The Mothercraft: Up & Up Dish Pack Review

One of the many great things about the randomness of that which is my career — craft author, designer, spokesperson, TV personality, mom blogger — is that companies send me products for review. Most often, it’s knitting, crochet or craft related items but sometimes, as is the case today, it’s something that’s off the crafty radar. Sometimes it’s a spot-on (or spot-off, as it were) necessity to make this work-at-home-mother-of-3’s life a bit easier. Today, that product is dishwasher soap, namely: Up & Up Auto Dish Packs. (Holding as the glamour of housework washes over you. Ok, let’s move on.)

Obligatory Instagram product shot with real, LIVE dirty dishes in the background!

We’re a party of five in our household, which means we generate mounds of dirty dishes that often reach epic proportions. Although school requirements often trump chores, loading and unloading the dishwasher is theoretically our 13-year-old son’s job. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you, that he loathes this occupation. Loathes it!  One of his least favorite things about the process (you know, other than the fact that it’s work) is when he’s unloading dishes only to find that there’s still crud caked on some of them which means he has to start all over. Enter the trusty, Auto Dish Packs.

Now, I should pause here to say that the Up & Up brand is Target’s private label. Since I loves me some Target I already have many, of their over 1,000 products from this same line in my home. That said, I hadn’t tried this one yet, but had high-hopes for these little, particle-removing packs — as did my son who put them to the test.

Step 1: Loading. It’s possible the dishes were rinsed first but really, it’s a crap shoot.

Step 2: Dropping in an Auto Dish Pack. No measuring; no pouring; no mess. That’s all there is to it!