“This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Cascade. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.”

Around a year ago, I was introduced to a new dishwasher detergent.  At that point, I had always been an avid Cascade user, but to be honest, all of my dishes weren’t coming out of the dishwasher clean.  Plus, it was leaving a film on my dishwasher that just looked gross.  Receiving some Cascade Platinum to use in our dishwasher was a total game changer for me.  I am not exaggerating, this stuff is amazing.  I remember after just one wash cycle, my dishwasher and my dishes were 10 x cleaner.  It was great.  I could stop rewashing my dishes and get on with my life.  That hasn’t changed.  To this day, I have yet to find a better dishwasher soap, and to be honest, I’m not sure I want to waste my time trying.  This time, I was not only going to be using the Cascade Platinum, but I would also be using the Cascade rinse aid which I hadn’t tried yet.

But Cascade wanted to challenge me and my dishwasher.  You see, I have always pre-washed my dishes.  I was raised to do that since we have always had a septic tank.  Cascade Platinum wanted me to leave my nasty, dirty dishes sit  for 24 hours and then just load them straight into the dishwasher, no pre-washing at all.  This kind of gave me a complex.  Seriously, it goes against everything I have ever done, but for the sake of giving you all an honest look at how great this detergent is, I did it.

Here is why Cascade Platinum says to skip the pre-wash.  Cascade Platinum works best when the food is left on the dishes because the special enzymes that make it so effective will latch right onto that food and break it down so it can just wash away.  If there is no food left on the dishes, the detergent cannot do it’s best work.  As long as you dump the big chunks of food into the trash, you are set.  Any food left on the dishes won’t damage the dishwasher or pipes.  There is a type of garbage disposal built into the bottom of most dishwashers.

After letting the dishes sit overnight from baking some gooey, delicious brownies, I made brunch for some friends the next day.  I showed them my dishes sitting in the dishwasher, told them the game plan, and crossed my fingers that the dishes would actually come out clean.  Here are the results.

Dirty, stuck on mess to sparkling clean dishes!

I was impressed.  And relieved.  My friends were impressed and took their Cascade Platinum detergent and rinse aid to go try it out at home.  I am a believer my friends and encourage you to try it for yourself and let Cascade know how your dishes turned out.  Use #cascadeshiningreviews when you post your review to Cascade for a chance to win a prize pack.  To encourage you even more, check out these tips to get your dishes clean every time and then enter to win a Cascade Prize Pack.

 Stack ‘Em High – Stack your dishes high or low, just be sure that bulky items don’t block the sprayer.

Don’t Block the Detergent Chamber – Place tall dishes and pans in the back of the bottom rack so they don’t block the detergent chamber.

Check Your Bottom – Place glasses and other fragile items in the top rack to keep them away from the powerful sprayer under the bottom rack.

It’s Your Tine To Shine – Set your glasses between the tines on the rack, not over them to avoid leaving spots on your dishes.

Lock & Load – Thread longer utensils through coffee-mug handles to help keep them secure during the wash.

Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on September 18, 2014.  Open to US only.  Good luck!  

The prize package will include:

• Cascade Platinum
• Cascade Platinum Rinse Aid
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Cheese grater
• Oven mitts