When we decided to write about the cost of dishwasher tablets in Australia it reminded us of the TV program “The hunt for Britain’s tightest person”. We recall a woman cutting the cost of running her dishwasher by using half a tablet per load – she carefully chopped the tablet and saved half in a container for the next wash. We can’t imagine having the time or patience for this, but we have done a fair amount of shopping around since moving to Aus, to find the best value dishwasher tablets.

We’ve mentioned before and will no doubt mention again that grocery shopping in Australia is expensive. As a family, we have never had to be so careful about what we spend. In our shopping section we provide Australian shopping tips and observations.

At our last Mum’s gone 2 Aus meet-up the topic of grocery shopping came up several times; the high cost of everyday household items is something families arriving in Australia notice immediately. Special thanks to one of the Dads for reminding Mum that dishwasher tablets are particularly costly and prompting us to research and write this article. We hope you find it useful.

The cheapest dishwasher tablets in Australia

Having a dishwasher is a luxury we are very glad to have. Spending a little time choosing the most cost effective way to run it isn’t a hardship. Since living in Sydney we have shopped in most supermarkets and bought most brands of dishwasher tablet; when making our selection we’ve been swayed by convenience and price.

Initially we were drawn to brands we knew from the UK – Fairy and Finish tablets are sold here – but we soon realised that this is a very expensive way to wash dishes. Per tablet Fairy and Finish range from 40c to 80c. You get better value for money the more you buy but it’s still expensive; and if you compare the per tablet price with buying in pounds (at the current conversion) you’re paying twice as much in Australia as you would in the UK – yikes!

Store brands are the way to go

Woolworths - Cheaper brands are usually on lower shelves

If you shop at Coles or Woolworths, store brands are the way to go. We’ve tried most of the home brands since living in Sydney. On paper, the cheapest are Woolworths “Homebrand” (18c per tablet) but we found the tablets don’t dissolve very well and you need to add rinse aid…too much hassle for this dishwasher user.

The Woolworths Select and Coles own brands are good and range from 33c – 40c per tablet. We’re currently using the Woolworths Select all in one tablets with dissolvable wrappers and they’re doing a great job.

Best value dishwasher tablets – Aldi does it again!

25c per tablet

Woolworths and Coles own brands are significantly cheaper than Fairy and Finish and do a good job, but it’s Aldi that wins the price war. We’ve written before about the cost savings you can make by shopping in Aldi.

We regularly shop at Aldi and their all in one dishwasher tablets are the cheapest around – we use their Logix complete dishwashing tablet at 25c per tablet. They have a cheaper version that works out at 17c per tablet, but like the cheapest Woolworths home brand you would need to add rinse aid so it may be a false saving. The 25c tablets work fine.

Food for thought

When we decided to look at the cost of dishwasher tablets we didn’t realise exactly how much the price difference per tablet would be.

The average price of the more expensive brands is 53c per tablet, during a 30 day month that’s nearly $16 on dishwasher tablets.

The average price of the cheaper brands is 30c per tablet or $9 per month. Buying home brand, or Aldi, dishwasher tablets will save you at least $7 per month ($84 per year), that’s a decent amount to put towards presents at this time of year.

The Mum who left London wasn’t half as careful with the family spending; have you changed your spending habits since moving to Australia? Have you found cheaper dishwasher tablets than Mum? Please share your tips and tricks. Thank you.

P.S. To be kinder to the environment you may like to choose a more natural dishwasher tablet. Earth Choice dishwasher tablets are around 50c per tablet, and are available in Coles and Woolworths.

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