Something was wrong with my dishwasher....my drinking glasses were coming out cloudy, the silverware and flatware had some sort of gunky coating and my aluminum pie tins turned nearly black. I blamed the glasses and silverware on my dishwasher, it is getting older and maybe wasn't doing it's job. But couldn't blame the aluminum pie tin problem on the dishwasher. And, I did not have this problem previously.
I scanned the internet for "dishwasher problems" and guess what.....its my dishwasher detergent. I had used Cascade, Finish and Kirkland for years, both in the powder form and the newer gel. My glasses were sparkling clear, the pie tins stayed their shiny aluminum color and silverware had no spots or gunk. But last week I ran out of detergent so I bought a huge box of Cascade at Costco.....when I started using it, my troubles began.
The silverware and dishes came out of the dishwasher coated with a whitish film almost scale. I can scratch it off my clear Pyrex bowls with my fingernail. The glasses were so murky and foggy that I was ashamed to have my kids see them much less drink from them. I thought that the dishwasher's rinse cycle was not working or that the sprayer arms had been caught on something and couldn't rotate. Luckily, I had not called the appliance repairman, but that was going to be my next step.
More research on the "murky, scaly and not clean dishes" gave me my answer...... laws banning phosphate in soaps by July 1, 2010 had been enacted. The Soap and Detergent Association, a trade organization that represents North American manufacturers of cleaning products, stated that they would be phosphate free by that deadline.
Obviously phosphate is the cleaning agent in dishwasher detergent that cleaned and made the dishes clean and sparkling....and its now gone. Don't believe the hype that Cascade is putting out....your dishes will not come out sparkling clean and totally food free with the new product.
I have tried several ways to get my glasses sparkly and silverware gunk free and the only way I have been able to do it was to re-run the dishwasher rinse cycle with a cup of vinegar The vinegar seems to cut through the foggy gunk. Its not perfect, but at least I'm not looking at murky drinking glasses (they are still foggy but not as bad as before) and funny stuff on the silverware (am undecided about that)
Want to read some user comments....... http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf98723206.tip.html
And, I took the big box of Cascade back to Costco for a full refund.
I believe that we should find ways to protect the environment, but manufacturers must be able to come up with something better than this.
Note: Date 2013.... I have found a dishwasher soap made by Cascade for restaurants, etc. It is NOT phosphate-free and my dishes and glass come out sparkling!
Grrrrrr Gonna Toss that Dishwasher!!!!!
