Hard Water and Dishwashers

Sorry for the delay between posts; I just finished up with my midterms. Whew am I glad that is over; now I can concentrate on what I love; talking about green cleaning.

I saw this article in today’s Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090327/ap_on_re_us/bootleg_detergent. The article talks about the difficulties Spokane residents are having at getting their dishes clean now that phosphate soap is banned. Yes, that’s right, the residents of Spokane Washington can no longer buy Cascade or Electra dish washer soap which contain eco killing phosphates. Soon there will be a state wide ban on the use of phosphates. The residents are noticing that the eco or green soaps are not getting the dishes as clean and are leaving greasy spots on their “clean” dishes. Many say they are now washing them a second time by hand and question whether the ban, which is in place for environmental reasons, is not itself causing another environmental problem.

As I read further in the article I saw why the green detergents are not working; hard water is interfering with the breakdown of the molecules, thereby leaving the detergent intact or partially dissolved. “Ah, ha”, I thought, “I can solve this problem. I already have where I work”.

Mound House Nevada has got to have the hardest water on record! No kidding, I have lived in four states, including Washington State, and have never come across water as hard as this. How hard is it? It is so hard, that when spilled on concrete or wood floors and left to dry, you can see the minerals and deposits. All drains must be cleaned out monthly or they back up and clog. You can actually see the minerals build up around the drain pipes. It is so bad that our brand new dishwasher stopped getting the dishes cleaned six months after we bought it; at least that is what we here at work thought. After talking to the repair man from Valley Appliances where we bought the machine I learned the culprit is our hard water, so being the green advocate I am, I tried to fix it without expensive rinse aids. After trying just plain vinegar as the rinse aid and failing, I came up with a nice combo that works well for our situation.

Use white vinegar as your rinse aid, but also add two tablespoons to your detergent.
Wash your dishes on the hottest setting possible (no, this is not the most eco friendly setting but it is better than washing the dishes twice).
What comes out are squeaky clean dishes. The best part, you will find you do not have to use as much detergent plus the inside of your dishwasher and water spouts will clean and fresh smelling.

Let me know if this works for you. As always write me at sarij@sbcglobal if you have questions or want to see a subject tackled.

Just cause its green doesn't mean its clean

So the other day I turned on the TV to watch a new show on the Plant Green channel called Wasted. If you are not familiar with this show,two experts (though what their field of expertise is I am not quite sure) share tips with homeowners on how they can save thousands of dollars a year by turning to green technology and practices. As I watched one expert tout the wonders of cleaning with sponges and dish cloths my stomach turned. This expert did not warn of the dangers of cleaning with dirty cloths and sponges. Let me back up.

A few of years ago I came across an illness in my American College of Physicians Complete Medical Guide.Gastroenteritis an inflammation of the lining of the stomach. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, cramping and fever. Sound familiar? Turns out the 24 hour flu we think we have is not a flu at all, but a bout of this illness caused by improper hygiene. I asked a doctor I know about this; what improper hygiene are they talking about? I was told the bacteria picked up when using sponges and cloths to clean can be easily spread to us. Specifically salmonella and Escherichia coli or E coli as we laymen know it.

Imagine you are preparing chicken for dinner. You make a small mess so naturally you grab your sponge to clean it up. If there is salmonella or E coli on the chicken it is now on your sponge. You may have just rubbed the bacteria all over your counter and if you use the sponge on your dishes and don't use super hot water, guess where the bacteria ends up? That's right, now it is on your dishes. If you don't use the dishes right away the bacteria will most likely die, but if you place raw food on your just "cleaned" counter there is a chance the bacteria jumps to the food then to your mouth. Often we use the same clothe or sponge to wipe our counters, stove and refrigerator spreading germs and bacteria that can easily be picked up by our family as they use the kitchen.

So what can we do to avoid these potential health hazards and still feel good about being green? Forget using sponges; these are harbors of germs that can not be properly cleaned. Cloths can be easily cleaned and sanitized.

I use paper towels to clean up my counters after I have worked with meat and raw vegetables. If there were any germs they got tossed out with the towel. After I wash my dishes with a cloth, I run a little hot water in my sink, pour a small amount of bleach or vinegar depending on my mood and soak the cloth over night. In the morning I wring it out and let it dry knowing any germs it may have held are long dead.