There's no film, no chemical smell on dishes, everything sparkling and squeaky clean, including the dishwasher itself. Before when I used popular dishwashing soaps, I had to run from time to time circle with special tablet that cleaned the dishwasher and got rid of smell, so appliance can perform better; not need for additional maintenance with this product. No smell, no residue, just clean, safe dishes and machine.
As you can see, my flatware is gold plated. I have it since 5 years; I run dishwasher daily and using this product through years was gentle enough to clean but not strip coating from it, I think it does speak for itself.
I started my journey with the Ecover dishwasher tablets but one day they got out of stock so I ordered the powder. Both deliver same, amazing results, so I buy whichever is on sale; really can't imagine anyone to be disappointed by this product.