When it comes to spending money on dishwasher capsules the prices can really vary, but is it really a case of getting what you pay for? I once tried the Astonish dishwasher tablets and they were so awful that we ended up giving them away. Since then I have always stuck to big name brands, but for the past few months I have switched to the Lidl dishwasher capsules and I have to say that I have been quite impressed.
Are the Lidl dishwasher capsules any good?
Yes!
As I mentioned, I thought you got what you paid for so I was happy to pay for the premium brands like Fairy and Finish.
That is until we bought a massive supply of Finish Quantum Ultimate Dishwasher Tablets (well, a pack of 85) and they made the dishes, glasses and cutlery taste of lemon. Blergh.
I had enough, and I decided to pick up the Lidl dishwasher capsules on my next trip to Lidl.
The package makes these promises:
- Brilliant shine
- Prevents water marks
- Thorough cleaning
- Water-soluble shell
- Removes tough stains
- Cleans greasy filters
And you know what? Yes, they get the job done!
I can’t really get wax lyrical about dishwasher capsules, but really, they get the job done and do what they say, together with regular dishwasher maintenance.
How much are the Lidl dishwasher capsules?
At the time of writing (March 2024), a pack of 37 Lidl dishwasher capsules cost £3.99, making them a total cost of just over 10p per capsule (£0.108).
This is in comparison to £11.92 for 60 Fairy capsules from Amazon, or just over 20p per capsule.
The saving isn’t massive, but if you use one capsule per day for a year then you can save £36.50 over the year by switching to the Lidl dishwasher capsules – that’s before you account for any savings you might get from the Lidl Plus app.
Why aren’t my dishes clean after using the dishwasher?
There is nothing more frustrating than unloading the dishwasher only to realise that some of your dishes are still dirty despite being put through a cycle.
There are a few good habits that you can get into to help to ensure that your dishes come out of the dishwasher sparkling.
The first thing to do is to make sure you are placing your dishwasher tabs into the dispenser instead of straight into the machine. If you place them straight into the machine then they may dissolve early and lose some of their cleaning power. The dispenser has been created to let the tablet out at the right time in a wash cycle to get the best clean.
Another good habit to get into is ensuring that both your dishwasher salt and rinse aid are topped up. I top up the rinse aid every Saturday as one of my weekly tasks, and I do the dishwasher salt approximately every 6 weeks.
Dishwasher maintenance is also really important, so be sure to clean the filter regularly, as well as cleaning the spray arms to remove any blockages. I try to do this at least once a month, although I think I should probably be doing it a bit more often than that.
Finally, consider how you stack your dishwasher. Extra dirty dishes should be places on the bottom rack, facing towards the centre of the dishwasher. Lightly soiled things can then go into the top rack.
These sell on eBay!
I couldn’t believe when I came across these Lidl dishwasher capsules selling on eBay!
They are that popular that people are willing to pay £17.99 plus £3.99 postage for something that costs £7.98 in store! That’s an extra £14, when they could get a lot of dishwasher capsules on eBay for that price. So they must be good!
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