Automatic Dish Detergent Stopped Working?

Have you noticed a difference in how your automatic dish detergent performs lately? Cloudy dishes? Food not cleaned off? Well you are not alone! In July of 2010, automatic dish soaps went phosphate-free due to new laws banning phosphates in 16 states. People are up in arms about it! Phosphates were responsible for keeping a lot of the leading dish soaps working so well, but they are also responsible for polluting our lakes and streams and having adverse effects on fish.

I did not notice the difference in the dish detergents myself, because around that time I was getting involved with Shaklee products and had already made the switch to Shaklee's Get Clean Dish Washer Automatic Powder Concentrate. If you are concerned about phosphates and other harsh chemicals that can harm you, your family or the environment, you will be happy to know that none of Shaklee's product do that. When I started my Shaklee business over the summer, I noticed right away that the automatic dish detergent was a big seller. I had so many people asking me about Shaklee's auto dish soap because they were so unhappy with their current soap's performance, esp. where I live where we have hard water. I didn't realize at the time that the change for them was probably because phosphates were recently banned. Leading automatic dishwasher detergent manufactures are now looking to the chemical industry for help because so many of their customers are very unhappy with the change. That is how I actually found out about this - from my chemist husband who showed me a recent article in Chemical and Engineering News on the topic.

So why do I love Shaklee's automatic powder concentrate so much? Well, first and foremost - it works really well! Not only for me, but also for the many Shaklee customers I have that use it and love it. You really don't have to pre-rinse your dishes (unless the food is really baked on). I have always been in the habit of pre-rinsing however, so I am slowly getting out of the habit and realizing that I really don't have to do it! Another reason to love this product is because it will save you money!!! Who doesn't love that? Esp. with the economy being as hard as it is right now. Shaklee's automatic dish wash cost 19.8 cents per load, where Cascade Complete costs 28.4 cents per load. (You can see a full cost comparison of many of Shaklee's Get Clean products to other leading brands here.) As I said in my first post about how I de-toxed my home by going from 20+ cleaners to only THREE Get Clean cleaners seen here, Shaklee's household cleaners are very concentrated, so you use so little to do so much. That is true for the automatic dish detergent too. One 2 lb. bag of Shaklee's product is equal to more than 2 1/2 boxes of Cascade powder detergent! It will clean 48 loads of dishes with just 2 tsp. (one scoop) in each dispenser cup! It is safe for septic systems and does not have any chlorine or fragrance, which can pollute the air that you breathe. It is natural, concentrated, uses biodegradable surfactants, does NOT have phosphates (never did!) and it does not have chlorine. It's good for you, your entire family and also the environment! Shaklee is the first company in the world to be certified Climate Neutral™ (totally offsetting our carbon emissions resulting in a net zero impact on the environment). Pretty awesome, huh?

The automatic dish detergent comes in this resealable and biodegradable pouch, which also makes it great for the environment. Each pouch uses 80% less packaging then a hard plastic container.

And if you wanted to, you could also get this nice container to keep your detergent in.

You could even keep it in a mason jar or something like that that you currently have or just keep it right in the pouch.

Like I mentioned above, the area where I live has very hard water. Although we do have a softener, one thing that I like to add to my dish washer, once or twice a month, is a little Basic H2 Concentrate to the rinse aid compartment. This is in place of Jet Dry, but without any harsh chemicals. Basic H2 is one of the three cleaners that I use to clean my entire house and has so many uses. It really helps to keep my glasses clean and clear. I love that!

And for all of you out there who wash your dishes by hand, here is another product that I also love for dishes - Hand Dish Wash Liquid Concentrate. Talk about highly concentrated! This soap will last you a VERY long time! Just a couple DROPS in your sink is all you need. I like to put a drop on my sponge too. And this product carries the same clean credentials that I love about Shaklee: nontoxic, natural, hypoallergenic (so gentle on your hands that you will not need to wear gloves to wash dishes with this stuff!), biodegradable surfactants and NO phosphates! :) Oh, and it is a degreaser, so when you have a greasy pan, just put a drop or two with some water in it to let it soak. When you are ready to wash it, the grease will just slip away. Because of this, it's good for your pipes (as is the Basic H2). You won't ever need to use chemicals to declog your sink again. Regular uses of some of these products will do the work for you. Love that!!

If you are interested in trying Shaklee's automatic dish detergent and some of the other Get Clean products that I have talked about in my blog for free for a week, you can do that if you live in the West Lafayette, Indiana area, Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, or Minneapolis, Minnesota area. Just send me a note and let me know that you are interested in the Bucket Brigade!

I think that covers everything I wanted to say about dish soap! I was planning on posting about laundry products this week since I had a few requests, but will do that next week. I wanted to share this info since I just saw the article about it this week. If you have any experiences to share about dish detergents and the new formulas companies have come up with, I would love to hear!


Thanks for reading and have a healthy week! Oh, and don't forget about the awesome Cinch inch loss promotion that ends tomorrow! New Shaklee members can get a Cinch Sampler Pack (over a $100 value) for Free!!!! Ask me about the details if you are interested. Cinch is a wonderful product line of inch loss products to help you lose the fat and keep the muscle. Good stuff!

Thanks!!

Rebecca