Dishes Still Dirty? Blame Phosphate-Free Detergent
16th December 2010
Seventeen states banned phosphates from dishwasher detergents because the chemical compounds also pollute lakes, bays and streams. They create algae blooms and starve fish of oxygen.
Sandra Young was so mad that she called Procter & Gamble, which makes Cascade, to complain. But when she did, a company representative told her to be more careful about which pans she puts into her dishwasher.
“He said, ‘Well, if you’re really having that hard of a problem, maybe you should wash your dishes by hand.’ Which I thought was kind of strange for an automatic dishwashing company.”
Susan Baba from Procter & Gamble says the company had no choice. It just wasn’t feasible to make detergent with phosphates for some states and without them for others.
But not everyone is willing to adjust. Sandra Young figured out a way to undo the phosphate ban — at least in her own kitchen.
She bought some trisodium phosphate at a hardware store and started mixing her own formula.
“It seems to be working pretty good,” Young says.