Has anyone noticed their dishes getting more and more spotty as the year goes on? Are you finding yourself examining each dish and putting the white-streaked ones back in the washer, hoping they will be cleaner next cycle?

I’ve been having this problem for months now. Finally I called our service company. We have a great service company for high end appliances (we own a Bosch) and when I rang for an appointment, my favorite service guy, Charlie showed up.

Apparently the State of Illinois has banned phosphates in dishwashing detergent, at least in household use. It’s the stuff that gets your dishes really clean. It’s also bad for the environment.

He told me that unfortunately there is no great solution. He didn’t have a suggestion for detergent replacement. But he cleaned everything out all the clogged sprayers and suggested a monthly vinegar wash (put a half-filled coffee cup of vinegar upright in the top shelf of the washer and do a cycle).

Afterwards we threw our Cascade out. All the other soaps in the store were also phosphate free so we switched to Finish. It said it was recommended by all the high end dishwasher names. So far so good, although it could just be that the dishwasher is clean now and over time we’ll once again see residue built up.