I am comparing Cascade Complete and Electrasol Advanced dishwasher detergents. We use our dishwasher constantly. I think someone comes in and puts their dishes in our washer! These are both 75- ounce bottles (A somewhat heavy bottle) and can be bought in the $9.00 range.

Let’s take a look:

Cascade Complete advertises on the green bottle that I don't have to pre-wash. I should just scrape food off the plate and my dishes will be clean and shiny. The website www.cascadeclean.com tells me that Cascade Complete comes in a variety of scents though my bottle does not tell me what, if any, scent it is. When I smell this gel it smells clean and fresh so perhaps it is the Fresh Scent. It doesn't smell like Citrus or Melon.

Cascade Complete has what is called Bleach Hydroclean Action (trademark) which should thoroughly clean plates and glassware. Cascade Complete has a childproof top that may be difficult if you have arthritis. I like the large handle that it has; however, so score 1 for the handle; 1 for the smell and the cap is a wash because you'll either love it and need it or not be able to use it.

Electrasol Advanced's yellow bottle tells me that it is the #1 recommended brand of some appliance companies. We are told that it removes the toughest food stains and has "sparkling power clean."* http://www.electrasol.com/*

Electrasol has an easy flip top that I like better than the top of Cascade Complete but have no children at home. The handle is slightly smaller than that of Cascade Complete but not so small it's a deal breaker. The smell; however, is a different matter. If you care about aromas then you won't like this. It smells like a bottle of ammonia. Looking at the ingredients I assume the smell is bleach and in spite of it being the last ingredient it is very strong.

*Warnings: *Keep these products out of the reach of children. They are extremely toxic!

The ingredients in Electrasol Advanced are water softener, cleaning agents, dishwasher and china protector agent, water, thickening agent and bleach. Cascade Complete has sodium hydroxide, sodium cilicate, and chlorine bleach.

The Test

I believe that when possible for products to be reviewed adequately they should be used under the same circumstances. This is usually not possible but in this case it was. So I did a fairly scientific test to compare Cascade Complete and Electrasol Advanced.

Almond Butter is quite sticky. I put the same amount on two plates and decided not to rinse any Almond Butter off the plates. I then put one plate in the bottom of the dishwasher with a full load of other dishes and poured the Cascade Complete in the compartments. I washed the load and only took out the dish.

I then took the other dish and put it in the same place in the dishwasher but used Electrasol Advanced in the compartments and ran the wash.

Results

Based on this test both Electrasol Advanced and Cascade Complete worked equally as well. The two dishes were identically clean; they both sparkled and shined.
If you have children you want Cascade Complete. If you like nice aromas you want Cascade Complete. If you have arthritis you want Electrasol. If you have a very large hand you want Cascade Complete.

So it seems that Cascade Complete has more going for it especially if you have children. I would go with whichever one is less money since they both worked wonderfully on my test dishes.

I am building a giant Mother's Day basket for my pretend sister, Clozy.

In it are:

Arizona Iced Tea

Lysol Wipes

Hershey Nuggets

A Vera Bradley wallet from ebags

Dumbbells

Keurig coffee maker

Sunscreen but which one?

Mouthwash but which one?

LifeFitness Treadmill

Environmentally-friendly gifts

Recommended: Yes