Blueland Dishwasher Tablets Review 2023 | Zero Waste Dishwasher Tablets
We tried Blueland's zero-waste dish washing tablets for a couple of weeks. Here's our review.
The Top Line:
BETTER, but not great. Given how much we liked Blueland's cleaning products, it is disappointing to report that we wish Blueland Dishwasher tablets worked better. Even though they are zero-waste dishwashing tablets with no chemicals or strong smell, they are too pricey to not work as well as other options. However, given the update regarding PVA in other brands, we believed that it might be worth revisiting Blueland dishwasher tabs. We had previously rated them a NOT buy given the product did not dissolve and was on the pricey side. Since then, other brands prices have increased faster than Blueland’s. Most importantly, Blueland is a PVA-free, convenient tablet option.
*Update note September 2023: We appreciate that Blueland products are all PVA free — they were one of the first brands to acknowledge this and took care to design their products to exclude the ingredient.
Update November 2023: Tablets consistently DID dissolve during this round of reviewing, so that is an improvement over the previous review. However, the tablets still leave a film on the dishes and surprisingly do not clean the dishes as well as other brands we have tried.
Check out our Big Zero Waste Dishwasher Roundup on the Reduce Report.
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: (1) $25 for the Starter set, which includes the reusable Steel tin and 60 tablets; (2) $45 Dish Duo, which includes the starter dishwasher set as well as the powder dish soap; and (3) $37tablet refills
How ‘Clean’ Is This? All ‘naturally-derived’ ingredients, which the Blueland website describes in detail. Non-toxic, kid-safe, pet-safe, cruelty-free, hypoallergenic, pH-balanced. Blueland is certified by a number of environmental agencies.
Packaging: Cardboard box for shipping, the tin was unwrapped, and compostable paper bag for the tablets.
Purchasing & Shipping: Very easy shopping experience. Our package got stuck somewhere in shipping land and Blueland was able to ship us a new box to our new location.
Good to know: We LOVE that Blueland does not lock you into auto-refills like many of the other brands do. We also appreciate that Blueland products are all PVA free — they were one of the first brands to acknowledge this and took care to design their products to exclude the ingredient.
Coupons: No coupons that we know of.
What’s Your Impact? Reduction in plastic - no plastic tubs for dishwasher tablets or bottle full of heavy liquid. The refill tablets come in a paper bag.
NOTE: Many convenient dishwasher tabs come in PVA. Blueland has always been in powder
The Experience
Context: After Cascade, we switched to Seventh Generation several years ago. Not without its faults, we love that there are no toxic chemicals and that it comes in a paper box.
The tin is pretty and we do keep it on our counter top
We will report any rust back if/when it occurs, so far so good
We liked that we can break the tablets in half for our two-tier dishwasher, but we don’t think it works as well when the tablets are half
Tablets do not dissolve super great in a short cycle
Cleans ok/grease kind of remains - but had to run the longer cycle on our dishwasher
We liked that there was no scent/no toxic scent like Public Goods dishwasher pods
The Cost
We compared Blueland Dishwashing Tablets to Cascade and Whole Foods brand dishwasher pods with online brands like Public Goods, Cleancult, Dropps, and Grove Collaborative. We assume that a family will run their dishwasher 6x per week, for a total of 312 times per year.
Money Report: If you get 3-packs at a time, then the cost is middle of the road. Dropps subscription continues to be the cheapest option out there by far.
The Good:
✔ Free/Clear scent
✔ Zero waste - the packaging is incredibly thoughtful
✔ We liked the tin (yes, it’s 2 slightly different colors)
✔ Clean ingredients
✔ Pretty reusable tin for the tablets
✔ PVA free — Blueland was one of the first brands to recognize this!
The Bad:
✗ Tablets didn’t dissolve as well as we had hoped in shorter cycles
✗ Middle of the road when it comes to price
✗ Dishes did not feel like they were as clean as with other products in the short cycle mentioned
Our Recommendation:
BETTER, but still not great. Given how much we liked Blueland's cleaning products, it is disappointing to report that we wish Blueland Dishwasher tablets worked better, but they are NOT a buy. Even though they are zero waste with no chemicals or strong smell, they are too pricey to not work as well.
Update November 2023: Tablets consistently DID dissolve during this round of reviewing, so that is an improvement over the previous review. However, the tablets still leave a film on the dishes and surprisingly do not clean the dishes as well as other brands we have tried.
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!
