One of the hallmarks of adulthood is spending money on things that are not fun or exciting—like dish soap.
Depending on what kind of dish washing machine is in your house, getting good quality detergent that will not gunk up your machine or leave heavy residue on your dishes can be a pricey endeavor.
However, for at least a limited time, you might be able to get name-brand quality from the Dollar Tree at a steal of a price.
How much is Dollar Tree selling this Cascade dupe for?
For the low price of $1.25, shoppers have been finding and posting a product that is virtually identical to Cascade dishwashing packs in volume. In a video that has drawn over 3.8 million views on TikTok, user Tiff (@tiffb1980) says she grabbed three of the jars of dishwashing packs.
@tiffb1980 Cascade dishwasher packs for $1.25 ?!? #dollartreefinds #dollartreedupe #fyp #budgetfriendly ♬ original sound – Tiff
“So here I am at Dollar Tree looking for those viral dishwasher packs and I spotted them, opened them up,” she says in the video. “They look just like Cascade. So I grabbed three, took some home. Here they are next to Cascade, they look identical. The Dollar Tree pack has 35 pods for $1.25. Don’t remember what I paid for that package of Cascade, but it was more than $1.25.”
In a follow-up video, the poster shows the dishwashing packs are just as effective as the name-brand Cascade she had been using prior.
Another content creator who specializes in the product rollouts of her local Dollar Tree, @dollar25treegirl, also shared the dishwashing packs to her account, noting that in some of the containers they appeared to be different colors, which appear to be the green of Cascade Original, as well as the blue and green combination of Cascade Complete.
@dollar25treegirl What do you guys think about these? Not sure why they all look different. Either way 35 for $1.25!! 🤯 #dollartreecascade #dollartreekitchen #dollartreehome #dollartreefinds #cheap #dollartreehaul #couponcommunity #couponing #fyp #fypviral #fypp #fypシ゚viral #fypage #dollartreefinds ♬ Awkward Moments – AstroMusic
The Daily Dot has reached out to both Tiff and to @dollar25treegirl via TikTok comment and email regarding the videos.
How do name brands end up at Dollar Tree?
While it is still inconclusive as to whether the dish washing packs are truly from Cascade, it is possible that the discount retailer purchased them in a special opportunity. According to Dollar Tree’s site, the brand takes advantage of opportunity and closeout buys to stock its shelves.
Some viewers suggested that they had seen the name brand Cascade dishwashing packs go on sale at other stores, leading them to believe Dollar Tree purchased the packs at a discount as well wholesale, or that the packs are from the same manufacturer, but not determined to be high enough quality to sell under the name brand.
“They look different because some are the Cascade ‘Complete’ and some are the ‘Original’ Cascade discounted these pods recently so I thinks that’s why they’re selling them at DT now,” one commenter wrote.
“I know the scent beads are a just a batch of the expensive ones that didn’t come out of the machine aesthetically so more than likely that is the same thing in this case,” another suggested.
“I’ve seen a lot of people say that dollar tree cleaning products are rejects from the name brand lol,” a further user added. “Don’t know how much of that is true.”
What is the quality like?
One of the original posters of the pods, Tiff, shared in a follow-up video that she had used the pods in her dishwasher to see how they held up to the original—they did alright, she said, cleaning her cookware, glassware and utensils the way she expected.
However, some viewers shared that they had also picked up the packs and had differing experiences.
“I tried the dollar tree ones and they didn’t clean as good and left a ton of soap residue on the dishes,” one commenter wrote.
“I have used them and they are great and the price is awesome they do look like they are different kinds in it like left over from different brands so we probably are getting a name brand product,” a second claimed.
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