A while back I posted my problem with the dishwasher and received many good tips. Thank you all. My wife especially wanted me to thank those who suggested adding TSP to the new "imprived" dishwashing detergent. Half a tablespoon works wonders.
By strange coincidence, the cover story of the January 31 issue of the "Weekly Standard" was "Why Your Dishwasher Doesn't Work Anymore."
well this explains why my dishwasher hasnt been working well for a long time. i am using 3 times the detergent, upped the water heaters temperature, and will be buying some TSP from the hardware store today......
thanks for the heads up.
i will run a couple empty loads rich in tsp since i noticed the inside of the machine is dirty gritty.....
" snipped-for-privacy@aol.com" wrote in news:ec1e8156-0e0f-4247-b82b- snipped-for-privacy@k7g2000yqj.googlegroups.com:
TSP contains phosphate, exactly the substance which was recently removed from dishwasher detergent...
Phosphates were removed from detergents years ago when they were linked to algae bloom issues on rivers in the vicinity of sewage treatment outlets. A load or two in a single dishwasher won't hurt anything.
If you want to clean the machine, just pour in a bottle of vinegar and run an empty cycle, another tip in response to my earlier poblem. My wife did that and it worked great. You can also find stuff at the store to clean it out.
Paul
hehe. Guy at work got me involved in Amway in the early '70's Didn't last long. Anyway, they had just banned phosphates in laundry detergent then, but Amway still had one with phosphates. Can't remember the details, but this guy thought Amway was real slick in how they got around it. Seems the soap companies found a substitute to get clothes clean. They'll probably find one for dishwasher soap too.
--Vic
"Pete C." wrote in news:4d52b46f$0$31467$ snipped-for-privacy@unlimited.usenetmonster.com:
That was laundry detergent. It's my understanding that phosphates were still used in dishwasher detergents until very recently.
Consumer Reports (Sept 2010) ran a comparison of the new dishwasher detergents. The Weekly Standard article quotes Consumer Reports that none were as good as one previous detergent, but neglects to mention that 7 were rated "very good". You might want to look at the review. There are still products out there that work.
As the article said, phosphates were limited in laundry detergents over
15 years ago.The Weekly standard article also says the government will "outlaw incandescent bulbs in a few years", which has often been debunked by Don Klipstein in this newsgroup. A few very common wattages are banned, but even for those there are holes.
-- bud--
Where do you find the true TSP? I looked at my local building products store and they have TSP but it list on the package Phosphate free.
It even worse.
Sometime back I picked up a spray bottle of TSP at the box store. Never really used it.
Yesterday, I examined the bottle label.
-------------------------------------------- BIIX Used by contractors since 1957
TSP
I got a box at our local, old-fashioned hardware store. Pure tri- sodium phosphate. I googled "phosphate free TSP" and learned the following:
"The phosphate-free formulation contains sodium metasilicates."
It goes on to describe how toxic and dangerous this replacement chemical is.
Paul
The DW detergent we use reads on the box contents>>Sodium carbonate, Sodium silicate and enzymes. NO phosphates. We have the water from hell. Very hard, runs about 480 parts per million. Destroys faucets and water heater systems. However, dishwasher 14 years old and spotless clean as when new. Gets used about 12 times a week. WW
If it is toxic and dangerous it may work!! If it said "biodegradable or safe for the environment" it would not clean.
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in news:iiuj6d $224$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:
Imagine...
Breakfast-cereal-free breakfast cereal.
Milk-free milk.
Peanut-free peanuts.
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in news:iiv2ee $mgs$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:
A general rule: If it's expensive, inconvenient, and ineffective, it's "green".
Such is progress.
You forgot the worst. Lite beer.
--Vic
Vic Smith wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Don't frighten me so.
Freeze-dried water.
Only water I ever bought in my life was in Gila Bend Arizona. Took my wife and kids on a big driving trip in the van and we spent a night there in a motel cooled by swamp coolers. First I ever saw. I was checking out the swamp coolers when my wife started yelling from the shower. "They got the valves on backward!" I went to check that out. "The cold water is hot!" But the valves were ok. The cold water was hot. Just how it is there. Real nasty water it was too, full of, I don't know, sulphur? Seeing I'd blown a little water out the radiator in the desert the day before, I wanted to top up the overflow tank, but I didn't like the looks of the free water there. Bought a gallon of bottled water in a grocery store. When I was paying the cashier, I said to her, "You got some scary water here. Never bought water before." She said, "I been drinking it 40 years and I feel just fine." I said, "But I'm worried about my van radiator." She wasn't amused.
--Vic
Where I live, I can by true TSP Trisodium Phosphate at Home Depot, in the paint department, next to solvents such as Acetone, Xylene, etc.
It comes in a small box and looks like this:
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