Well Shit, No One Told Me

The dry heat kills bacteria and germs Maggie.

We've been oversold on household bacteria, in my opinion. I own a diswasher that I run once a week; the rest of the time I do up what few dirty dishes I accumulate daily and let them air dry on the countertop, just as I've done for several decades. And I'm still alive, rarely even catching a cold, even.

Intense . . . I never use the dry heat. I run it at night in off-peak hours and let it air dry overnight in the machine. Works just fine.

Maggie . . . Good for you. I've got a household of five and run it daily. I use more energy and water washing by hand than using a dishwasher.

My point had more to do with air drying than the choice.

If I had one major complaint about dishwashers, it's still the claim by retailers that "our product even gets off burned on food," which is horseshit.
 
I'm sure if I read through this thread, someone will have already told you that only certain states ban phosphates (and for good reason). You may miss the phosphates in your laundry or dishwasher cycles, but what if you had no clean water? Which would you miss the most?

States Ban Phosphate-Laden Dishwasher Soap- Appliance.Net - home and kitchen appliances - news reviews ratings recalls authorized repairs store locator

All 50 states have taken it out of dishwashing detergent.

So the water that drains and go back to the treatment plant, gets treated, nearly all of the water comes out the other end clean, but they ban it.

Agriculture uses it in fertilizer . . . is it banned there? No. Does it go through any treatment after they use it? No. Does it leech through the ground into lakes/streams, etc. ? Yep.

That they want to keep the small amount that may remain after treatment out of water ways is terrific. But they banned it before any good, usable fix was found. Typical.

Probably the reason it's still okay to use in fertilizer is because by the time the food product reaches the market for consumption, it's gone through so many other processes the phosphate is gone. Who knows?

There are certain things I never put in the dishwasher anyway, because experience has told me the harsh washing and drying process damages certain materials--like wood and certain plastics. The old adage here applies: When in doubt... don't.

I just don't see this as being a serious problem in any event. Frustrating? Sure, but life is full of daily frustrations.

If they are dumping this stuff directly onto the ground when they fertilizer then it is leeching back into the ground and eventually into lakes/streams, etc. The water that leaves a house goes to a treatment plant and the vast majority of crap is removed before that water is released back into lakes/streams, etc.

It's more than just frustrating. If a dishwasher isn't doing what it's suppose to do because they took out the phosphates I'll end up washing everything by hand, which uses more energy and more water.
 
Try turning off the "dry" cycle and letting them air dry in the dishwasher. Heaven Forbid people should actually have to resort to the barbaric method of doing dishes by hand.

Doing dishes by hand uses considerably more water and energy than using a dishwasher. I noticed this issue a few months ago, too, and thought I'd need to replace my dishwasher. What I've found is that if I rinse the dishes better AND use double soap, they come out pretty clean.

It depends on how many dishes. As Zoom points out, hand-washing for a family of five takes time, and of course it takes a lot of water and energy. But the few I have get a squirt of Dawn in the sink, another squirt of water for suds, then I turn the water off, wash, and spray rinse them. It takes less than five minutes, without the water running the whole time. (I also don't let the water run while I'm washing my tooth.) That was a joke, folks.
 
Uh, yeah it does. They took it out last summer and the dishes have been coming out of the dishwasher cloudy, not as clean (yes, I rinse them first always have. Shouldn't have to as that's what a dishwasher is for . . . ) and generally crappy.

Sounds like hard water and calcium deposits.

Well, I've talked to others and they are also experiencing it, my parents glasses look worse than ours, and I've lived in this area for 23 years and ONLY in the past six months has this happened . . .since they took out phosphates from the dishwashing detergent.


Dishwashers Serving Up Cloudy Glasses | NBC Washington

I don't know where you live, but if it's in one of the banned states, you might have to cross state lines to find your soap if your state removes the nasty stuff from shelves.

Phosphate Dishwasher Detergent
You can get dishwasher detergent either with or without phosphate in it.
 
You should be happy the little red dots are gone...they were full of lead. :thup:

Living in an area where there's an annual infestation of ladybugs, if I had picked up that glass, it would have crashed to the floor in horror! (No offense intended, Zoom.)

I got those glasses on clearance at Target. I figured the design was the center of the Target bullseye. lol

My final suggestion: Another shopping trip to Target and buy some new glasses, without any painted-on designs at all. If you want to make a statement, paint some red dots on a white T-shirt. (But make sure you use non-water soluble paint, or you'll have pink sheets and shorts!)
 
