Spokane residents smuggle suds over green brands

[The Straight Story]

Spokane residents smuggle suds over green brands

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS – 3 hours ago

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The quest for squeaky-clean dishes has turned some law-abiding people in Spokane into dishwater-detergent smugglers. They are bringing Cascade or Electrasol in from out of state because the eco-friendly varieties required under Washington state law don't work as well. Spokane County became the launch pad last July for the nation's strictest ban on dishwasher detergent made with phosphates, a measure aimed at reducing water pollution. The ban will be expanded statewide in July 2010, the same time similar laws take effect in several other states.

But it's not easy to get sparkling dishes when you go green.

Many people were shocked to find that products like Seventh Generation, Ecover and Trader Joe's left their dishes encrusted with food, smeared with grease and too gross to use without rewashing them by hand. The culprit was hard water, which is mineral-rich and resistant to soap.

As a result, there has been a quiet rush of Spokane-area shoppers heading east on Interstate 90 into Idaho in search of old-school suds.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h5LoYHymG_TJcf7aX3AvXutsKWJwD976J3IG0

[vadawg]

1. lol, dont blame them one bit, hit the soap nazis in the eye

[Warpy]

2. Green stuff just needs to be reformulated to work with hard water

Making it more acid based would help a lot.

Water here is hard as a rock. Soap just doesn't produce suds and I use one of those fabric softener thingies to release white vinegar into the rinse water to remove residue, especially on dark clothes.

[eleny]

4. We have hard water, too, but probably not as hard as yours

Please clarify - you put a softener sheet in the wash water during the rinse?

[Warpy]

10. No, there are plastic gadgets you are supposed to put softener in

that release it during the first spin cycle so that it goes into the rinse water.

I put white vinegar in mine.

Look for them in the supermarket.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. We have absurdly hard water (think Lake Tanganikya pretty much) and use the eco-friendly stuff

No problem.

[eleny]

3. "encrusted with food, smeared with grease"

I'm new to having a dishwasher having gotten ours only a couple of years ago. But mine don't go into the dishwasher like that. I scrape the dishes and give them a swipe to clear as much grease and food bits as I can.

I do use Cascade for the detergent and white vinegar in the rinse container. But my dishes aren't ever full of crud going into the machine. I treat them as if I was going to hand wash them. We have hard water here, too.

I'm going to get a green product and do my own test. Something doesn't smell right about "encrusted with food, smeared with grease". I think there's some mendacity there.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

15. We use green dish detergent (Trader Joes) and laundry soap (Kirkland)

No problems. We do wipe the nasty stuff off before putting it in the dishwasher though.

[Oregone]

5. I never had a problem with 7th Generation

[The Straight Story]

6. I just let my dogs lick it all clean

:)

[here_is_to_hope]

11. Oh no you don't!

I was at a friends for dinner...sat down, everything is laid out on the table, smells so good, there is even cake.
But I noticed the dishes were a bit, ah...not shiny really.
I asked her if they were clean and she replied "as clean as soap and water can get them!".
After dinner, I watched her place the dirty dinner plates and all the pots and pans on the floor of the back porch...and call out..."Here Soap! Come here Water!" and two big Labs came running.

[Sequoia]

7. Ah those were days in Spokane when we'd go over the border for...

COORS !!!! Yep, in the dark ages of the past, Coors could only be sold in certain states and Washington wasn't one of them. We used to go to Couer'de lane (sp...French words!!) drink, and drive back with a case sometimes. How I did that I'll never know. Must'a been a spry young'un!

[Thothmes]

8. I remember when it wasnt even available in Idaho

We had to send Colorado to Colorado to get Coors when I went to WSU. Circa mid 60s

[norepubsin08]

13. I was at WSU

75-80 Rogers Hall, Kruegel, NE Maiden Lane and NW Anthony Street AH! I remember it well..I even learned a thing or two inspite of myself and got this neat little paper that I can hang on my wall!!!

[Thothmes]

16. 68-69

Lived off campus. History major. Never used it. Did get me a commission in the U.S. Navy
.

[norepubsin08]

12. I remember doing that also!!!

I was in Pullman and at that time Idaho had a 19 year old drinking age...not only could we go during the Monday-Thursday light customer times to a bar in Moscow, Idaho (8) miles away, ..but if we went to a 7-11 or such late at night and no one was around we could buy the stuff at 18 and at 19 we thought we were all grown up!

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

9. You can take my Mexican toilet from my cold dead ass cheeks

California is well known for its own madness in this department,