Going Green: Product Review of the Week - Dish Washing Detergent

Dishwasher detergent

With dishwasher detergent I was not very successful at first. I have always used Cascade and was very effective, but it contains phosphates and other chemicals. I tried seventh generation (the gel) because I like their products a lot but I had to double the quantity of the detergent poured in the dishwasher. Sometimes it has left powdery residue after a load. I tried Ecover and I still got residue on my plates, especially on pots. Now I am using Seventh Generation the powder detergent; it seems it washes the pots a little better, but I guess I will continue my search for a better one.

Natural/Green	$/load	Conventional detergent	$/load
7th Generation Powder	0.16	Cascade Complete Gel	0.17
Ecover Tablets	0.29
7th Generation Gel	0.19

Dish detergent

I used to like Palmolive but in my effort of becoming green I have tried safer solutions like Seventh Generation Free and Clear and the one with the Lemongrass and Clementine zest. I liked both but I tried also Ecover and got in love with it; it very soft on hands and it cleans well. It is way cheaper than the Palmolive I used to buy.

Natural/Green	$/oz	Conventional detergent	$/oz
7th Generation Free and Clear	0.10	Colgate Palmolive Ultra	0.22
Ecover Lemon	0.13	Dawn Botanicals Ultra	0.09
7th Generation Lemongrass and Clementine	0.11	Dawn Oxi Ultra	0.10
Planet Ultra	0.14