Trisodium Phosphate Dishwasher
No Phosphorous: Good for Fish, Bad For Us?
Two years ago, a number of states banned the use of phosphorous in dishwasher detergents in order to reduce pollution of rivers and streams. Soap manufacturers can no longer sell dishwasher detergent with more than 0.5 percent phosphorous. The ban did not affect commercial detergents or soap for hand washing dishes.
Removing the use of phosphorous, prevents algae blooms in rivers and streams, which deprive fish of oxygen. While it sounded like a great idea considering the rising price of phosphorous and an ever-growing, eco-conscious public. Manufacturers welcomed the chance to save production costs and the environment.
Much to the consternation of consumers, dingy dishes and stained dishwashers with stained dishwasher parts resulted as an unwanted consequence of this ban. It turns out that phosphorus is a very important cleaning ingredient in dishwasher detergents.
Phosphorous is not only a stain and grease remover, it also traps dirt and oil so it can be cleanly and completely rinsed away. Not enough phosphorous in detergent means dirt and grease will be left behind on dishes and the dishwasher. Consumers have reported dishes with a white gritty film, black-stained aluminum cookware and gray-looking stainless steel. Worse, some report lipstick and fingerprints on supposedly clean glasses.
Some, unaware of why their dishwashers are suddenly not cleaning properly, have spent money on unnecessary service calls or new dishwasher purchases because their dishwashers seemed to be beyond repair.
To fix this, people must either wash or rinse the dishes before washing them in the dishwasher or run the dishwasher twice. Still others have resorted to simply washing dishes by hand, wasting water, electricity and time.
Make Dishwashing Detergent with Phosphorus
If the previous solutions are not for you, use the following soap recipe to make dishwashing detergent with enough phosphorous to clean your dishes properly.
You will need:
- A 7.5 pound bottle of gel type dishwasher detergent
- One pound box of trisodium phosphate (TSP) available in home improvement stores
- Half-cup water (optional)
- Empty plastic bottle of dishwasher detergent
- Wooden paint stick
- Mop bucket
- Funnel
Instructions:
- Pour dishwasher detergent and half box of TSP into bucket.
- Stir ingredients, adding water to thin out mixture.
- Stir until ingredients are thoroughly distributed.
- Use the funnel to pour the solution back into the detergent bottle.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
If you have powdered dishwashing Cascade. Do you just throw it away and buy a bottle of it instead and follow the directions?
Most people are adding phosphate to it, which seems to help. Just don’t use too much.
Where did you find REAL t.s.p.? Everything I’ve found so far is like t.s.p.-light — contains NO phophates! In addition, all liquid (hand-washing) dish soap is now phosphate-free as well (at least in Minnesota).
How would u do this with a powdered detergent? Add the phosphate?
The Amway tablets in New Zealand list phosphates as containing 15 – 30% phosphates – is this the same in America?
Don’t you think that, if your government has made a law to protect the environment, and you guys are rushing around adding the same banned product back that you’re all being a bit irresponsible and well just selfish?
Furthermore, I find that pulling the gauze filters once a fortnight or so and giving them a clean with the dish brush keeps the whole dishwasher in top condition. And once a month, I have to pull the rubber edging at the bottom of the door on the inside and spray in there and wipe with a paper towel – the gunge that builds up is quite heinous… and I reckon this is what makes dishwashers smell. Best tip of all though is to NEVER allow egg shell to get inside – these fragments sit just inside the jets on the rotating arms and stop the water from reaching the dishes at the outer edges of the racks. When this does happen, I can remove the rotating arms and then try to jiggle/rinse/crush in order to extract. Greetings from NZ.
It’s not hard to completly wash your dishes or to rinse your dishes first. If the dishes are piling up because of a large family, make the family do some. It’s really not a big deal. It’s a waste of phosphorus anyways.
There is a new product on the market sold from Florida (where phosphate additive sales are legal) that is a tablet form of tri-sodium phosphate – and is added to the detergent dispenser along with the dishwashing detergent. It dissolves in the wash process and produces about 5-7% phosphate mixture depending on the amount of detergent used.
It is availalbe and NOT very expensive -
I just got back from Home Depot in San Jose, CA. I got 3 each, 4.5 lb boxes of REAL TSP for $9.99 each. I vacuum packed each of them for the several years they will sit on a shelf before I need to use them, because I KNEW ABOUT THE BAN A LONG TIME AGO, and bought 3 large boxes of my fav detergent–Finish powder with phosphate. At my age, I figure those 3 boxes of TSP just might outlast ME, given how little is needed per load and how few loads per week we do. LOL!
I have been using anhydrous food grade citric acid with great success. My dishes are cleaner than ever, even better than before the phosphate ban. If people begin buying TSP separately that will lead to a ban on TSP, more restrictions, more dead fish, is that really what we want?
Really, citric acid works, I’d be the first to complain if it didn’t. You can find it cheap, and it takes only a small amount — 1-3 teaspoons — per load, depending on the hardness of your local water.
I love how the eco heads, and the left in general always assume that everything the government does is always assumed to be correct. I seriously doubt that we will bring on the end of the world by using TSP, considering it has been done for decades. There are still fish in the rivers, the air is breathable, and I just want my dishes clean.
You want fries with that little tantrum? You just want your dishes clean, and you believe some leftist scientists are lying in a government supported scheme to keep you from having clean dishes. You aren’t sure how this TSP ban benefits the Left, but it has to, since it involves a change for the benefit of the environment, which is doing just fine in your world.
It’s equally possible the TSP ban was a scheme to place our money in the hands of corporations who sell dishwashers and high priced dishwasher power pacs and rinse additives. They don’t care about your dishes, either. Or how much you have to pay to fix or replace a dishwasher. And, unlike your theory about the Left, there is recent, concrete proof for that.
Jordon – great post and good comments! It is always funny to see stupid left-wing idiots like Kar get riled up after someone expresses a thought using facts. I have worked as an Environmental Engineer for over 20 years and have multiple graduate degrees in both environmental and chemical engineering and I can tell you that the amount of phosphates coming from dish washing detergent is NOT the bane of all the algae blooms out there.
I have worked extensively in both air and water media. Phosphate is an essential food and nutrient for biological waste water treatment plants, and after the phosphate ban hit laundry soap many years ago, wastewater plants had to start buying and adding large volumes of phosphoric acid to the systems to keep healthy bacteria chewing up the “stuff” that we flush down the toilets everyday. Now, with phosphates banned from dishwashing detergents in many states, we are doing nothing but displacing it from the consumer to the municipality. Municipal WWTPs are feeding more phos acid now to keep the systems healthy and working, because there is so much less coming down the sewer pipes.
The majority of the septic tanks out there discharge into leach beds, not directly to ditches, rivers or lakes. Septic systems also need phosphates to keep the bacteria working. Ever wonder why your septic tank has to be pumped out ever 3 or 4 years now? Not enough nutrients for the bacteria to break the waste down and liquify it.
And how about the problems that people see now in their dishwashers – instead of one economical wash, you now have to either wash your dishes by hand (which uses 3 – 5 times more water than a dishwasher) or run your dishwasher 2 or even 3 times. Oh, wait, Kar will be rinsing all of his/her dishes first before putting them in the dishwasher…….wait…..that also uses MORE WATER than just washing them once in a new, energy star dishwasher.
We have real problems in America – let’s stop wasting all our time on tiny incremental gains. Try picking a topic that has real meaning and value, like getting a job so you contribute to society and stop wasting people’s time with ignorant and uneducated posts.