A viral video posted by a popular TikTok account dedicated to life hacks claimed that tossing dish detergent pods into the back of a dishwasher is the correct way to use them, drawing criticism from users.
In the video, which has been viewed 6.8 million times since it was first posted April 15, Anna Caserta, who posts under the name CEO OF RANDOMNESS (@annalanier2), says she discovered that she’d been using detergent pods wrong, according to her dishwasher repairman.
@annalanier2 #KitchenHacks #dishwasher ♬ original sound – CEO OF RANDOMNESS
“My repairman said just throw it in the back,” Caserta says in the video, then pointed to the compartment labeled “detergent” inside her dishwasher. “And this is for liquid detergent.”
Users were quick to point out that not placing a pod in the detergent compartment would not properly clean Caserta’s dishes. “Most dishwashers have a pre-wash, then you have a wash cycle,” one explained. “If you just toss it in, it’s gone in pre-wash.”
“Only do this if you’re doing an express wash! Otherwise the pod will be gone before the wash cycle starts,” user Whenami (@whenaminow) warned.
Some viewers, however, claimed that Caserta’s method works for them. “I’ve been throwing it in the back for years. Clean dishes,” user Sara (@sara.sush) revealed. “Probably works both ways but sometimes it gets stuck in the compartment if it doesn’t open.”
Others shared what their own dishwasher repairmen told them.
“My repairman says it dissolves in the pre-wash if you do that so one of them is wrong,” one wrote.
“He wants you to call back after it breaks so you have to pay more to them,” another warned about Caserta’s repairman.
The Daily Dot reached out to Caserta via TikTok comment.
