Finish Powerball Quantum Dishwasher Tablets

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	No unwrapping, Cool looking tablets
Disadvantages:	Price, Don't clean very well

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

I have just finished a pack of these new Finish Quantum Powerball Tablets (gosh what a mouthful!), I had to get these as my normal Fairy Active Bursts were out of stock on a recent trip to Asda.

THE HYPE:
Heavily advertised on TV presently, these tablets claim to be Finish's best ever dishwasher detergent, with a emphasis on shifting tough coffee and tea stains but not much else, so does this mean that it doesn't clean anything else…hmmmm I had to find out but only because there was no Fairy!

THE PACKAGING:
I bought a box of 12 tablets. The box is dark blue predominantly with 'QUANTUM' written in blue lettering on the background of the pack, there is a see through window in the top left hand corner, where you there is enough see through packaging to be able to see one 'Quantum'. You have lower down a wine glass gleaming and the 'Finish' logo in blue with 'Powerball' underneath.
Not particularly inspiring packaging wise, I found it very difficult to open, there is a tab at the bottom on the pack which you are supposed to pull upwards, thus pullback the plastic which forms the plastic window, but this was really hard to do, I ended up ripping the cardboard, needs to be easier to open if it is going to impress me in future!!.

THE TABLETS
These aren't tablets, no; these are Quantum's I'll have you know.
Each quantum contains 3 active ingredients which I'll list below for you:

Micro Powder with Integrated Salt Function (light blue powder)
Helps remove every last trace of residue including the toughest baked-on and dried-on food for an extreme clean. No need to add salt.

Powerball Technology (white gel in the middle)
Our most effective Powerball Technology blasts away stubborn Tea and Coffee stains for outstanding cleaning results.

Shine Gel with Integrated Rinse Aid Function (Blue gel)
Unique ultra-concentrated formula helps to prevent spots and smears to give a dazzling shine. No need to add rinse aid.

Integrated Glass Protection:
Helps keep glasses looking like new for longer by helping to prevent permanent glass corrosion (cloudy glasses).

Apparently the combination of these 3 active ingredients ensures your dishes come out wonderfully clean. The quantums are encased in their own plastic but water soluble encasement and give off a lemon scent.
They are different to other dishwasher products and they are squishy to feel but don't squish too hard, it'll burst as I found out!

WARNINGS:
Irritating to eyes.
Handle with dry hands only
May produce an allergic reaction.
Toxic if swallowed.

DIRECTIONS FOR USE :
Place one per wash load in the dishwasher dispenser. If it does not fit in the dispenser, place on the floor of the dishwasher and use a programme without pre-wash. Do not unwrap or pierce and do not place in the cutlery basket, I am putting mine on the floor of the dishwasher as I have a tabletop dishwasher with no dispenser drawer and it is fine.

Some other information from Finish themselves by e-mail on doseages for water hardeness:

Below 26ºe:
Finish PowerBall Quantum Salt Function is effective in soft, medium and hard water below 26ºe (around 95% of households). Your dishwasher will work perfectly, even if the rinse aid or salt warning light comes on.

Above 26ºe:
For extremely hard water above 26ºe (around 5% of households), please use Finish PowerBall Quantum + Finish Rinse Aid + Finish Special Salt.
For UK & Ireland, your local Water Board can confirm the water hardness in your area.

Best Performance:
For best performance use a normal wash cycle, or a specialist 3in1/4in1 cycle. Do not use short or china/delicate wash cycles

EASE OF USE:
Very easy to use as long as you remember to handle with dry hands, they leak as soon as they come into contact with wet.

THE FINISH:
Well I used these Quantum's with various dishes and various stains, I will give a brief overview as to comment on every item washed would not only take me ages but bore you to death too!

Pyrex dish with pasta bake: Hmmmm dried on pasta bake from 2 days previously, not soaked after use, would these be able to clean it? In a word, NO. After I took the dish out there was lots of dried on pasta bake sauce still on the dish, I was really surprised. A second wash also didn't get rid of it. A third wash got rid of some more but my husband had to wash the rest off by hand. No good for us. 1/10

Coffee cup Andrew had left under the bed: Coffee, ingrained into a cheap mug, now this is where finish are laying their claims to their Quantum's being better than the competition, so would it be? Well yes it all came off in one wash, great stuff. 10/10

Curry: We had a great curry from our local takeaway but it was very greasy and stained the plates, our plates were yellow but we were too tired to pop them straight in the dishwasher, so we left them overnight. Cue glowing plates in the morning! Popped these in with a Quantum in the morning, it got rid of 60% of the stains on both plates, so these needed a second wash, again very disappointing given the price.

Glasses: Another claim made by 'Finish', to protect your glasses and avoid glass corrosion. I've not experienced this with any other brand so far and to be honest this isn't a feature I would necessarily look for in a dishwasher product. However, I popped my wine and cola glasses in and both came out beautifully sparkling. 10/10
Cutlery: Unfortunately, every time I have tried to wash cutlery with these Quantum's, I have failed to be able to get them clean, dried on food remains on the every time. Very disappointing 0/10

THE PRICE:
I paid £3:48 for 12 compared with my normal Fairy Active Bursts which are £3.48 for 15.
24 Quantums £6.78 in Asda

THE VERDICT:
I don't think I would recommend these, I used them as directed and they disappointed me more time than they pleased me.
These Quantums could really cope with dried on food stains at all, they were OK if they were fairly fresh stains but anything older than a few hours, and it really struggled.
This is the first dishwasher product from Finish that I have used and it would really discourage from using them again, if this is their top spec detergent, I'd hate to think what other products are like.
They are far too pricey for what they are, they offer poor value for money when you consider you may have to wash items twice and then wash them yourself!
Overall an No from me!

Thanks for reading xx

USEFUL INFO:
www.finish.co.uk