Ecover Dishwasher Soap Tablet Review | Plant and Mineral Based Dishwasher Tablets
Ecover mineral based dishwasher tablets review: we've been washing our dishes nonstop at TRR.
The Top Line:
Buy. We liked using Ecover Dishwasher Soap in Tablet form. The product is made of better ingredients than traditional dishwashing liquid. The packaging uses much less plastic, despite the tablets being individually wrapped. For cost, Ecover is near the cheapest dishwashing of the options we’ve reviewed.
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: $9.99 for a box of 45
How ‘Clean’ Is This? Reasonably clean, we think. We are still waiting to hear back from a few ingredients that we coudn’t quite assess, like Sodium Poly Asparaginate.
Packaging: The outer box is paper/cardboard, which is fabulous, but the individual wrappers are plastic at the moment. Ecover addresses this, saying it is for the protection of the tablets, and that the company is working on a better solution.
Purchasing & Shipping: Bought on Amazon.
What’s Your Impact? At least some ingredients that are better than the typical drugstore brands. Plus, much less plastic packaging than the plastic jugs or tubs.
The Good:
✔ Better ingredients than drugstore brands
✔ Paper box packaging
✔ Cheap as chips - it’s one of the cheapest options, especially in tablet form
✔ Limited scent even with the scented option and has a fragrance free option
✔ Works pretty well on dishes.
The Bad:
✗ Still some limited plastic packaging
✗ Waiting on clarity for some ingredients
The Experience
Context: Before trying Ecover Dishwashing tablets, we have been weaving from brand to brand to figure out what will work for us and our dishwasher. Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent Powder was the OG mainstay until we decided to check out other sustainable brands. Before this, we tried Blueland’s dishwashing tablets, which didn’t dissolve all the way, as well as Seventh Generation’s tablets, which have caused phosphate stains on the dishes and dishwasher. Thrive Dishwashing Powder was our recent review that we loved.
However, we’ve been using Ecover for a few weeks now and here is our experience:
Unwrapping the packaging is not that big of a deal, even if we are reminded that there is plastic each time. Unwrapping with wet hands isn’t the best but it’s doable.
Spouses that are not on board reach for other options to skip the unwrapping step.
Dishes come out reasonably clean, and the wash is best when dishes have gotten a nice rinse beforehand.
Pretty limited white residue that can form from other eco-conscious brands.
Even though perfume is an ingredient, we experience no scent - which is our preference for dishes since we’d love to smell our food and not soap.
The Cost
We compared Ecover Dishwashing Tablets to other zero-waste or greener options like Dropps, Blueland, Public Goods, Cleancult and Grove Collaborative as well as traditional grocery store brand, Cascade Complete and Cascade Pure. Pro/Con: Powdered dishwasher detergent will remain cheaper given less processing that needs to occur for its formulation, but pods/tablets are easier —less mess and measuring. Choose your own adventure.
Money Report: Not too shabby! Ecover tablets are quite the price competitor to Cascade. Super bulk purchases or powder are the only real price competitors. This is good. 😍
Our Recommendation:
Buy. We liked using Ecover Dishwasher Soap in Tablet form. The product is made of better ingredients than traditional dishwashing liquid. The packaging uses much less plastic, despite the tablets being individually wrapped. For cost, Ecover is near the cheapest dishwashing of the options we’ve reviewed.
We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!
