Thinking of switching to Blueland Dishwasher Detergent Tablets for a greener clean? Here’s an honest review from a mom of 3 who gave them a real-life test—and wasn’t impressed.
About Blueland Dishwasher Tablets
Blueland’s mission is beautiful: reduce single-use plastic by offering refillable, sustainable home cleaning solutions. Their dishwasher tablets (or pods) are completely naked—no plastic film, no synthetic fragrances, and they come in compostable packaging. Safe for the planet, and safe for homes with curious toddlers like mine.
I was excited. A brand that claims to be eco-friendly and effective? Sign me up. So I placed an order on Amazon. It costs about $23 for 60 tablets. Unfortunately, when it arrived the performance didn’t match the promise.
Our Experience
As a mom of three, I run the dishwasher once—sometimes twice—a day. We put these pods to the test across a full range of family messes: spaghetti night plates, smoothie blender jars, crusty baking trays. And what did we get?
Cloudy glasses. Gritty spoons. Funky smells.
I adjusted the water temperature, added rinse aid, and even used the “heavy duty” setting. No matter what I did, the results were underwhelming. Some loads were borderline okay, but many needed manual rewashing defeating the whole purpose of a dishwasher.
Even my usually chill husband asked, “Did the dishwasher even run?” That’s when I knew it wasn’t just me being picky.
After two weeks of testing, I gave up and went back to our old pods. Sorry, Blueland.
Is Blueland Safe?
Absolutely. Blueland’s dishwasher pods are:
- Free from chlorine bleach
- Paraben- and phosphate-free
- Non-toxic
- Safe around kids and pets
They’re a great choice if you’re hyper-conscious about chemicals in your home. But here’s the catch: gentle doesn’t always mean effective. While they’re safe, they’re just not strong enough for our high-traffic kitchen.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
✅ Plastic-free, compostable packaging
✅ Non-toxic, eco-conscious ingredients
✅ Compact, space-saving design
✅ Kid- and pet-safe
Cons:
❌ Doesn’t clean thoroughly
❌ Leaves cloudy film and food residue
❌ Sour smell after several cycles
❌ Expensive for underwhelming results
Better Alternatives (Amazon Favorites)
If you’re searching for eco-friendly but actually effective dishwasher detergent, here are a few highly-rated options:
- Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent Packs
🌿 Plant-based and seriously effective. A solid upgrade from Blueland. - Ecover Automatic Dishwasher Tablets
🌱 Clean ingredients and clean dishes—great for hard water areas.
Final Thoughts
I wanted to fall in love with Blueland Dishwasher Tablets. The mission, the packaging, the eco-friendly ingredients—it all felt perfect. But as much as I support sustainable swaps, my dishes just didn’t get clean. And as a mom juggling three kids, school runs, and never-ending laundry, I need products that work.
If Blueland ever reformulates, I’d be open to trying them again. But for now? I’m going back to what actually works—even if it comes with a bit more plastic.
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Am glad to stumble across your review today. I have been using Blueland dishwasher tablets for about a month. Last weekend I cleaned the filter in my dishwasher and found it to be scummy – the best word to describe it. While I want to be green, earth-friendly or whatever we are calling it these days, it doesn’t make sense to spend more for a lesser product. Off to research other alternatives, Thanks again!
I mean no disrespect here and I do not work for Blueland or have any affiliation besides being a consumer myself. I must say, I was genuinely shocked to stumble across your review of the Blueland Dishwasher tabs. My exoerience wirh this product is a polar opposite of everything on described in your review. I live in an overpriced one bedroom “luxury” apartment in Los Angeles. There is nothing luxurious about my dishwasher what so ever so when I made my first purchase of the Blueland tablets, I was convinced I must burned up that money because there was NO way the mediocre dishwasher that sometimes doesn’t drain all the way combined with these eco dishwashing tabs was going to do anything but add another set of daily chores to my never ending list. Now; I grew up in a household where the dishes practically got hand washed and hot, HOT water, dish soap and a sponge PRIOR to being put into the dishwasher. As my maternal grandmother (she raised me) would say “the dishwasher does not have two hands. It’s a final step in the dishwashing process. Think of the dishwasher as a “sanitizing machine” instead of a washing machine. Yeah so not just pre-rinsed but sparkling clean, ready for drying and storage got placed into the dishwasher to be done overnight on the highest setting possible. They were sanitized alright lol! Anywho,
My point is, as I got older, that practice of dishwashing turned into just pre rinsing my dishes in the sink before loading the dishwasher. I didn’t want to see any trace of evidence on any loaded dish. So I ask you, do you pre-rinse your dishes before they go in the dishwasher? I had to stop this practice for a plumber who came to service my home one time explained to me that was the culprit. Dishwash detergents specific enzymes require left over food particles left in the dirty dishes to work most effectively. Putting entirely cleaned off dishes into the dishwasher will actually old give less effective results. As this plumber explained and my grandmother turned over in her grave (RIP nana) a couple times, I thought he was drunk or something.‘how disgusting I thought. Also, he pulled my Ecober eco Rinse Aid from under my kitchen sink and asked if I was using it in the dishwasher. “Of course I said. Who doesn’t?” That’s when he revealed to me that he himself was a Blueland user and that their specific formulating is produced so that you DO NOT use nor require the use of rinse aid. He drained every drop of rinse aid from the dishwasher, asked me to run it that night without doing anything more than scraping off the bulk of the food before loading dishes and if they didn’t come out sparkling clean, I could ignore his invoice for services that day: “game on!” I said. This guy was insane and hat was an easy win for me! The next morning when I opened my dishwasher, the cleaners, cloudy-free, sparkling dishes think I have ever seen come out of any of the dishwashers I’ve ever had in my life came out one by one. Yup; no pre rinse and no rinse aid, pop a Blueland tablet and close the little door and I got the cleanest dishes in LA probably. This is no exaggeration and I still pinch myself some days when unloading the dishes because it’s just so incredible and I feel so much better about using them and not using rinse aid. I don’t know, just thought I’d share. Also, they’ve enhanced their formula I’m not not sure if you used the one one or the new one. I’d try again, if you dare lol