Soap Smuggling's "Thelma and Louise"

(CBS)  What do you do when you can't get your dishes clean enough? Run across the state border of course, and smuggle in banned substances.

Carole Spotts and her friend Susan Barrentine call themselves the real-life "Thelma and Louise." Those 1990's movie characters gained fame for running from the law.

Carole and Susan are driving 70 miles round trip, to Idaho and back, to get a substance banned in their home state of Washington. CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy followed them into the deep, dark corners of - the dishwasher detergent aisle.

They're on the hunt for detergent made with phosphates - chemicals known to get your dishes clean. They're bringing the dishwasher soap back to Spokane because phosphate detergents can't be sold there - though it's still legal to use them.

When phosphates go down the drain, they end up in rivers and lakes - causing algae to grow. The algae steals the oxygen from fish and other aquatic life.

Phosphates were banned nationwide from laundry detergents in the 1990's. This month they've been banned in dishwater detergents in Washington and at least 15 other states.

Carole worries about the environment, but says the non-phosphate cleaners just don't work - leaving a film on everything from spatulas to her glasses.

She showed off a bowl taken from her dishwasher that had spots and food debris.

"Most women aren't going to put up with this,'' she said

Ben Tracy agreed: "I'm a guy. I wouldn't put up with that. That is nasty."

Detergent manufacturers admit non-phosphate products haven't always worked well but say new formulas now hitting store shelves are much better.

In the meantime, Carole still smuggles her soap from Idaho. She says she'd be happy to use the new detergents, once they have a more spotless record.

"Carol Spotts likes spotless dishes."

[quartercrisis]

I learned this the hard way. A few weeks ago I noticed a white film that would not come off my dishes. I first looked on the internet to see what was going on. I quickly learned that the hippies got phosphate banned because it can cause algal blooms in our waterways. Granted we can filter out most of this phosphate before it gets in our waterways, but this did not stop the hippies from banning it because anything man-made is bad in their book.

At this point I called up P&G and asked them if I can still buy phosphate dishwasher detergent. They started to proudly say that they don?t sell any products with phosphate in it. I quickly interjected, by saying that I am not some eco hippie and I WANT phosphate. The P&G customer support rep was unsure how to answer this request. I think he was told not to answer my question, but he gave me two free coupons for any cascade product so that was cool. Granted I can?t buy anything that will clean my dishes with them at any retail store.

I did find one way around this ban. Because the ban only affects consumer products, you can buy the commercial detergent with the cleaning power of good old phosphate. I found a wholesaler online and I bought a case. My dishes are clean again.

[tmittelstaed]

From comments to this story it's obvious most people don't know the first thing about how to properly use an automatic dishwasher. Well OK if you want to remain ignorant of how to properly use a tool and want to waste an hour after every meal washing dishes by hand, then stop reading now. Otherwise, take the benefit of my wisdom.

1) For starters, there's 2 kinds of dishwashers out there, those that heat the water and those that don't. (generally the cheaper ones don't) If yours does not heat the water than you MUST set your water heater to 140 degrees, this is the hottest setting a residential water heater will go. Unfortunately it increases accidental scalding risk so people are often advised to turn their water heater down to 120. Washing dishes isn't washing clothes, it's not a cold-water affair. The detergents don't activate in cold water. And if your on a long pipe run from the water heater then open the hot water tap on the sink until the water runs too hot to touch, then shut off the tap and THEN turn on the dishwasher so that when it starts filling it gets hot water.

2) Next, all dishwaser soap is formulated to match specific water hardness and PH. The dish soap companies have people who run around the country testing municipal water sources and the companies maintain big databases of all city water sources in the country. Then when they get orders from grocers for dishwasher soap they ship out soap that is formulated for the specific water chemistry for the destination city. In other words a box of Cascade in one city and state may look identical to another box of Cascade in another city but they will have different chemistry. Unfortunately, however, many grocers who are part of chains end up getting soap as part of a large buy for many regions. So the end result is that you can have the same exact box of soap, same brand, same everything, in stores next to each other - and one box will have the right formulation for your water, and the other won't. The only way to figure it out is to try different brands from different stores until you find one that works, then just keep buying that same brand from that same store.

