Hello there!

I was on the hunt for some new dishwasher tablets and stumbled upon Clean&Fresh Low Phosphate Active Oxygen Lemon - I'd seen some pretty great reviews, and the price was super appealing, so I thought I'd give them a shot. But after using them a few times, I have to say I was pretty surprised by the rating.

Clean&Fresh Low Phosphate Active Oxygen Lemon dishwasher tablets - my review

✦ FROM THE MANUFACTURER:

Clean&Fresh Low phosphate Active Oxygen Lemon dishwasher tablets remove even the toughest stains and eliminate any lingering odors. Plus, they not only clean your dishes, but leave them sparkling. The tablets are gentle on glass and crystal, preventing them from getting cloudy, and they even help to enhance the shine on stainless steel dishes. Additionally, they protect your dishwasher from scaling by containing water-softening additives. The tablets are also hypoallergenic, as they don't produce any dust that could cause irritation. The natural mineral ingredients in the formula are safe for the environment, and the tablets remain effective even at 50°C, helping to reduce electricity consumption during the wash cycle.

✦ PACKAGING / APPEARANCE:

The tablets come in a cardboard box, and you can choose from different quantities. For my first try, I opted for 30 tablets, but I probably should have gone for the smallest pack.

The packaging has all the necessary info from the manufacturer, including a description of the product, usage instructions, ingredients, and expiration dates. There's also a note that these tablets took first place in the 'Controlled Purchase' competition.

The manufacturer has even thought about the environment and made the packaging recyclable.

I'll leave all the details from the box right here:

I was pretty stoked to see how the packaging worked. You just use the notches on the back to open it up, but once you do, it's not like you can close it again. It's a bit of a weird design choice, but I guess it's not the end of the world.

Inside, each tablet is individually wrapped in a clear plastic sheet that's super easy to tear open by hand.

Unfortunately, some of the tablets were a bit damaged. I'm guessing it happened during shipping.

✦ ORGANO-LEPTICA:

The tablets are solid, but they're not super densely packed, so they can be a bit fragile around the edges. They've got three layers, and the texture's got these tiny blue granules that are supposed to be some kind of rinse aid, giving your dishes a shine and a sparkle. The other two layers are pretty standard for a PPM tablet: the green layer's got a low-phosphate formula for dissolving grease and carbs, with some enzymes; the white layer's got a deodorizer and a substance to prevent scaling; and the blue layer's got a heavy-duty cleaning agent with active oxygen.

Size is pretty small, and I measured it to be 3.5 x 2.5cm. Odor is light, but slightly chemical. I want to note that this scent only comes from the dry tablets. I'll get to what happens in the machine later.

Clean&Fresh Low Phosphate Active Oxygen Lemon - review

✦ COMPOSITION:

Triphosphate sodium - over 30%; sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate - 15-30%; percarbonate sodium - 5-15%; sodium silicate, polycarboxylates, nonionic surfactants, TAED, enzymes, phosphonates, fragrance, colorant - less than 5%

✦ USE:

I use the minimum cycle of 1 hour on my machine, so I always go with that. Occasionally, I'll run it for 2 hours in the heavy-duty mode.

I load one tablet per cycle.

First off, I want to mention the odor. Despite the tablet having a mild scent, after the cycle, the machine smells super chemical, to the point where I have to leave the door slightly open to air it out. If I don't, the whole chemical stench just builds up in the machine. Don't even get me started on the lemon smell - it's completely gone, and all you're left with is this harsh chemical fragrance.

The next thing I noticed is that every time I run a cycle, the door of the machine is left with these huge water spots.

I've never had this issue with any other tablets or capsules, and it's always the same story - huge water spots every time. So, I have to clean the machine extra often.

Now, the most important thing - how well do these tablets clean your dishes? Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed.

They don't work well on the 1-hour cycle and leave water spots on your dishes. I'm scared to think what would happen on a 30-minute cycle.

These water spots can be pretty white and show up on all sorts of items, from appliances to pots and pans. And don't even get me started on the residue left on plates - it's like they're always streaked with something.

I have to say, it looks like the remnants of a pill. You’re always going to have to re-wash some dishes.

So, I decided to switch to a 2-hour cycle for comparison. Some things started to come out cleaner. Like tea stains:

Grease on glass lids:

Lighter stains were coming out pretty well, but I was still dealing with some tougher messes:

But not everything was going smoothly, and sure enough, there were still dishes with stains:

I wasn't planning on washing dishes for that long anyway - it's just a waste of water and electricity. Even after two hours, the tablets were struggling to get the dishes clean, and I had to re-wash half of them.As for the impact on the colors, I didn't notice any issues. The dishes with colorful designs retained their vibrancy and didn't fade.

But, unfortunately, I didn't notice any sparkle from the supposed rinse aid feature.

Also, after washing, there's no residue left in the dishwasher.

And that's pretty much the only positives I can say about these tablets. Otherwise, it's all negatives.So, I ended up not finishing the pack and left the tablets for other household chores, like cleaning some appliances and washing shoes. They're completely useless for washing dishes.

⚠️ VERDICT:⚠️

I've gotta be honest, the strong chemical smell that lingers after washing with this stuff is a total deal-breaker for me. And it's not just that - it also leaves streaks on my dishes and water spots on the dishwasher itself. I've tried using it on tough messes, but it just can't handle 'em. Needless to say, I won't be recommending this one.

Thanks for reading!

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