Key Takeaways

Pods pack the most cleaning power , making them ideal for tough, stuck-on messes, but they may underperform in quick or cooler wash cycles if they don’t fully dissolve.

Liquid detergents are gentle and dissolve easily , especially good for glassware and cooler cycles, but they can be less effective overall and are easy to overpour.

Powders are great for hard water and baked-on grime , offering flexible dosing, but like pods, they need hot water to fully dissolve and can clump if stored improperly.

This time of year, your dishwasher is probably running in overdrive, with all of the holiday baking, cooking, and entertaining. So you definitely want to make every single load counts—and that every dish comes out sparkling. It can come down to loading the dishwasher right,

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