Baked On, Caked On

Umbra on eco-friendly detergents 13

Dear Umbra,

Like a good guilt-ridden liberal, I’ve switched to supposed earth-friendly dish detergent. And, on the basis of previous Ask Umbra columns, I don’t rinse my dirty dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Here’s the thing: About 10 percent of items are still dirty when the dishwasher pronounces things clean. So then I rewash these items, either by hand or (perhaps futilely) in the dishwasher. Doesn’t seem terribly eco-friendly.

Scott D.
South Portland, Maine.

Dearest Scott,

No one said being an environmentalist would be a tiptoe through the tulips. There are going to be setbacks, struggles, moments when we think, “I can’t go on!” But somehow we must raise our weary heads and find the strength to continue. Too often we find daily defeat in the questions inherent in dish duty: by hand or by machine? Does rinsing the plastic bag use too much water? Why does this detergent suck? No amount of dishwashing discussion quite rids us of the nagging, dried-on questions. Today I offer holiday dishwashing succor for the dish distressed.

Don’t bang your head over dishwashing conundrums.

There are three things to consider when washing dishes: water use, energy use, and toxics.  If you establish and generally follow some best practices, you can call it good and stop fretting.

There are two good ways to wash the dishes. The first is via full loads of an Energy Star, aka water-and-energy saving, dishwasher. The other is using a bucket or a stopped-up sink, with minimal water usage and an aerated faucet. Dishwashers have been proven, again and again, to be more efficient than the typical hand-washer. Some of you will never believe this to be the case, and youse should go ahead and continue your water-wise habits. (By the way, if you choose to wash and reuse plastic bags, do it in the bucket of water, and then rinse with hot running water. I am not going to research the “is it worse to waste water washing bags or to manufacture more bags” question, because life is too short and other issues are more interesting and/or dire—but if a dearest reader wishes to do the research, I will consider publishing the results.)

Automatic dishwashing detergents may contain any of the following environmentally harmful ingredients: phosphates, ammonia, fragrances, bleach, and petroleum-based surfactants. Buying and using less-toxic detergents is worth it and pretty much obligatory. Unfortunately, they do have performance problems when compared to their traditional cousins. I have very hard water, which they don’t manage well, and Scott has his dried-on food. What to do?

Scott, my suggestions may be irritatingly simpleminded. You must keep using the better detergents, for the health of your family and other carbon-based life forms. Maybe experiment with a few brands. Consumer Reports likes Biokleen, Ecover, and Seventh Generation, in that order; Grist has yet to weigh in but will do so in 2009, so keep an eye out. Whichever you choose, you will need to do some conservative pre-washing. Pre-rinse your dishes in one of two ways: Either keep a rubber spatula at the sink and squeegee off each dish, or keep a little bowl of water handy and sponge off each dish.

Also, consider whether your dishwasher may be over-full. The soapy water must have access to all surfaces, which can’t happen when bowls are piled up against each other, etc. If you continue having the problem after following all this amazing advice, go ahead and rewash the offenders in your sink bucket.

Here concludes my brief return to the world of the dish. May all your holiday dishwashing be in the company of loved ones.

Affectionately,
Umbra

 

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Send your green-living questions to Umbra.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

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  1. laurenmcnees Posted 2:23 am
    22 Dec 2008

    Palmolive "Eco" worksI also found that certain (ie Seventh Generation) eco-friendly detergents didn't work so well. So I tried a bunch more and found that the conventional Palmolive's "Eco" detergent (gel) works quite well. I have no idea whether its as eco-friendly as the non-conventional brands, but it does seem to work better. I also pre-scrub the really dirty ones with a small bowl of soapy water and a sponge. Good luck!

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  2. jjfahl Posted 4:03 am
    22 Dec 2008

    PresoakingWe don't usually have enough dishes to run the dishwasher every day.  Some things will not come off if you let them sit in there and dry out so I keep a dishpan in the sink and put those sticky dishes in there with water to cover until I'm ready to wash them or you can just give them a quick rub after they have soaked a while.

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  3. matthewrsparks's avatar

    matthewrsparks Posted 4:04 am
    22 Dec 2008

    The timing of the washI have been able to avoid the same issues myself by washing the messiest of the dishes immediately after use, before they dry into food-mortar. I live in Colorado, which is extremely arid and mortar-producing, so it can take a bit of planning to figure out the best time to run the dishwasher and/or hand wash everything, which isn't always realistic. But it helps.
    On the flipside, running appliances at night instead of during the day can reduce local energy loads during peak hours, which complicates the dish issue immeasurably. Save the climate or save the watershed? You chose...

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  4. nancyhammond Posted 4:25 am
    22 Dec 2008

    Try EcoverNot all eco-friendly cleaning products are created equal.  I've been quite happy with the Ecover tablets and the price is reasonable.
    If you don't fill up the dishwasher with one meal, using the rinse-only cycle in the interim helps a lot.  Longer-term, when shopping for a new dishwasher, use publications like Consumer Reports to get a good one.  They really do vary a lot in their ease of use and cleaning ability.

