the other picture shows the result of using Cascade Platinum ActionPacs on a normal cycle with dishes over a period of a couple weeks. The Cascade test was conducted AFTER the Affresh tablet test which shows the Cascade ActionPacs did what the Affresh cleaner could not.

Also, do not be deceived by the statement by Affresh that this is the #1 product recommended by Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, and Amana brand dishwashers. Affresh and all of these manufacturers are owned by the same company (Whirlpool). It’s in their own self interest to promote their own product. On a similar note, restaurant connoisseur Ronald McDonald has determined that the #1 hamburger in the world can only be purchased at McDonalds.

Conclusion:

Don’t waste your money on the Affresh cleaners. I wonder if many of the good reviews are similar to a “placebo” effect. People are happy that their already clean dishwasher is still clean after using Affresh. I on the other hand had a build up in my dishwasher that I couldn’t remove with conventional cleaning. Affresh did nothing to fix it, but Cascade did. There is no question which product worked, and which did not.

My recommendation is to switch to Cascade Platinum or Platinum Plus ActionPacs to wash your dishes. Using these pods avoids the possibility of putting too much detergent in because it is properly portioned, but also helps to clean my dishwasher with each cycle.

Priced high . Does not do the cleaning as said in the machine.

Had some mildew-looking buildup on the inside of the dishwasher. Tried one tablet of this with a high heat regular cycle – dishwasher looked exactly the same inside when the cycle finished.
Ended up scrubbing the inside of the dishwasher by hand then running a second cycle with one of these tablets tossed in the bottom as directed, and a detergent cube in the little hatch. It didn’t get any of the little spots that could’ve used more elbow grease. Didn’t look any different before & after.
Of note, my pack of THREE only came with TWO in it. Can’t say it was effective whatsoever because I had to clean by hand anyways.
Will not be wasting my money on this product again.