What Ingredients are in Commerical Dishwasher tablets?
Well this is how Under Your Sinks all began… I was determined to find the ingredients and compositions of theses teeny weeny expensive little buggers called ‘Dishwashing Tablets’. I wanted to duplicate them at home myself as I was expecting just a bunch of simple ingredients.
Low and behold!! Just looking at FINISH® Powerball® Quantum Max™ Capsules - Fresh Scent There were 33 ingredients in this teeny weeny tablet, and most of the names were 33 letters long!! Wow, I had no idea there was so much that goes into cleaning a dish, so that I don’t have to do it by my own two hands.
Each of these ingredients served a ‘function’ and from my humble opinion, some of these functions are a marketing farce!
So here is the list, try saying it all 3 times really fast :-)
- Sodium Carbonate
- Sodium Citrate
- Sodium Carbonate Peroxide
- Polyvinyl alcohol, partially hydrolysed
- C 12-14 Alcohols Ethoxylated Propoxylated
- 2-Propenoic acid, telomer with sodium hydrogen sulphite, sodium salt
- Ethylene/propylene oxide copolymer
- Propylene Glycol
- Tetraacetylethylenediamine
- Sodium Polyacrylate
- Polyvinyl Alcohol
- Trimethylolpropane
- Protease Enzyme
- Water
- (1-Hydroxyethylidene) bisphosphonic acid, sodium salt
- Sodium Silicate
- C12-15 Alcohols Ethoxylated propoxylated
- Polydimethylsiloxane
- Polyethylene glycol
- Tolyltriazole
- Amylase Enzyme
- Fragrance/Parfum
- Acrylic acid maleic acid copolymer
- Octadecanamide
- Calcium Stearate
- Aliphatic and Naphthalene hydrocarbons
- Calcium Carbonate
- Zinc Stearate
- CI Pigment iolet 75
- Manganese Catalyst
- .apha.-Octadecyl-.omega.-hydroxy-polyglycolether
- I Acid Red 18
- Acid Blue 182
(RB, n.d.) (Org, n.d.)
But I want to make it loud and clear I am not a Chemist nor have I studied any form of Science major. However, I can read and form educated opinions - and I am just sharing my study notes basically!! So I really welcome and encourage comments, feedback and even debate as this is all about learning and sharing.
With thanks to the following sources:
Org, E. (n.d.). Retrieved from EWG Org: http://www.ewg.org/guides/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=powerball&x=0&y=0&page=1&per_page=15#.WZUKaekRWM9(n.d.). RB. Retrieved from RB - Health Hygiene Home: http://www.rbnainfo.com/productpro/ProductSearch.do?searchType=ST&template=1&searchTerm=0-51700-93333-4