Best/economical dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent?

[LNC]

What do you recommend? We have a front loader washer. I prefer powder dishwasher detergent for the budget. I have used store brands in the past with mixed results, but I'm looking for the best deals as well as effective. I have a Sam's membership, Walmart, Target and Aldi close by.

Edited November 16, 2011 by LNC

[Halcyon]

My DH thinks Sun (we get it at Walmart) is good. I love Cascade, but it's much pricier.

[ktgrok]

For dish detergent I recently switched to Finish tablets on the advice of members here. I buy a giant box at Costco...I think it is 200 tablets. It was very inexpensive when you compared cost per load and works better than any of the store brand stuff.

 

For laundry the only thing that works well in our hard water is Tide, so I buy it at Costco with coupons.

[LaxMom]

The answer, sadly, is "the one that works best at your house".

 

We have very soft water - lots of mineral salts, municipal water - and find that there are a whole lot of products made for hard water, which doesn't really make them effective in our house.

 

I like Method dishwasher tablets and order them as "subscribe and save" from Amazon (because they stopped carrying them locally for some reason). For laundry, I use Seventh Generation 4x liquid in a front loader. A small bottle lasts well over a month with 5 of us.

 

Ecological is as important to me as economical, so I try to find the best price for the least footprint.