Kirkland Dishwasher Pacs Vs 5 Name Brands: Which One Gets Your Dishes Cleanest?

The dishwasher is, undoubtedly, one of the workhorses of a busy kitchen. Some households may even run multiple loads a day to work through all the plates, bowls, cups, and spoons used by a big family or when entertaining. However, whether you run two cycles each day or just one every few days, we all want the same thing: for our dishes to come out clean and ready to put away. We've likely all experienced the frustration of unloading the silverware drawer to find chunks of last night's dinner still stuck on a spoon, or pulling out a "clean" plate only to discover that it's still slick with greasy residue.

Kirkland Signature, Costco's store brand, is known for making some high-quality products that can give pricier name brands a run for their money. So, I wanted to see how the Kirkland Signature Platinum Performance UltraShine Dishwasher Detergent Pacs stood up against more popular brands, including Cascade, Finish, and Clorox. I designed a standardized test to assess the performance of each dishwasher pod. I loaded the dishwasher the same way each time with five dirty dishes: a fork dipped in sticky peanut butter, a bowl with hardened spaghetti residue in it, a glass coated with whole milk, a bowl with melted and hardened brown sugar, and a metal air fryer tray with melted, stuck-on cheese. After the cycle, I took a close look at the dishes to compare the cleaning abilities of each brand. I'll go into my methodology in greater detail below — for now, let's see how Kirkland's dishwasher pacs compared against five well-known brands.

Even though I'm a regular Costco shopper and have tried many Kirkland Signature products, this was my first time trying these dishwasher pacs from the warehouse. The price is right for these — my store priced a container of 115 pacs at $11.68 (just over $0.10 each) — so I was curious to see if I would be persuaded to make the switch and save money going forward. Unfortunately, despite their bargain price, I don't think I'm likely to add them to my cart in the future.

I was not impressed after inspecting the dishes that came out of the dishwasher. While the milk glass and the two bowls with spaghetti sauce and brown sugar were clean, the air fryer tray and fork still had some food residue stuck to them. There was only a tiny bit of cheese on the air fryer tray, but the fork was a different story. Peanut butter was still stuck on both sides of the tines, in between the tines, and along the flat part of the fork at the top. The picture above doesn't fully capture just how much was left. It was very disappointing, especially since I had tested some of the brands below and saw that other dishwasher tabs were able to get rid of all of the peanut butter residue.

Nowadays, pre-rinsing dishes is said to be a mistake when using the dishwasher. The packaging for these pacs even says, "No pre-wash required." However, if I were to use these again, I'd be a bit nervous to do so without giving the dishes a good rinse — otherwise, I'd risk opening the dishwasher to find that some items are not really clean.

These Cascade Platinum Plus Fresh Scent dishwasher pods are what I've been using for several years. They're one of the kitchen cleaning essentials I pick up at Costco, which brings the cost per pod down to a lot less than I can find them for online or at a local grocery store — though they're still nowhere near as cheap as the Kirkland Signature dishwasher pacs. Despite the fact that I've used these for a while, I was still curious to see how they'd perform in my more controlled experiment. And, to be honest, we typically rinse our dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, so I didn't know if they'd remove all the residue.

I was surprised by the results — and not in a good way. Like the Kirkland Signature tabs, these seemed to have no problem removing all the residue from both bowls and the milk glass. However, they didn't fully deliver when it came to the wire air fryer tray or the fork. Again, there were only a few tiny pieces of cheese on the wire rack. The fork had some peanut butter still stuck to it, but not as much as was left after the Kirkland tabs. There was a clump on the flat part before the tines and a few tiny flecks over the tines. After removing the dishes from the dishwasher, I also noticed that there was a very big clump of peanut butter still stuck on the top of the silverware basket.

Since conducting this product comparison, I don't think that I'll be sticking with Cascade, despite the fact that it is a pretty good deal at Costco. After seeing the results of some of the other brands, which I'll detail below, I will probably make a switch to something that can clean without requiring me to always rinse the dishes before loading them.

