Upstate New York Ground Report: Dishwasher Phosphorous Edition
Dear HillBuzz,
The 112th Congress with Republican majority is hard at work. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R) appeared on the Fox Business program today, January 31, 2011 and said a bill is in the works to stop a ban on incandescent light bulbs. I was glad to hear this because I recently read an article in The Weekly Standard that encouraged me to contact my representative on another ban that affects all of us wherever we live. http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/another-triumph-greens_536862.html. Some of you may have read this article: “Another Triumph for the Greens – To go with toilets that don’t flush and light bulbs that don’t light, we now have dishwashers that don’t wash”.
The article explains how Phosphorus was removed from dishwashing detergents acceding to pressure From environmentalists. At our house we have experienced all of these dishwasher problems and more that people across the country have. If you Google – why doesn’t my dishwasher work – you can read more.
I did not know that the problem was Phosphorus being removed from the product in such a small amount to make it useless until I read this article. We have spent money on repairmen calls, took thedishwasher apart, and almost bought a new one. We Wash dishes by hand because they just don’t get clean in the dishwasher or they have a gray film on them.
Phosphorus has been in contention by environmentalist since the 60’s but was still allowed around 10.9 percent until Sierra Club environmentalists in Spokane WA were able to lower it to 0.5 percent and that is why your dishes do not get clean. Look on your box of dish detergent.
In this article from Spokane, W.A. - the Sierra Club lawyer admitted that Dishwashing detergents represent only a small amount of the total phosphorus discharged into state waters – 5 to 15 percent and that the biggest contributor is human sewage and from fertilizers. http://www.spokanedemocrats.org/index.cfm/cc_dill_05/index.cfm?page=phosphorus.cfm
It looks like all the states that signed onto the ban on Phosphorus in dish detergents were controlled by Democrats. After listening to Representative Blackburn today I decided to contact my Rep. to see if the ban on Phosphorus in dishwasher detergent could be repealed because it’s just another green scam but an extremely annoying and costly one and because Representative Blackburn said, “This is not a small potatoes issue” about the light bulbs and I feel the same way about the Phosphorus ban.
You can contact your representative about anything you want to bring to their attention to by email. Follow this link to find your congressperson and fill out the form. Most Congressmen or women will only accept an email if they represent you. And if they are a Democrat, well, good luck with that. Here is the link to contact a Congressperson: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Belinda Blue in the Finger Lakes
© 2011, Kevin DuJan. All rights reserved.
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WalMart “Lemishine” used in your dishwasher along with the detergent will make your dishes sparkle like crystal. I highly, highly recommend it. During the summer my sisters and I thought the hard water was to blame because both our dishwashers seemed to leave the disches looking like crap. So we got this stuff and it works WONDERFULLY.
And let’s face it, buying WalMart to counteract the greens’ measures is a deliberate thumbing of the nose. While looking completely innocent, of course.
So we have to buy detergent AND additives to get our dishes clean. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky they haven’t banned water altogether.
Don’t give them the idea, tho.
LemiShine is excellent. It is not necessary to fill the closed detergent receptacle with it – a tablespoon is sufficient and makes it far more economical. (This was the advice of LemiShine’s telephone customer service rep.) It is not necessary to use the deluxe model detergents with it ($$$) – I find that Finish tablets work fine.
Just sent a webmail to our member of Congress about repealing this ban and also the ban on incandescent lightbulbs.
LemiShine is at Target and most of the major supermarkets. $3.99/container. Lasts longer if used just a tablespoon per load.
Finish Powerball + LemiShine – works great. Our water is v. hard.
A bonus: The dishwasher is now immaculate inside!
The downside: Do not put anything painted in the DW. LemiShine apparently removes anything that is over (not under) the glaze on pottery and on glassware.
Also they sell TSP (trisodium phosphate) in the paint section of hardware stores. The box looks like a detergent box and a tablespoon added to your dish detergent works just like it used to, except my plastic dishes appear to be permanently fogged.
Question, but assuming the bill to reverse the incandescent ban isn’t passed, does anyone know if they can be made at home? I’m sure anyone who worked at a lightbulb plant would know how to make one.
I do know GE closed its south carolina plants that made incandescents to move to China to make the commie bulbs
I’m glad to hear that Congress is working on the light bulb issue. When Speaker Boehner & I became friends on FB, I sent him a message telling him this should be one of the issues that got tackled early on…it would send a great lesson!
Bev ~ thanks for the info about the “Lemishine”. Will look for it soon. BTW, I’m also a “Bev” ~ always catches me off guard when someone replies to you and then I realize they aren’t “talking” to me! :~)
=) @Bev.
I think it will be interesting to see where all these idiot environmentalists are in about ten years when their handy-dandy lightbulbs start polluting the water supply with mercury. Very few people recycle these things. They toss them in the trash.
My son who is eight is way into electricity. When he found out the swirly light bulbs didn’t save the energy they were supposed to AND that they are made from poison, he went to school and told his whole class about it. He told them never to touch one that breaks because it is too dangerous, and the whole class asked, “If it doesn’t save energy and it’s dangerous, then why use it?”
