Trader Joe’s is a great place to shop for food. Aldi’s cousin is also a good place to get personal care items such as toilet paper, shampoo, or facial moisturizer. You can even get products for use around the house at Trader Joe’s, including room spray, or even dish soap.
From left: TJ’s dishwasher detergent packs (they’re hiding a bit behind the detergent gel jugs), dishwasher detergent gel, and automatic dishwasher detergent powder. This post deals with the dishwasher detergent packs.
Trader Joe’s sells liquid dish soap for handwashing dishes, and they also sell gel, packs, and powder for using in a dishwashing machine. Today, we’re looking at TJ’s dishwasher detergent packs.
Trader Joe’s Automatic Dishwasher Detergent Packs cost $4.99 at the time of publication for a 12.6-ounce bag that contains 20 single-use packs. That comes out to about 25 cents per pack. With Trader Joe’s other dishwashing detergents selling for $3.99 for a larger container that will probably last longer, the packs are most likely the priciest option at Trader Joe’s for getting your dishes clean. Aldi dishwasher packs were just over 19 cents per pack when we reviewed them a while back, making the Aldi packs the cheapest overall option. You’ll pay more than the Trader Joe’s price for name brand packs such as Cascade Complete (about 27 cents each) if you don’t buy them in bulk. So the Trader Joe’s packs look to be more of a mid-priced option when it comes to packages of this size.
These Trader Joe’s dishwasher detergent packs are labeled as “free & clear” and are made without dyes, fragrance, or chlorine bleach. They’re also kosher. The package states these use “powerful enzymes and plant-derived surfactants” to clean your dishes. This is a product of Canada. The packs were not tested on animals and contain no phosphates.
Ingredients are: sodium carbonate, citric acid, sodium sulfate, sodium percarbonate, PPG-10-Laureth-7, sodium polyaspartate, sodium silicate, polyvinylalcohol, sodium aluminosilicate, protease, and amylase.
(Click to enlarge.)
Use these dishwasher packs like you would any other: load your dishwasher and use one pack per load. Don’t unwrap or puncture the pack or handle it with wet hands. Place the pack in the main dispenser and close it, and then reseal the package and store in a dry place. For very hard water, a rinse aid is recommended.
As always, keep this product out of reach of children.
I’ve been using these packs in my dishwasher for several weeks now. I usually use Aldi Radiance Ultra Dishwasher Triple Chamber Pacs, which work well at getting my dishes clean. These Trader Joe’s packs seem to do their job just as well. My dishes come out clean without any stuck-on food or white residue.
The Verdict:
Trader Joe’s Automatic Dishwasher Detergent Packs are a mid-priced detergent pack option for using in your dishwasher. They appear to get the dishes clean as well as the cheaper Aldi-brand dishwasher pacs I often use. If you use dishwasher pacs, these are worth a try.