So six months or so ago I forgot to fill up the rinse agent dispenser in the dishwasher. It was empty for about a week when I realized it. Things weren't getting as clean but the glasses in particular looked like crap. A white coating of something on them that hand washing wasn't removing. I've been making sure that damn little dispenser thingy has been topped up full for the past six months and guess what? The dishes still look and feel like crap. So I thought that maybe the dishwasher was breaking and I started looking stuff up online.

My dishwasher is just peachy but the greenies have done it again, as uncle has banned phosphate in dish detergents. Well color me in the dark on this one. Phosphate was the main cleaning ingredient in dish washing soap. They banned it from laundry detergents back in the 90's. I always thought it was my machine putting little holes in the clothes. Think again.

Now I'm all for keeping pollution down to as little impact on the environment as possible. BUT . . . why did they ban it when there is no substitute for it? I'm now using more energy and water to clean my dishes because now things will have to be wash and/or rewashed in vinegar/hot water/dish soap to try and get the film off. Hand washing uses more energy than a dish washer. And my time isn't worth shit to uncle so I won't even bother mentioning that.

Government, putting the cart before the horse . . . again.

Wow, this explains why my dishes started looking like shit as well!
 
So six months or so ago I forgot to fill up the rinse agent dispenser in the dishwasher. It was empty for about a week when I realized it. Things weren't getting as clean but the glasses in particular looked like crap. A white coating of something on them that hand washing wasn't removing. I've been making sure that damn little dispenser thingy has been topped up full for the past six months and guess what? The dishes still look and feel like crap. So I thought that maybe the dishwasher was breaking and I started looking stuff up online.

My dishwasher is just peachy but the greenies have done it again, as uncle has banned phosphate in dish detergents. Well color me in the dark on this one. Phosphate was the main cleaning ingredient in dish washing soap. They banned it from laundry detergents back in the 90's. I always thought it was my machine putting little holes in the clothes. Think again.

Now I'm all for keeping pollution down to as little impact on the environment as possible. BUT . . . why did they ban it when there is no substitute for it? I'm now using more energy and water to clean my dishes because now things will have to be wash and/or rewashed in vinegar/hot water/dish soap to try and get the film off. Hand washing uses more energy than a dish washer. And my time isn't worth shit to uncle so I won't even bother mentioning that.

Government, putting the cart before the horse . . . again.
Cart before the horse? Ohh no no no. They demand you free your horse and pull a hand wagon or carry it on your back or head like other primitive cultures.
 
Poor, poor literal Maggie.

You'd be pathetic if it wasn't so sad.

Do you have any idea how ridiculous your relentless personal attacks on me appear? Grow the fuck up.

Poor baby.

Cannot even read between the lines to make adult inferences, then stomps her little foot when she cannot understand them.

Infantile.

I missed his joke too . . . and can't stop laughing at myself for missing it. :eusa_doh: :lol:
 
Sounds like hard water and calcium deposits.

Well, I've talked to others and they are also experiencing it, my parents glasses look worse than ours, and I've lived in this area for 23 years and ONLY in the past six months has this happened . . .since they took out phosphates from the dishwashing detergent.


Dishwashers Serving Up Cloudy Glasses | NBC Washington

I don't know where you live, but if it's in one of the banned states, you might have to cross state lines to find your soap if your state removes the nasty stuff from shelves.

Phosphate Dishwasher Detergent
You can get dishwasher detergent either with or without phosphate in it.

It's nationwide.

Dishwashers Serving Up Cloudy Glasses | NBC Washington
 
So the water that drains and go back to the treatment plant, gets treated, nearly all of the water comes out the other end clean, but they ban it.

I worked in a wastewater treatment lab for two years. The cleaning of wastewater is a biological process. The treated water is briefly shocked with chlorine after treatment and then de-chlorinated - which is the only chemical process in the whole cycle, and there is no way to remove the phosphates... only to test for their levels and alert the state if they get too high. Excess phosphorous is very dangerous in freshwater (wastewater plants discharge "clean" effluent water back into rivers and streams), as it causes algae blooms that can kill the streams and all life in it. So you have to wash your dishes by hand to protect our important sources of fresh water? Boo effing hoo. Typical ignorant American...

And yes, big agra is also responsible for a huge dead zone in the ocean south of the Mississippi, but they are a giant corporation who control government legislation through lobbyist $$$ (Monsanto and Cargilll are two of the most evil corporations in existence), so they can do pretty much what they want. No one cares as long as you have shiny dishes, right?

Gulf Wildlife 'Dead Zone' Keeps Growing : Discovery News
 
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Add some liquid bleach in with your dish soap.

Some dish soaps are chemically reactive to bleach and combining them will result in a toxic cloud of chlorine gas being released. Do not advise.

I know this because I tried this very thing this weekend, with negative results.
 

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