I saw this post and wanted to ask the opposite. What are some items that really aren’t worth paying the expensive version for? Preferably more extreme or unexpected examples.

  • idunnololz
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    11 months ago

    Dish washer soap. Gotta rep technology connections for teaching me that not only is the powdered stuff cheaper, it’s also just straight up better. Also store vs name brand shouldn’t make a big difference either, at least not from my tests.

    When I buy dishwasher soap now I just compare price per gram and grab the cheapest option.

    • @ReluctantMuskrat
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      711 months ago

      My wife started buying and using name brand pods for some reason and after about a year we started noticing a film build up on the glasses. Clear glasses made it very noticeable but it’s not noticeable on solid color dishes. Finally occurred to me maybe it’s the pods… we switched back to basic detergent and add rinse agent to the dispenser and now a year later new, identical glasses we bought still show no film.

      Wish i could figure out how to get the existing film off our old glasses.

      • @indepndnt
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        11 months ago

        I recently moved to a place with well water and figuring out how to get the dishes clean was a whole thing. For awhile I was sure we were gonna need a new dishwasher. There were wads of paper in various places in the machine, I’m guessing the previous owners didn’t bother taking labels off before washing them, but that’s not the point here. What ultimately worked for the mineral film was citric acid. There are citric acid dishwashing products, but you don’t need to spend a ton of money, it’s a common food additive and you can buy it super cheap. I got this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000OZFECU?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title I just throw a spoonful in with the detergent once in awhile and the glasses come out sparkling!

      • @psud
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        11 months ago

        For the film covered glasses try lye. If that doesn’t work try vinegar.

        • @ReluctantMuskrat
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          111 months ago

          Tried some strong vinegar but that didn’t work. I’ll have to see if I can find some lye and try that.

          • @psud
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            211 months ago

            Drain-o is made of lye (sodium hydroxide)

      • Do you have a water softening system?

        I learned recently that most major brands add water softeners to their detergents; this can make the water too soft, which can lead to filming and etching.

        If you already have soft water, look for detergents without added softeners; I think the base, cheapest Finish is one, but check the ingredients.

        • @ReluctantMuskrat
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          111 months ago

          We do have a water softener. I might look into the pod/softener thing but we were using Cascade pods and now using Cascade detergent for the most part, though we also use Finish as well, depending what’s on sale, etc.

          Whatever the case I’m not going back to pods. I’ve kept some of the filmed glasses but can’t find anything to get it off so they look awful.

          • If you can’t get it off, it’s probably etching, not a film. Etching (cloudiness) never comes off, we lost entire sets of glasses before we figured this out.

            All Cascade detergents contain water softeners. It’s not the pods; the powders have them too.

    • probablynaked
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      211 months ago

      Powder gang represent

      Also Technology Connections having me prewash and silently judge all the dishwasher pod users

    • @[email protected]
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      211 months ago

      Spot on here. I just get the cheapest Great Value powdered detergent and it works amazingly well.