Smart bunch of second graders. Maybe we should send THEM to Congress–hey, they know what the three branches of government are, so bonus for us!
That’s why we’re just waiting for the LED technology to become cheaper… because those actually ARE really energy efficient, long-lasting, and safe!
I’ve broken at least three CFL bulbs in the house so far (I bought them right out of college, guess I wasn’t thinking)… as long as you don’t go over and snort the broken glass/mercury into your nose or something, you’ll probably be fine. We just opened a window and swept/vacuumed up the glass.
For those of you who have Democrat Congressmen and women, how about sending them a copy of your dishwasher repair bills along with your complaints about this phosphorous ban?
The removal of Phosphorus from laundry detergents is also one of the three primary reasons that bedbugs made such a comeback in NYC and the east coast. Weakened cleaning power in the detergent used, no use of bleach, and not using hot water to wash hotel linens, all done in the name of “Green”. Transit population in East Coast hotels brought the bugs, the shift to “Green”, “PC” cleaning techniques allowed them to “live long and prosper”
Thanks to the removal of phosphorus from dishwasher detergent, we now use twice as much water since we rinse all our dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
I read an article in the UK Daily Mail (or the Telegraph, I can’t remember) last weekend–the BBC sent one of their reporters from London to Edinburgh in an electric car. It took four days to make the trip with the necessary recharging. The problem with this is that it took two days to make the trip by stagecoach in 1830!!
Thanks for absolutely nothing “Greenies.”
Not to mention washing clothes in the front load washer twice to get them clean. Or flushing the toilet ten times to get it unclogged.
I now have a front load washer by choice.
I believe that one should use an additive to the usual washing powder.
I use a liquid detergent and sometimes use the SARD wonder soap as a back-up. My clothes come out clean.
Aussie – what is SARD soap? Is it anything like “20 Mule Team Borax”?
I have an “energy-efficient” dryer. My mistake – it conserves energy by doing less. I either have to dry my clothes twice, or split the load into two small ones. So much for efficiency.
Not an issue in the summer when I can hang up my clothes on a clothesline and the high Texas heat will dry them nicely for free. In the winter, this often doesn’t work.
The small energy-efficient refrigerator is fine for me because it saves power mainly by being small and no-frills with a freezer barely below 32 F – not a problem for a guy who lives alone and doesn’t like ice in his drinks anyway. That was a decent buy. I learned to do my research before just assuming that the energy star means your electric bill goes down. You know what happens when you assume…
I know someone who used to work for a home appliance manufacturer. According to him, the best way to achieve high efficiency in washing and drying is to use a front loading washing machine,* wash all clothes in cold water and use extra spin cycles to get as much water out of the laundry as possible before drying, which might be part of the reason why your high efficiency dryer isn’t working if you haven’t paired it with a high efficiency washer.
*Front loading machines use less water and get clothes cleaner than top loaders.
I don’t have a problem with people developing things like electric cars, low-flow toilets (though I like the dual-flow toilets better) and small, efficient front-load washers (we have one of those, and we only use cold water unless it’s for whites, and no problems getting clean) or anything else that is “green” technology. A lot of green tech is really cool and actually can save money.
I just have problems when governments step in and MANDATE certain “green” technologies in place of others.
my front load washer is also a dry and you can steam dry clean clothing as well.
And dishwashers use less water than handwashing. Sort of like low-flow toilets you have to flush 3 times. The libs just can’t see past the green label to the “big picture”. Or do basic math. Must be the government schools they are so fond of.
Incandescent bulbs will be available a ‘specialty bulbs” and you can still buy them on-line.
As to automatic dishwashers and no phosphorus. Just go to the big box store in the paint isle and buy a box of TSP, tri sodium phosphate. Add about 10% TSP to the regular automatic dishwasher soap charge. Or buy commercial dishwasher soap as it still contains phosphorus.
But if you buy TSP, make sure it’s the real deal. I’ve read some folks are manufacturing TSP with no tri-sodium phosphate it! (Seem to remember buying some a few years ago, as well.)
In New York State they’ve removed the Phosphorus or made it a small amount in TSP. Already checked that out in hardware stores and Lowe’s.
EPA has a whole page on how to clean up a broken CFL. http://www.epa.gov/cfl/ Email it to all your ‘green’ friends and harp on the danger these bulbs pose to their children and pets.
As for the dishwashing detergents. I still distinctly remember the Peoples Republic of Seattle trying to ban Electrosol and talking of setting up roadblocks. Roadblocks? Yes to stop the smuggling of Electrosol into the city.
My 10 year old daughter and her friend broke one of these lights in our basement. They proceeded to clean it up because they thought I’d get mad at them for breaking it.. I didn’t know at the time(this was a 2 years ago) how dangerous they are at clean up time. They did tell me after picking up most of it and I went down and vaccummed it up. Great, I am praying she doesn’t come down with something down the road.. Pisses me off royally..
