Back in the early 70’s phosphates were banned from most laundry detergents due to the destructive growth of algae they encouraged in fresh water lakes and ponds. These masses of phosphate fed algae than robbed plants and animal life of oxygen.
Yet as phosphates were being phased out of laundry products, automatic dishwashing detergents were given a free pass on phosphates. Why? Because the major commercial brands felt that an effective formula could not be produced without some phosphates, especially for those that lived in areas with hard water.
OK, so you may be thinking that the little bit of phosphates in your automatic dishwashing detergent can’t possibly be that bad. Unfortunately, in can. Phosphates spur algae growth on a scale of over 100:1 in other words, for every pound of phosphates released into water, over 100 pounds of algae can grow! And neither a septic system or treatment at a sewage plant effect phosphates.
Over the years some manufacturers have managed to reduce and in some instances eliminate phosphates from their formulation. Unfortunately not all were a success for those with hard water, but I’m glad they’re at least trying.
I’m equally glad that I’ve found a brand that does a great job in my Bosch dishwasher, despite my hard water. I’ve been using Shaklee’s Dish Wash Automatic Concentrate, and I have absolutely been impressed. The formulation is phosphate free, chlorine free, biodegradable, and one tiny scoop cleans an entire load of dirty dishes – no pre-rinsing required.
But I decided a real test would be to take my “find” on the road and see how well it would clean at our vacation home, in our ancient GE dishwasher. To my surprise everything glistened there too. As the saying goes, I’m sold!
Each bag of concentrate does 48 loads of dishes, and if you have soft water, you might try less than that one tiny scoop.
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