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In Florida, our water is VERY HARD...lots of lime, calcium, etc. That makes for poorly washed anything...remove phosphates from dishwasher soap, and it's like washing our clothes...they get clean (sort of), and they wear out faster than they would from normal use.

I grew up without a dryer or a dishwasher...towels were softer when line dried, because the laundry detergent used to contain phosphates...now they are stiff as a board. Phosphates are naturally occurring here in Florida...we used to have a lot of phosphate mines before it was deemed "bad for the environment"...

Also, when they took out phosphates from dishwasher detergent, they substituted BLEACH - that’s the lovely white film you see on your glasses and dishes now. And it’s near impossible to wash that stuff off by hand. Vinegar helps some.

"In Florida, our water is VERY HARD...lots of lime, calcium, etc. That makes for poorly washed anything...remove phosphates from dishwasher soap, and it's like washing our clothes...they get clean (sort of), and they wear out faster than they would from normal use. "

Our well water here in SE Pennsylvania is also very hard. Laundry is a frustration, because white clothing turns gray over time, and clothing and linens tend to become stiff and scratchy.

I tried the new "green" dishwashing detergent when it first came out, and swore I'd never touch it again. Everything came out with a film, and it got progressively worse with repeated washing. I tried using the Cascade Complete gel packs a couple of years ago, and was pleasantly surprised at their effectiveness. Not only were they an improvement over the "green" detergent - they were an improvement over conventional phosphate-containing detergent. Our water is so hard that we were adding CLR or Limeaway with every wash load, and with the gel packs I no longer needed to do that. I highly recommend them.

(I don't work for P&G).