The presense or lack of phosphates in the soap is meaningless. Soap that has phosphates but is the wrong formulation for your water will not work as well as soap that does not have phosphates but is formulated for your water. And phosphate-free soap that is correctly formulated for your water will work fine. I use phosphate-free soap myself.

3) Many areas have hard water, and the harder the water the harder it is to get dishes in an automatic dishwasher clean. Most well water is hard water. If you have hard water then put a water softener on your home water (it will also help lengthen the life of your water heater) Just make sure not to drink the water coming from a water softner because it's high in sodium. (keep a water pitcher in the fridge and fill from the hard water spigot) If you cannot afford this then using a rinse agent in the dishwasher is mandatory for hard water. That means you must have a dishwasher that has a place for a rinse agent.

4) Last thing that is important is the amount of soap. Most people use too much. Too much soap is just as bad as too little. For most people use half of the amount that the detergent cup holds. Otherwise you end up etching your glassware. Only in areas with hard water you might need to use a full cup.

[longtree-2009]

lazy people. wash and scrub by hand. worst case, use paper plates. the lady in the picture is obese so she has more problems than just her dishes.

[barbaram99]

Yer wash yer dishes by hand and that gets them clean..That is right. We don't own a dish washer..We do the dishes by hand with the soap we buy in Seattle where we live. Our dishes are clean..

[happyskydiver]

Coeur d'Alene Idaho used to have a lead smelter upstream from Lake Coeur d'Alene, source of some of their drinking water. Now the smelter is gone, but a new business in town is the cancer center.

You may have clean dishes, but somebody downstream gets the phosphate created slime. By the way, Spokane Washington is downstream from Coeur d' Alene.

In the environment, what goes around comes around, and you may not like it.

[lilbear925]

Whatever happened to giving your dishes a good hand scrubbing? Lazy people are what is wrong with this whole effing planet!

[cmmcbsnews]

Lazy people and those with a limited vocabulary...

[formrusmcsgt]

Phosphates were banned nationwide from laundry detergents in the 1990's.
---
But they're in your powdered creamer you put in your coffee.

Check the label - dipotassium phosphate - guaranteed.

[blue_highway]

I agree with gordyru's observations. The necessity to get burnt animal meals and overcooked foods once resembling maybe potatoes and cheese outweigh (pun intended) the ethics of saving fuel, using elbow grease and leaving a smaller carbon footprint. Do you think either of these ladies are members of the prevailing faith in Northern Idaho? CTR: Cult That's Racist or Cut The Residue! It's all about the western mindset that fosters a "me first" attitude. Deliver me from the flabby arms of over-consumption and irresponsibility. How did these women and their woeful needs get recognized, selected, produced and aired? What happened to critical thinking, the war (remember "the war"?) and important issues? Shame on Thelma and Louise and shame on CBS!

[ToolMangler1]

I have a new Career, I am going to be a 'soap' bootlegger.

[gordyru]

I had to write to you folks at CBS to express my disgust at the "fluff" segment that was aired at the end of friday's evening news broadcast.
The ladies that drive 70 miles to purchase environmentally damaging dish washing liquid (because it is illegal to sell in their state) speaks volumes about how we Americans view the environment and how selfish we are about making our lives "better"!
I would say to the lady featured in the piece (who was "worried about the environment") that she's not only adding more phosphorus to her water supplies, but is also wasting gasoline getting to and from her important shopping trips!
I would also add that if she washed her dishes by hand once or twice a week with non-phosphorus liquid she could get her dishes as clean if not cleaner and maybe lose a few pounds on her arms in the process.
Not a funny or cute segment in my opinion!

[teflondonn]

Take a trip to the Spokane/Northern Idaho area and it will all make sense. One word "scary".