Comments on: The Final Answer: How Does Biokleen Dishwasher Detergent Work? (And Their Other Stuff Too?)

By: Jae

Jae — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:54:38 +0000

Hi, Katie
I have tried something from the grocery store to clean the entire DW out-forgot the name and running a cup of vinegar through. I use Jet Dry as well. And my dishes are 95% clean going in; maybe a little grease left on a few. So I’ve even tried cutting down the detergent level b/c I don’t have much to clean off. I’m pretty much using it to semi-sanitize my dishes. But I don’t know how to take my filter or trap off to clean it besides doing the whole DW rinse. It’s frustrating b/c BioKleen was doing great for a year and then suddenly started getting worse. And since I’m not the only one, I tend to think something else is going on.

By: via Facebook

via Facebook — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:37:09 +0000

I’ve seen things about soap nuts for laundry and dishwashing detergent too…if you try that, I’d LOVE to read about it!

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:06:33 +0000

Jae,
Arg, I wish I could help! A bunch of readers told me to really, really clean my trap and filter well, so that might help. We soaked our DW overnight with straight vinegar, then ran it empty, and that also helped a bit. Worth a try! katie

By: via Facebook

via Facebook — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:16:58 +0000

Kari Mackay – I do use vinegar as a rinse aid, and all the homemade versions I tried were horrible…

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:31:29 +0000

I hope no one mentioned this already becuase I didn’t have time to read all the reviews, but I found this on a review of the 7th Gen. DW detergent on Amazon:

QUESTION: Why is there a residue on my dishes after using the Seventh Generation Automatic Dish Detergent? Is this residue safe?

ANSWER: The residue that periodically is found on clean dishes is caused by the level of hardness in your water and the amount of detergent that is used, accordingly.

If you have hard water you will need to use a rinse aid. Our product does not have phosphates in it, which can act as a rinse aid. With extremely hard water, the detergent will need the assistance of the rinse aid, which acts as a buffer so that minerals from the water and soils are not redeposited on the clean dishes and glasses.

If you have soft water you will need to reduce the amount of the detergent that you use per load. If you are using too much detergent, it will be impossible for your dish washer to rinse off the extra detergent and the minerals from the water.

By: Jennifer via Facebook

Jennifer via Facebook — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:42:25 +0000

Anyone try soap nuts?? I use it for my laundry and you can grind the nuts into powder for the dishwasher I think too

By: Kim via Facebook

Kim via Facebook — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:33:53 +0000

I found Biokleen to be garbage. Nice to know there are other uses for the bottle sitting under my sink. We have been happy with Ecover tabs.

By: Cathy via Facebook

Cathy via Facebook — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:04:15 +0000

The manual for my brand-new dishwasher addresses this white film in the troubleshooting area. It says it is caused by using phosphate-free detergent, and the film can be removed by running the clean dishes (butt not silverware) through the full cycle again with a citric acid powder. Or, to use a vinegar rinse! I cup of vinegar added after the detergent cup opens.

By: Cathy via Facebook

Cathy via Facebook — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:59:01 +0000

What Tiffany said. Run the water until it is hot before you start the dishwasher or use the water-heating feature. Note that if you have and use the water-heating feature on your dishwasher you no longer need to keep your hot water heater set at 140 degrees. You get a net energy savings. (Note that if your water heater is set any lower, and you don’t have a water heating feature on your dishwasher, you are not likely to get stellar performance from that dishwasher) Also check for adequate rinse agent, even if the agent you are using is only vinegar. And make sure the trap /filter is spotless. I myself am very satisfied with the 7th Gen unscented powder dishwasher detergent and the 7th Gen rinse agent.

By: Tiffany via Facebook

Tiffany via Facebook — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:09:17 +0000

I have been using biokleen and find that sometimes I will have things that don’t come out very clean or have a film on them. Most of the time I find that the culprit is not cleaning out the trap in the bottom of the dishwasher or having too many items that should have been rinsed before put in. Also, not having hot enough water can make things filmy. I try to always run the kitchen sink until the water is hot before starting the dishwasher.