My first impression of these Clorox Triple Action Fresh Scent Dishwasher Detergent Pacs was not great. I opened the plastic tub to take one out and was hit with a very strong and overwhelming scent. I don't think I'd categorize it as the "fresh scent" that's advertised on the packaging, either. It was definitely more of a strong chemical cleaner smell. However, the strength of the smell does seem to dissipate. Since testing these, they've been under my kitchen sink, and I've used them for a few loads of my family's dishes. You still notice the smell every time the lid is removed, but it isn't so overwhelming anymore.

But honestly, based on the cleaning performance, I can probably just get over the smell. These dishwasher tabs performed really well. All of my dishes came out of the machine looking perfectly clean. There was no evidence of peanut butter stuck between the tines of the fork or little pieces of cheese stuck to the air fryer rack, unlike with the two dishwasher pods above. The packaging says that each tab uses oxygen boosters and that it "powers away stuck on food," and based on my test, I'd have to agree.

If you're used to Cascade Platinum Plus tabs, like I was, you might be a bit thrown off by the size and shape of these tabs. They seem much smaller and have a very different design. Instead of the gel portions being on top of the powder, they're both off to the side. However, if anything, this difference only helped to boost the performance. The smaller tabs also fit more easily in the compartment in my dishwasher. After trying them a few additional times, I haven't had any issues with part of them getting stuck or not fully dissolving, as I do with the Cascade occasionally.

Dropps boasts that its Ultrawash Plus Unscented pods are a cleaner alternative to many products on the market. They are made using 61% USDA Certified Biobased materials from renewable resources. Unlike some other cleaners on the market, they are also free of fragrances, dyes, chlorine, parabens, phthalates, and sulfates. Moreover, they're Leaping Bunny-certified (no animal testing), vegan, and septic-safe. With this formulation, I was curious to see how they'd perform compared to Kirkland and some of the bigger name brands.

Overall, I was impressed with how these dishwasher pacs did. Aside from a small piece of ground beef from the tomato sauce that rolled right out when I lifted out the bowl, everything came out perfectly clean. The little piece of meat that was left behind could have been the result of the rinse cycle in the dishwasher itself (after all, it wasn't stuck — it just fell right off). There was no peanut butter left on the fork or traces of cheese stuck to the wire air fryer rack. These definitely could be a good alternative for anyone wanting to switch to a dishwasher detergent without some of the additives or fragrances found in many options on the market.

Before opening the package, I was a bit concerned about how the tab might fit in the detergent dispenser on my dishwasher. It is round with one powdered portion and two smaller gel sections. I didn't know if it would prevent the door on the rectangular detergent dispenser from closing. However, the pod's circumference is small enough that I was able to put it in and close the door without issue.

Finish is another big name when it comes to dishwasher detergent. However, I haven't used it (at least not in the recent past), so I was curious to see if it would live up to the name recognition it has. To be honest, I was not amazed by the performance of these pacs. Using a dishwasher pod is only a hack that will make dishwashing a breeze if you choose an effective product. Sadly, these pods from Finish were the worst performers when it came to getting the cheese off of the air fryer rack. I placed a paper towel under the wire for the picture to capture just how many splotches of cheese were scattered across the surface. I'd be hesitant to use these tabs to clean an air fryer that's just made nachos or grilled cheese — after taking the picture above, I had to put the tray back through the dishwasher since I didn't consider it clean enough to use again. The rest of the dishes were sufficiently cleaned by the pods.

The other thing I don't love about these is the smell. It is a bit strong right out of the package, but my nose really picked it up when I walked by the dishwasher shortly after starting the cycle. It was very overpowering, and I wanted to get out of the kitchen to get away from it. If you're someone who starts your dishwasher right before going to bed, this may not be a dealbreaker. But, if you start a load of dishes in the morning and stay in the kitchen to prep lunches or complete other tasks, you might be very put-off by the strong odor emanating from the dishwasher.

