In this day and age, most people own a dishwasher. However, as the popularity of dishwashers has grown, so has the price of Dishwasher Detergent. After seeing commercials each day that promise that brand name detergent simply does the job right, you may be skeptical to buy generic detergent. In reality, generic detergent contains the same ingredients, is less expensive and does the job of cleaning dishes just as effectively as its counterpart.