Woman says she found $1.25 dishwasher pods that are Cascade-brand in disguise at the Dollar Tree

Photo by@dollar25treegirl/TikTok Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock

One of the hallmarks of adulthood is spending money on things that are not fun or exciting—like dish soap.

If you have a specific type of dishwasher at home, purchasing high-quality soap that won't clog your appliance or leave a thick film on your plates can be quite expensive.

But, for a brief period, you could find top-notch brand-name products at a very affordable cost from Dollar Tree.

How much is Dollar Tree selling this Cascade dupe for?

At just $1.25, customers have been discovering and sharing a product that closely resembles Cascade dishwashing packs in quantity. In a video that has received more than 3.8 million views on TikTok, the user Tiff (@tiffb1980) mentions she picked up three jars of dishwashing packs.

“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 and 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 demonstrates that the dishwashing packs are equally as efficient as the well-known Cascade brand she previously utilized.

A different content creator, @dollar25treegirl, who focuses on promoting products at her nearby Dollar Tree, also featured the dishwashing packs on her page, mentioning that in certain containers, they seemed to have various colors, which seem to match the green of Cascade Original, along with the blue and green blend of Cascade Complete.

How do name brands end up at Dollar Tree?

It remains uncertain if the dishwashing packs are genuinely from Cascade, but it's likely that the discount store bought them during a unique sale. On Dollar Tree's website, the brand uses such deals and clearance sales to fill its inventory.

A few viewers mentioned that they had noticed the well-known Cascade dishwashing packs being offered at different stores, making them think that Dollar Tree bought these packs at a lower price, either directly from the manufacturer or in bulk. They also speculated that these packs might be produced by the same company, although they were unsure if the quality was good enough to be sold as a brand-name product.

“They look different because some are the Cascade ‘Complete’ and some are the ‘Original’ Cascade discounted these pods recently so I think that’s why they’re selling them at DT now,” one commenter wrote.

“I know the scent beads are 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 rejected from the name brand lol,” a further user added. “Don’t know how much of that is true.”

What is the quality like?

In a follow-up video, Tiff, who was one of the initial poster creators of the pods, mentioned that she had tested the pods in her dishwasher to compare them to the first version. She reported that they performed well, effectively cleaning her pots, pans, glasses, and tools as she anticipated.

Nonetheless, a few participants in the video shared that they had also tried the packs and encountered various outcomes.

“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 leftover from different brands so we probably are getting a name brand product,” a second claimed.