I am the daughter of a home economics teacher. I learned to consult volume-based price comparisons before I memorized my times tables. I’ve been doing the Wirecutter calculus of value for quality and cost since before Wirecutter existed. I’m cheap, but not at the expense of efficacy. I just truly love a good deal.I also hate to rewash a dish. Having a dishwasher do the work for you is wonderful in terms of time, energy, and water savings, but it’s a real bummer when dishes are still dirty after a completed cycle. For years, I just grabbed whatever pods were cheapest at Costco, but I grew frustrated with their lackluster performance. Thankfully baked-on tomato sauce crustiness and (gag) dried-up egg yolk is rarely an issue now that I’ve switched to Cascade Complete Powder, a pick in our guide to dishwasher detergents.I hadn’t picked up that hefty green box of detergent since I was a kid, but once I read the guide and knew that our cleaning expert Andrea Barnes vouched for it, I was eager to revisit that nostalgic throwback. After using this magical powder daily for months, I’m fully on board.