There were some discussions of this issue at Lucianne recently. Several posted mentioned Lemishine, and also the Finish “Powerball” tabs. Using these two products prevented some people from going out a buying new dishwashers, because they thought that was the problem.
The “Greens” truly want to take us back to the days of inconvenience.
I swear by the Finish stuff… it’s the only one that gets our dishes clean.
Finish has been “the product” for dishwashers for more than 30 years.
I got a new dishwasher several years ago and couldn’t believe it didn’t work right out of the gate(dirty dishes).. We couldn’t/can’t afford to buy a new one. My aunt just sent me the info about the phosporus.. That also pisses me off..
The Tea Party needs to hold the RINO’s feet to the fire. The RINO’s have been pussy footing around for years glad handing across our bodies with the progressive socialist turning our country into a trillion dollar scam that has just about destroyed the country.
Many of those RINO’s could have, should have retired years ago instead of making themselves millionaires at the expense of the people; hanging around Washington causing a blight on the memory of our founders.
I’ve been angry for years about the behavior of the RINO’s. Because there is no reason that a middle-class wage owner should have to worry about losing a job, losing their home and being a ward of the state for basic necessities.
And that is what the Obamination has planned for us.
For God’s sake, we built this country.
Died for this country – take a walk through Arlington National Cemetary. Gaze on that long black wall and think about that price. My husband’s name is there.
I’m a fuming, angry, out of patience American with Washington and I’m not going to be quiet about it any more.
Thank you HIllBuzz for letting me speak!
I blame the RINO’s For the state of the country because for years, instead of doing the people’s business while we were building the country they have allowed and contributed to the present condition.
They should be tarred and feathered and run out of our Capitol, our Whitehouse.
And by God – I like to say that since I’m from “West by God Virginia.”
Any body else as angry as me?
Blast away!
Spot on! That post should go viral.
The RINOs are supposed to be fighting for us but they are really complicit with the lefties. I hold them personally responsible for the mess the country is now in because they have refused to do what they were voted in to do!
I have family from ‘West by God Virginia’ and maybe it is time for people like us to stand up and demand to be represented.
Mary B, you go girl! Rant on…you deserve to as do many of us who worked hard to build a life for our families and add to the country’s glory in any way we could…only to find that our soggy friends in Washington were busy fleecing us like we were lambs.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you, and of course your husband, sacrificed for this country. I am proud to know you and humbled by what you have given up for all of us. God bless you and your family.
TSP is still legal in MN, so I just loaded up on ten pounds of the stuff at the local Home Depot. I add a teaspoon or so to each dishwasher load to re-phosphate my detergent. Lovely, sparkling dishes ever since.
I wish that instead of pushing for the removal of phosphates from detergent, they had concentrated on finding a better way to remove it from waste water. I agree that phosphates are bad for ponds, etc, but I still want to use them to clean my dishes and clothes.
My stepson is a water management engineer, specializing in wastewater treatment. He says they CAN remove the phosphate from the wastewater. I was reading recently that whatever it is that they are using instead of the phosphates is the problem now. So, once again, the environmentalists take away something that works well in the interests of “saving the world,” and in the result actually make things worse. IDIOTS!!!
BTW, if you hate low-flow toilets because you have to flush multiple times in order to get the junk down, buy a TOTO toilet. They are compliant with the low-flow regulations, but they have a larger trap so they will flush EVERYTHING the first time. We put them in our new house 6 years ago and they are great! They don’t make a lot of noise, like powerflush toilets, and they can be installed in place of a regular toilet with no problem.
I have finally figured out what is wrong with my dishwasher after months of dishes not coming clean or having a white chalky film on it.
THANK YOU for this info.
John Shimkus of illinois is sub chairman of the environmental committee. (202)225-5880
He is the one who can look into this because it is beyond the states at this time. 15 states are holding hostage the remaining 35 states due to their environmental activism.
“Surprise” Illinois is one of them.
Proctor and Gamble admitted to me when I called that yes this is a problem especially with hard water ( which I have) and there is nothing they can do about it because of the state mandates. THey also admitted to me that there was nothing I could do to alleviate the situation and that my only recourse would be to hand wash all my dishes which I m doing at present. They even offered me financial compensation for any dishes, pots and pans or utensils that have been ruined because of this formula change. Maybe I’m crazy but I do not think that P&G should foot the bill for the envirowackos so I declined that offer and told them to use that money to lobby the government to put a stop to these crazy new regulations.
You know there is always a breaking point and sadly this is mine. Apparently you can’t even buy fertilizer for your garden with phosphate in it which is crazy as it is essential for good plant health.
So much damage done by control freak “environmentalists” needs to be undone. In the meantime, here are some great dishwasher detergent ideas and info in the comments at this appliance website:
http://www.appliance.net/2010/states-ban-phosphate-laden-dishwasher-soap-1988
Adding TSP, warning on TSP substitute labeled as TSP, commercial dishwasher detergent (restaurant supply), food grade citric acid, vinegar, making a homemade vinegar dispenser, booster products such as Finish, even a recipe to make your own dishwasher detergent.