All righty, I went to open the dishwasher this morning and found that Next Generation dishwasher powder has performed beautifully for me. Not a speck of leftover detergent in the dispenser or on any of the dishes. Everything was washed clean and smear-free. The glasses look good and plates don't have any leftover specks of food. Overall, I'm really pleased with how it's performed, so I'll be likely to keep using it!

I'm washing a load of dishes in our brand-new dishwasher (woohoo!) with Next Generation dishwasher powder right now... Will let you know how I get on, as I've never used it before and am interested to see how it performs. I'm a huge fan of Next Generation washing powder -- I love the smell, first of all -- so I'm hoping the dishwasher powder lives up to the washing powder for me.

It does state pretty clearly on the container to follow the dishwasher manufacturer's instructions as to how much powder you put in the machine, as I have usually been guilty of putting in way too much.

My dishwasher manual was *interesting* reading:

• If phosphate-free detergents are used with hard tap water, white deposits may be deposited more easily on utensils and the dishwasher walls. This can be remedied by adding more detergent.
• The detergents from various manufacturers exhibit differing dissolving properties, so  washing powder may not develop fully during short programmes and there may be an undissolved cleaning agent residue.
• If your dishes are only moderately dirty, you may be able to use less detergent than recommended.

I have to admit that one of the biggest considerations when buying a dishwasher (we haven't had one for over two years) was how long the washing time was. I did heaps of research online and discovered that all too often, people use the "eco" setting because it's shorter and uses less water/power, but this setting is usually only suitable when the dishwasher is not full to capacity -- and mine is almost always full to capacity. So I make sure to set the dishwasher programme to reflect what's actually in the dishwasher insteada of automatically hitting "eco", and I've had much better results this way.

Wow, who knew I was so interested in dishwashing? Don't tell DH!

I love the soap powder!!! But then I am a bit anal when it comes to my washing machine and I clean out the insides every couple of months......so not sure whether it leaves a build up or not?!? (I even scrubbed it out when I was 39wks pregnant....my neighbour watched me hosing down the parts on the back lawn and thought I was mad!!)