I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Cascade. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating. All opinions are my own.
With three kids and two parents at home full-time in my house, we cook. A lot.
Three meals a day, seven days a week, five+ mouths to feed each time.
All that cooking means doing a ton of dishes.
Plus, now that we’re doing this whole grain-free thing, I find that I’m cooking EVEN MORE, which makes EVEN MORE dishes.
(This is a major downside, not gonna lie.)
The biggest bummer of all this dish-washing is that my absolute most dreaded chore in.the.world is unloading the dishwasher. Since I was a small child and that job was assigned to me, I’ve hated it.
Finally last year, I wised up and assigned the chore to my nine-year old.
(After 10 months of consistently unloading the dishwasher, he now tells me he hates it, too. I empathetically told him it’s a right of passage.)
One thing my oldest child has astutely noticed is that, frankly, our dishwasher doesn’t get our dishes all that clean.
A year ago, when he first started in on this job, he’d put the unclean stuff away anyway (not sure if he didn’t notice or didn’t care). I’d go to take out a glass out of the cupboard, only to find it speckled with bits of dirty water that had been swished around and then dried on in our so-called dishwasher. (Yes, classy.)
I’ve attributed this whole issue to our very hard water; I loaded up the rinse dispenser with vinegar. It helped, but only nominally.
Then I thought it might be user-error with loading the dishwasher (putting knives in down, rather then up, for example). Or over-eager loaders who don’t rinse the peanut butter off their plates.
But no matter what the cause, it wasn’t really resolving – and in fact was becoming a major pain (not to mention waste of money).
All this by way of background to what came next…
A few weeks ago, Cascade sent me a package of their new Platinum DishPacs, with the understanding that I’d share my true experiences with you guys.
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. I certainly didn’t think the detergent I was using could make that much of a difference. I figured we just needed a new machine.
Nonetheless, I secretly replaced our other tabs with Cascade.
I noticed a difference right away, since far fewer dishes were getting left behind. In fact, I think several days, they all met the “clean enough for the cupboards” test.
The glasses were coming out actually clear – as opposed to the dull spotty look we’d come to know and love.
But for the true test, I was waiting to see if my son would say anything – since we all know children don’t give compliments for nothing.
Then yesterday, he finally picked up on something being different. “Hey, Mom, are these new glasses? They’re really shiny.”
Success!
The downside of the Cascade Pacs is that they tend to be a bit more costly than the other options on your store’s shelves. Of course, you know I’ll be waiting for a sale and some coupons to stock up.
And truthfully, a few pennies per load is still a whole lot cheaper than a new machine, which is what I was starting to think we were going to have to do!
Cascade wanted me to let you know that they are partnering up with Top Chef judge and editor of Food+Wine magazine, Gail Simmons, who also thinks Cascade Platinum rocks. (She may or may not also hate unloading the dishwasher.)
“The easiest recipes pop with unexpected, gourmet presentations. Drizzle bright sauces on sparkling white plates or layer desserts in crystal-clean glassware. Keep your presentation sparkling with Cascade Platinum, which keeps dishes perfect for anytime entertaining and impromptu guests.”
If you’d like to win a brand spanking new dishwasher (not that you’ll need it!), you can check out their “My Platinum” Instagram contest.
Cascade will choose two weekly winners and one final grand prize winner after the entry period has ended. Please be sure to include both the #MyPlatinum hashtag and tag @MyCascade in your entries to the contest!
:: My Platinum Clink (Entry: 6/17-6/23) ~ Show us how you serve up creative concoctions in sparkling glasses. Cheers!
:: My Platinum Table (Entry Period: 6/24-6/30) ~ Show us your sparkling tablescape for your most special celebrations!
:: Grand Prize Winner (Entry: 6/3-6/30)
Leave a Comment