Dishwasher Magic Review: Mixed Feelings

by Taylor

I have been meaning to share my Dishwasher Magic review for a while now, since it is the dishwasher cleaner I've been using in my own home for years.

I thought it would be best to try it one last time so I could remember exactly how to use it, etc., before I wrote my review, so everything would be fresh in my mind.

In the past I've really thought that this product worked pretty well in my dishwasher, even though I know I don't use it as regularly as I should since our water is extremely hard, and we get hard water build up in our dishwasher easily.

However, I was none too impressed with this product this last time I used it.

The instructions say to completely empty your dishwasher, take the top off the product and lay it upside down in the silverware basket.

There is a wax plug in the bottle that is supposed to melt as the water in the dishwasher moves over it, and then it releases the cleaner at the right time within the cycle.

In the past I have done this without incident. I followed the instructions again, and ran my dishwasher through an entire cycle. When I opened the machine it looked the same as before -- not cleaner. I was surprised and disappointed.

Then, I picked up the bottle of Dishwasher Magic and it was still full! The wax plug hadn't melted in the cycle -- I mean not at all! Of course the machine didn't look cleaner, no cleaner had been applied to it!

I know I positioned it correctly, and so that's not the problem.

I also don't believe the problem was with my hot water. I'll explain why.

The instructions say, "Water must be as hot as possible to melt wax plug. For best results first run tap nearest dishwasher until hot."

I did this, exactly as instructed.

Further, we recently just got a new hot water heater, and our water is MUCH hotter than it was in the past. Therefore, I know our water should have been hot enough.

Finally, I ran it on the sani cycle, since this is the hottest cycle, and what is recommended for this product.

Therefore, I was disappointed in the design of this bottle, since it didn't dispense as it was supposed to.

I used it again, pulling the wax plug because it hadn't melted the first time, and ran the dishwasher again. Granted, this is not supposed to be how you do it, and perhaps the cleaner did not dispense properly as a result since it flowed out too soon.

However, it didn't look much cleaner afterward than it had before, and in the process all kinds of dishes piled up on my counter while I ran the dishwasher completely empty, trying to clean it, two separate times.

So, although in the past I've been happy with this product, this last time -- the time I plan to do a review of the product -- it didn't work well for me at all.

I've decided to try a couple of other brands and see if they work better, or if I just got a bad bottle of Dishwasher Magic.

Since I've gotten good results with it in the past, I'm not totally ready to give up on the brand, just yet. But, I am going to be trying some others and comparing them!

I'll keep everyone updated as I search for the best dishwasher cleaner!

***Update: Soon after I wrote this our dishwasher broke down, and after I got it fixed I tried another cleaner, this time from Finish. I had the same trouble with Finish cleaner's wax seal not melting also.

Since I continue to have trouble with my dishwasher itself, I am wondering if that has something to do with my problem, and not have it be a problem with these products themselves. I'm not sure yet, but did want to provide an update so you don't make too quick of a decision about this problem just from my results, which may be unusual because of machine issues. ***End Update

Dishwasher Magic {Referral Links}

Has anyone else used this product, and want to share a review of it?

You can share your dishwasher cleaner reviews here, for this or any other brand, telling me which one you like, and why. In addition, you can read other reviews that have already been submitted by other readers.

Dishwasher Magic's Wax Plug Still Plugged!

by Karyn

Karyn says:

I am online looking for reasons why the Dishwasher Magic plug wouldn't "melt" and found others with the same problem!

So, it wasn't just me! Yay!

But seriously, I'm not sure how else to make this thing work.

I thought about sticking the plug over one of the basket's prongs. I wondered whether I'd missed this tip somewhere on the directions.

But after reading the directions once again, it definitely said to just "place" the bottle upside down inside the utensils basket.

I am finding others online with the same problem as me. So I went to the company's website for problem solving, but there were none.

They must be pretty secure in their product's performance since they had no troubleshooters or tips.

Sigh. I guess I'll go back to the other brand that doesn't have a plug stopping the cleaning suds.

What a bad idea if you ask me!

Though, I'm not sure any of them clean as nicely as one would hope.

Taylor says:

Sorry to hear you had the same problem I did Karyn.

If I were you I'd definitely check the main dishwasher cleaners page which has reviews of a number of products that don't use this goofy wax plug system, so actually dispense into your dishwasher!

Anyone else use this product and have tips for getting the plug to actually melt? Or any other thoughts on how the product actually works in cleaning your dishwasher if you can get it to dispense properly? If so, make sure to share your review and I'll add it to the page.

Dishwasher Magic {Referral Links}

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