Elanso

As promised in my rant about Palmolive eco+ Dishwasher Gel, I’m reviewing Seventh Generation’s dishwasher detergent. I could not find the gel at my local grocery store, so I went with the powder. I paid around $4 for the 45 oz. box. I snagged the photo below from Seventh Generation’s site. Even though I like the company, I was a bit skeptical before trying Seventh Generation’s Free & Clear Automatic Dishwasher Powder. I had read a few reviews concerning a filmy residue left on dishes.

I loaded my dishes as normal, put the phosphate and chlorine-free detergent in the regular wash cycle compartment, and left the pre-rinse compartment empty. According to Seventh Generation, using too much detergent for the hardness of your water may cause a harmless film on clean dishes.

After waiting an impatient hour or so for the cycle to finish, I opened my dishwasher to a load full of very clean and fresh dishes. No film, no food left on dishes. No complaints.

Well, I have to find something to complain about, don’t I?

It’s great that this detergent is chlorine and phosphate free. And the packaging is made from 100% recycled paper (minimum 40% post-consumer). Plus, the product isn’t tested on animals. And my favorite — they disclose ALL ingredients. However, it isn’t completely biodegradable.

Why not? Here’s the explanation from Seventh Generation’s FAQs:

Why have you taken the words Natural and Biodegradable off the Automatic Dish Powder package?

There were two ingredients in our Auto Dish Powder that we discovered were not natural. One was a petroleum-based surfactant; and the other a non-toxic polymer. After we printed new packaging stating that this product was natural and biodegradable, we learned that the non-toxic polymer had not been replaced by a natural ingredient. We also learned that this non-toxic polymer is not readily biodegradable. Therefore, we choose to remove these claims, since they were not authentic to our product.

Once we have replaced the polymer in question with totally natural, biodegradable qualities that meet our performance standards, as well as our health and environmental standards, we will readjust our claims on the packaging.

We apologize for the confusion.

Well, at least they’re honest about it. And they’re trying to fix it.

I must add that I love the free and clear (of perfumes and dyes) option. I enjoyed having no scent wafting out of the dishwasher when I opened it up. There are just too many scented products out there: shampoo, shaving lotion, hand soap, deodorant, lotion — pretty much anything! My nose can’t take it all.

What would I change about this product? Besides making it completely biodegradable, not much. Frankly though, I’m not a fan of powders. Next time I will try the gel. I tend to spill powder too easily, but the packaging does have a handy metal spout on the side. Overall, I am very happy with this product and will use it again. But I do hope to find the gel next time. You can go here to see Where To Buy.

If you’d like to try this product, go to Seventh Generation to download a coupon. If you’ve already tried it, please tell us what you thought.

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