Tired of Your Dishwasher Not Cleaning Your Dishes? Try OxiClean Dishwashing Booster {Review}

It is hard for me to remember life without a dishwasher... and, to be honest, I wouldn't want to.

Considering the number of dishes that our family of four goes through in a day, I don't even want to imagine how much time I would spend standing at my kitchen sink if we didn't have a magic machine that spit out clean dishes at the press of a button multiple times per week.

However, that's not to say that it provides an A+ performance each time. My husband and I seem to both go back and forth on whether or not we take the extra time to pre-rinse food residue and crumbs off our items before loading them in. I tend to typically fall into the Why should I do that? That's the dishwasher's job! category, because really, when it comes to finding a way to lessen my workload, I'll do it.

In fact, I'm already designating as much of the task as possible to my eager little helpers...

However, it doesn't matter who did or did not load the dishwasher if the dishes and glasses end up with noticeable spots and film. I'm never a fan of pulling out a plate and finding food crusted on or holding up a glass and seeing a milky coating... and it's even worse when we are entertaining! The last thing I want to do is stand there quickly re-washing items before they will be acceptable enough to give to a guest.

Short of replacing our dishwasher or pre-washing every item before it goes in there, what's the solution? Now, it is the simplicity of adding the new OxiClean Dishwashing Booster to our everyday routine.

In 2010, dishwashing detergents received a mandate to rework their formulas and remove phosphates - the industry's chosen grime fighter - leaving consumers wondering why their dishes came out not as clean and spotless as they used to be. It turned out that, when polled, the stats spoke for themselves:

• 69% of respondents either did not know what phosphates were (14%) or that they were banned from dishwashing detergents (55%).

• 49% felt frustrated because they didn't know what was causing the spots on their dishes.

• The top three things that consumers believed were causing the spots/cloudy dishes were dishwashing detergent (50%), hard water (34%), and their dishwasher not working well (30%).

• Over half (56%) had switched their detergent 2-5 times.

• 88% agreed or strongly agreed that it is embarrassing to serve on dishes that have spots or are cloudy.

• Almost 1 in 3 (32%) said that their biggest kitchen challenge was achieving sparkly dishes; 30% said spots on dishes were their biggest kitchen complaint.

In an effort to help the millions affected by the new dish detergent formula, OxiClean has now made its foray into dishwashing with a new product. This year you can have sparkling dishes and a clean dishwasher with the new OxiClean Dishwashing Booster, which boosts the performance of your dishwashing detergent to remove the cloudy film, food particles, spots, and streaks that detergent alone can leave behind.

As an added bonus, this great new product also cleans your dishwasher! Aside from hoping that it would also mop my floor, I couldn't think of anything else that OxiClean Dishwashing Booster could do to make my life easier.

Along with our regular plates, bowls, glasses and flatware, I put OxiClean Dishwashing Booster to the test with the large, clear serving tray that they provided so that there wouldn't be any place for lasting spots or residue to hide.

After serving up a tasty pasta lunch...

...I looked at the remnants on the tray and knew that I would typically need to pre-rinse to be sure that the sauce would all be removed... or else risk it being hardened on after going through the dishwasher.

Instead, the tray went right into the dishwasher along with our regular detergent and the OxiClean Dishwashing Booster. When the load was clean and dry, I pulled the tray out to find...

Spotless! In fact, all of our dishes and glasses came out sparkling clean and I was happy to see that the overall cleanliness of our dishwasher was improved as well. Considering all that I had to do was fill the rinse agent dispenser with approximately half the bottle of the Booster (the dispenser will then need refilling around once per month) and add a squirt or two to the bottom of the dishwasher for an added kick, I'm thrilled that I can receive these results so easily!

Instead of having an ongoing discussion with my husband about which dishwashing detergents work better than others (and if the more expensive ones are truly worth it), instead we're going to continue using OxiClean Dishwashing Booster as part of our routine and know that we won't have to worry about cloudy film, food particles, spots or streaks.

Keep an eye out for OxiClean Dishwashing Booster in the dishwashing aisle of food, drug and mass retailers near you. A 7oz bottle (which will wash appoximately 67 loads) retails for $3.99-$4.99 and a 13oz bottle (which will wash approximately 125 loads) for $6.99-$7.99. For more information about how you can get your dishes and dishwasher clean quickly and easily, visit OxiClean at their website and on Facebook.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of OxiClean and received a product sample and serving tray to facilitate my review, and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.