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  5. bailsout Posted 11:48 am
    22 Dec 2008

    Camping outWhy shouldn't all the rules that apply to camping in the wilderness apply to living out of the wilderness? Take only fotos and leave only footprints. I hand wash my dishes. I use solar hot water from the hose in the summer and hot water from my woodburning stove in the winter. If all the dishes are from your family where are the germs on the dishes that you all don't expose yourselves to on a daily basis anyway? We use the same dishes in the evening that we use during the day. We have our own "mess kits". I use a cast iron skillet and wipe it clean without water. Hot water removes grease and if the water isn't hot enough a little detergent does help. A towel dries without leaving spots.

    I think we're all a little too paranoid about our owngerms and a little bacteria. The worst thing is you might get sick or even die. A few humans dieing wouldn't really hurt the species; we're way over budget.

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  6. jgsingle Posted 10:51 pm
    22 Dec 2008

    dish washingDear Umbra,

       I tried turning down the temp of my hot water heater to save energy and using the eco friendly dishwashing detergent and got the predicted results: half my dishes were still dirty, and worse, the food had hardened onto them.  It got so bad that I called a dishwasher mechanic to fix my dishwasher.  He taught me about dishwashers.  You need 3 things for the washer to clean your dishes.  First, the mechanical part of the dishwasher must function properly; ie, the spray pressure must be sufficient.  Second, you need heat.  My water was too cold.  Third, you need chemicals.  If you don't have all 3, your dishes will not come clean.  So what I do now is what all your other commenters are doing.  I soak everything in water in the sink until I fill the dishwasher (about once every 3 days).  Upon reaching critical mass of dirty dishes, I go downstairs and turn up the hot water heater to VERY hot, wait an hour for it to heat up.  I load the dishwasher, clean the sink with the hot water so as to get the hot water up to the kitchen, load the dishwasher with Cascade, and then run the dishwasher.  About halfway through the cycle, I turn the hot water heater back down to a very low setting where it stays until I need to run the dishwasher again (another 3 days).  Now all my dishes are clean first time through.  Many people think I'm off my rocker to adjust the hot water heater just to run the dishes, but it really only takes less than one minute to do this.

    Greg

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  7. tpierce Posted 8:05 am
    23 Dec 2008

    diswhasher water useAlas, I did the research and bought an energy-star dishwasher.  My water usage immediately went up 24% and stayed there compared to pre-dishwasher days, and my dishes aren't as clean. Maybe my hand-washing technique was ultra conservative with water, but I'M NOT GOING BACK!!!

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  8. scarls5 Posted 3:31 am
    24 Dec 2008

    what about styrafoam?If anyone has done research on how using styrafoam disposable trays compares to durable tray wash water consumption impacts, I'm all ears.

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  9. katakanadian Posted 11:27 am
    24 Dec 2008

    What is "typical" dishwashing style?The only way I can see mechanical dishwashers being more efficient is if you compare it to idiots running hot water full blast with a toothbrush over an open drain. Is that really the way most people wash up? We use half a dishpan of hot water to wash and maybe  another litre of cold dribbles to rinse.

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  10. Angelsnecropolis Posted 7:44 am
    27 Dec 2008

    Evil!Polystyrene is evil and should be avoided at all cost! I can't Google the details at the moment (Im at work) but using anything that is disposable and won't biodegrade for centuries is just evil. Also, I've read info that it can cause very bad things if ingested. There are many cities around the world that have already banned or working on banning polystyrene much to the chagrin of restaurant owners.
    Remember the 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

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  11. mckittre Posted 2:50 pm
    28 Dec 2008

    water and energy sourcesThe impact of toxics is probably fairly universal, as far as the detergent goes.  But the impacts of energy and water use depend on your personal sources of energy and water.  How environmentally friendly or unfriendly are they coming into your house?
    I haul water from my own shallow well and heat it on a woodstove to handwash dishes, so I'm not terribly concerned about either the water or the energy.  I imagine someone in a dry area might be most concerned about water use, and want to turn their heater up accordingly, to avoid having to wash dishes twice.  Someone in a very wet area might be better off using colder water and more of it.  

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  12. interguru Posted 1:08 pm
    29 Dec 2008

    Clean Dishes and a Clean ConscienceI have been using Trader Joe's non-phosphate detergent for some time.  I noticed that the glassware was becoming cloudy.
    As an experiment I bought Cascade Complete, a highly rated high phosphate detergent.  One wash and all my glassware sparkled.  
    Now I use a non-phosphate detergent most of the time, but once a month or so, as the glassware starts to cloud up, I use a high phosphate detergent to get them sparking.
    The best of both worlds with minimal phosphate.
    Bookwormhole.net Over 6600 published book reviews.

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  13. Cyndi Posted 5:01 am
    30 Dec 2008

    More nontoxic tipsOn tip for those of us with hard water: replace half your detergent with borax.  It makes the detergent work better.
    I agree with Greg about water pressure.  My well water is not only hard but filled with iron/sediment; it's been destroying my appliances.  I finally installed a whole-house sediment filter (super cheap, I used one from Sears).  I think it's too late for this particular dishwasher, but it has made an amazing difference elsewhere.
    For anyone buying a new (or used) dishwasher.  Get one that heats the water to the proper temp.  Then you can keep your water heater low to medium all the time and have the equivilent of a tankless for the dishwasher.
    Consumer Reports' finding was that enzymes in the detergent are what changed a medicore product into a good one.  You can find plenty of natural brands with enzymes.  If you must have phosphates, why not a pinch of TSP now and then?  At least it doesn't have the petroleum-based ingredients, synthetic fragrance, and other toxins.

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