Sunday, November 6, 2011

Dish soap is federally mandated to be phosphate free.

If you use an automatic dish washer and the glasses appear to be foggy, almost dirty looking, you have the new phosphate free detergent. Well, turns out it’s phosphates -- not just soap alone -- that makes dishwasher detergents get the job done. Phosphorus in the form of phosphates suspends particles so they do not stick to dishes and softens water to allow suds to form. Phosphate is a main component for fertilizer manufacturing. While phosphates help prevent dishes from spotting in the wash cycle, they have long ended up in lakes and reservoirs, stimulating algae growth that deprives other plants and fish of oxygen.

There are alot of pages discussing the unclean dish look but Sheryl and I are convinced with the adding of ½ cup to 1 cup of cheap vinegar in addition to detergent -- just pour it into the bottom of the dishwasher before running a load.
This is the least expensive and best desired outcome. You will be able to skip a few washes because we found adding vinegar for every wash was not necessary at our house, and it does not smell the best!! Good Luck, JROD