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  • How to Use Planet Dishwasher Detergent to Get Your Dishes (Mostly) Clean

    How to Use Planet Dishwasher Detergent to Get Your Dishes (Mostly) Clean

    planet-dishwasher-soap

    I have a brother. He’s seven years younger than I am.

    Recently he shelled out the extra cash to buy Planet Dishwasher detergent. It was, as far as I know, the first time that he had made a purchase with environmental concerns in mind. Planet is 100% biodegradable, and phosphate-free. Sounds good, right?

    Well. Recently my brother gave me that very same box of Planet Dishwasher detergent, because, and I quote, “I need something that actually cleans dishes.”

    I assumed he was being a pain and a perfectionist. One dishwasher run later, however, and I could see his point.

    Film on the glasses. Thick film- doesn’t rinse off at all. Food residue on the plates. And you could immediately identify which cups had been used for chocolate milk, because they had a distinctive brown crust that had to be soaked in hot water and scrubbed off. By hand.

    A week and some serious experimentation has gone by. Because I am both a pain and a perfectionist (runs in the family).

    I’ve come up with a method that gets me dishes clean enough to live with:

    • You have to use the high heat option on your dishwasher (this is the pots-n-pans function on my model). The box states that Planet works optimally at 140 degrees.
    • Do not fill the entire detergent dispenser. I’ve always filled about halfway and found it sufficient; with Planet I had to cut back further. I now fill only about a third. Sure, this means it will last longer, but frankly I’ll be happy when it’s all gone.
    • Hand dry the dishes. I usually let the dishes air-dry, but with Planet you have to dry them right away to avoid spotting.

    In short, Planet for the dishwasher sucks.

    This is a disappointment on many levels.

    First off, I should not have to come up with elaborate constructs to use a product allegedly designed for my convenience, and I only offer the tips above for poor suckers like myself who don’t want to just throw a product away.

    Secondly, I don’t like that I have to use such a high temperature for this cleanser to be effective. It feels like I’m trading one “green” ethic for another. I wouldn’t mind so much, I guess, if the end result was clean dishes, rather than mostly clean dishes.

    Most importantly, my brother has been thoroughly put off by this whole situation. He made a tentative move into green territory- please keep in mind, spending more money to do so- and was rewarded with dirty dishes.

    As a result, he now believes that environmentally friendly products do not work nearly so well as conventional (and this is totally true with this product), and he probably won’t try any others.

    In addition, he’ll offer that opinion to anyone who asks.

    There is no industry standard for natural cleansers. There should be. I think that if it’s labelling itself as a “natural cleaner”, it should

    • a) be natural, and
    • b) get things clean. At the very least, cleaner than they started.

    Really, is that unreasonable?

    I’ll slog through the rest of this package because I’m stubborn like that. But I definitely won’t buy any more of it.

    Has anyone had success with an environmentally responsible dishwashing detergent? How about other Planet products?

  • Queen Anne’s Lace

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    Her body is not so white as
    anemone petals nor so smooth – nor
    so remote a thing. It is a field
    of the wild carrot taking
    the field by force; the grass
    does not raise above it….

    -William Carlos Williams

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    The fields are white and green, the Queen Anne’s Lace rising above the grass.

    Just seeing it makes me break out in a rash.

    My love of nature does not extend to the lace of Queen Anne.

    If I were to casually brush up against this stuff, I would break out in painfully itchy, gross-looking hives. I looked it up this morning and discovered it’s not just me; many people are sensitive to the leaves and juices released while picking.

    Some other little factoids:

    • Queen Anne’s Lace is a wild carrot, so the root is edible.

    • But, in addition to the hive thing, it can be easily confused with Poison Hemlock. Which, shockingly, is poisonous.

    (Please take note:
    I am not recommending you try eating Queen Anne’s Lace.)

    • The seeds historically have been used as a natural form of birth control.

    • The USDA has listed Queen Anne’s Lace as a noxious weed. I can certainly vouch for its invasiveness. It is widespread everywhere except the Arctic.

    • As with carnations, if you were to place a few stems of Queen Anne’s Lace in water tinged with food coloring, the flowers would turn pretty colors. So, perhaps a fun science experiment, if your kids are old enough to remember not to eat or touch.

    Personally, I could never have it in the house.
    I’m still a little shaky from getting close enough to take these pictures.

    Bees and spiders, I don’t mind so much.
    Queen Anne’s Lace? Ugh. Gives me the willies. Nasty, nasty stuff.

  • That’s a Lot of APLS


    Don’t forget to check out the APLS carnival on affluence, hosted this month at Green Bean Dreams. I’m amazed by the sheer number of entries!

    I’m very behind on my reading, and I’m still trying to figure out why Blogger has eaten my “about me” sidebar as well as yesterday’s posts, but I’m looking forward to delving into the carnival this evening. Let me know if you find a favorite place to start! ( Other than my own post on affluence, of course…)

    During my quick scan of the carnival list, I noticed that Melinda at One Green Generation is championing a re-evaluation of the APLS acronym. She feels that we should be All Persons Living Sustainably, and I wholeheartedly throw my support behind this notion. Green Bean is polling for opinions, and it stands at 50/50 as I write this. So while you’re sifting through APLS, be sure to exercise your right to vote!