You've likely heard of Seventh Generation before. The company is committed to using renewable and plant-based ingredients to create cleaning products that don't have the negative impact on air pollution, water pollution, and accumulating plastic waste that many other brands do. It makes a range of products — including one highly-ranked all purpose kitchen cleaner – so I wanted to see how these free and clear detergent packs would perform. They're described by Seventh Generation as being a 79% USDA Certified Biobased Product. The tabs are also made without any fragrances, dyes, chlorine bleach, or phosphates. Instead, they clean using enzymes to remove grease and residue from dishes.

One of the first things that stood out to me when I removed the pod from the box was that it did not have any gel. Other than the Kirkland Signature pacs, these were the only product I tested that were purely a packed powder inside the pod. The lack of gel made me question whether they'd be effective at cleaning the dishes, especially the peanut butter fork and the cheesy wire tray that had proven problematic for some other brands. However, my concerns were quickly pushed to the side as soon as I opened the dishwasher. After closely inspecting each item, I found no stuck-on residue — the bowls, fork, glass, and wire air fryer tray all looked perfectly clean.

This test was designed to compare Kirkland Signature dishwasher pacs against other popular brands. After seeing what the dishes looked like after each load, I would not say that the Kirkland brand fared well. Based on my tests, I think it is a tie between the Clorox Triple Action Fresh Scent Dishwasher Detergent Pacs and the Seventh Generation Free & Clear Dishwasher Detergent Packs, looking solely at which brand delivered the cleanest dishes. After each of these cycles completed, all of the dishes looked spotless. Both brands were able to tackle the crusty cheese and sticky peanut butter that gave some others, including Kirkland, a run for their money.

Despite the tie in terms of performance, I still wanted to choose one ultimate winner. So, I took a deeper look at some other factors, including price, packaging, and ingredients. Based on the list price on sites such as Amazon, Target, and Walmart, both of these are comparably priced, working out to between $0.32 and $0.33 cents each. Clorox's packaging is more convenient, in my opinion, since you simply need to remove the lid from the container to get at the tab. With Seventh Generation, you need to open the box, reach inside the plastic bag (which you'll probably want to seal with something like a chip clip to avoid too much moisture getting in and making the tabs stick together), and then pull out a tab. However, Seventh Generation purposefully chose this packaging because it cuts back on plastic waste, which is a legitimate concern for our environment.

Ultimately, I would have to give the edge to Seventh Generation and declare it the overall winner. In addition to the more environmentally-friendly packaging, the ingredient list is just cleaner, with no dyes, fragrances, phosphates, or bleach. Plus, without those added fragrances, these tabs don't have that strong smell that I really noticed with the ones from Clorox.

In order to get a clear sense of the performance of each dishwasher pac, I determined it was necessary to complete a more standardized test. Running a regular load of my family's dishes with each pod would allow for too many variables (perhaps one load was "less intense" than the others and would not provide accurate insight into a certain brand's actual performance). So, I created an identical set of dirty dishes for each load, trying to focus on some messier foods that would be more likely to reveal noticeable performance differences.

One of these dirty dishes was a bowl that was coated with some leftover spaghetti with meat sauce. I rubbed the surface of each bowl with the sauce, making sure to also leave behind some chunks of meat and spaghetti noodles. These were kept in my refrigerator until I was ready to run each cycle. The next dirty dish was a fork that I dipped in peanut butter. I chose a fork because I know that foods sometimes get stuck between the tines (and what's stickier than peanut butter?). Next up was a small glass that I added a splash of whole milk to and coated the sides of before running each load.

I also added about a teaspoon of brown sugar with a splash of water to a small bowl and microwaved it for about 45 seconds. This resulted in a sticky solution that I let harden before adding it to the dishwasher. And, finally, I melted some shredded cheddar cheese on the wire rack in my air fryer for 5 minutes. After melting, I let the rack sit out long enough for the cheese to harden. I know from personal experience how difficult this can be to get off of the rack, so I thought it would be impressive if any of the dishwasher pacs were able to get the metal clean.

After "dirtying" the dishes, I placed them in the same place in the dishwasher for each load — the two bowls went on the bottom rack, the fork went in the silverware holder, and the glass and wire air fryer tray (and its silicone base) went on the top rack. I did not add any other dishes to each load. I chose the "normal" cycle on my KitchenAid dishwasher with a heated drying cycle.