It seems that folks in Spokane Washington are dealing in the latest of illegal substances…………….. dishwashing soap.

A recent law passed in Spokane County prohibits the sale of dish soap containing phosphates as part of an effort to reduce water pollution. The problem is that the eco-friendly detergents do not perform as well as their counterparts.

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

The result is that people are having to rewash dishes or use longer cycles on the dishwasher which results in more water use and potentially more pollution to the environment.

Interestingly phosphates were banned from laundry soap since 1993 and as far as I can tell my clothes still get reasonably clean. It looks like in this case however they need a little more time to perfect the formula for a low or non phosphate detergent before the law is expanded nationally. Of course this is what these kinds of test laws are for, but it is still not clear if the many pending laws will be put on hold until things are improved.