Which green dishwasher powders do the job?

There are good reasons for choosing an eco-friendly dishwasher detergent, mostly to do with avoiding phosphates. Phosphates help strip away food and grease – which is great for getting squeaky clean plates, but they’re not so good for the environment.

Once phosphates make their way into rives and estuaries they encourage excessive growth of plant-life, leading to slime-clogged rivers and algal blooms that starve aquatic life of oxygen.

This can be a particular problem in smaller towns where wastewater gets minimal treatment before being discharged into local lakes or rivers – but even in bigger cities that remove phosphate, the process is an added cost that ultimately hits taxpayers in the pocket.

In 2010 most major dishwashing detergent brands in the USA went phosphate free. The EU is restricting phosphate use in dishwasher detergents from 2017, and in Australia a full phosphate ban in laundry detergent comes into action this year, with dishwashing detergent potentially next in line.

New Zealand, however, seems to be lagging. There’s no national policy on phosphates in dishwashing detergents. Yet thankfully there are a number of eco-friendly alternatives on the market.

These ‘green’ products are phosphate-free and also avoid chlorine bleach, which can cause eye irritation, respiratory problems and pollute groundwater; as well as synthetic fragrances, which are usually made from petroleum by-products and can be irritants.

The big question though: do the green products work? And do they cost more? We tested five dishwasher powders that don’t use phosphate, chlorine or synthetic fragrances to see how they stacked up against their phosphate-based competitors.

Felicity’s home test

“For our test we added to our daily dishwashing load a plate with a squirt of tomato sauce, a knife smeared with marmite and a wine glass with lipstick on the rim. All had been left to dry for 30 minutes before being washed on a regular cycle (our machine is an Asko D3230) using approximately 20g of powder per wash and rinse aid. This exact process was repeated with all five brands. Where a brand offered more than one kind of phosphate-free product, ie. powder, gels, sachets, liquids or tablets, we opted for the powder.”

ecostore Auto Dish Powder

$9.95 for 1kg (approx. 20 cents per wash)

Also available: Auto Dishwash Tablets
From www.ecostore.co.nz or selected supermarkets

Full list of ingredients – yes
Third-party certification – yes
Recyclable packaging – yes

Everything looked clean and there was no trace of food left on any of the dishes or cutlery. A few of the glasses looked ever so slightly cloudy; however all of the lipstick was gone from the rim of the glass. The lemon-scented powder was pleasantly subtle. Ecostore is the only brand to have received certification from Environmental Choice NZ (ECNZ), which is generally recognised as New Zealand’s most comprehensive certification. However, it is worth noting that ECNZ does allow low levels of phosphates (up to 1.15g per kg) in its laundry and dishwashing detergents, as the contribution of phosphate from agriculture usually far outweighs household discharges. Similarly, Ecostore says that while they never add phosphate to their products, very low levels can be present in the raw materials they use. Ecostore also carries the Enviromark Diamond logo, its highest grade of certification, and is a carboNZero certified manufacturer. The bottle has a childproof cap.

Ecover Natural Dishwasher Powder

$16.80 for 1.36kg (approx. 44 cents per wash)

Also available: Dishwasher Tablets
From selected food stores and online

Full list of ingredients – yes
Recyclable packaging – yes

While the plates were clean, we found a number of glasses that were left with a cloudy, chalky finish and caked on to the inside bottom of a number of mugs was a fine, powdery sediment. The lipstick on the glass rim remained virtually untouched.

Ecover contains a naturally derived citrus fragrance, though it was barely detectable. It is the only phosphate-free brand reviewed that isn’t made in New Zealand (it’s produced in Belgium) and it is by far the most expensive per wash – more than twice as much as the next most expensive brand. Ecover has no third-party certification although it has developed its own certification process – Ecover’s Diamond model – in which products are tested against 13 rigorous criteria, which make up part of a model validated by the independent body Vinçotte Environment. Ecover is the only brand to use cardboard packaging, which is made from 95 per cent recycled cardboard; however it isn’t childproof.

Eco Planet Automatic Dishwasher Powder

$8.49 for 1kg (approx. 17 cents per wash)

Also available: Automatic Dishwasher Tablets and Automatic Dishwasher Gel
From selected supermarkets

Full list of ingredients – yes
Third-party certification – yes
Recyclable packaging – yes

The dishes and cutlery were clean and streak-free, however some of the glasses were cloudy and most of the lipstick remained on the glass rim. The kaffir lime and lemon scented powder offered a subtle hint of fragrance. Eco Planet carries two certification logos, Enviromark Gold and the Green Tick, however it’s worth pointing out that both programmes look at the manufacturing facility and business as a whole and therefore award across the product range, rather than certifying individual products. The bottle has a childproof cap.

Ecobasik Powder Dishwasher Soap

$5.95 for 700g (approx. 17 cents per wash)

From selected health stores

Full list of ingredients – yes
Recyclable packaging – yes*

Nearly all the dishes came up clean and sparkling with the exception of a few slightly cloudy glasses, and some of the lipstick remained on the glass rim. It has a pleasant orange fragrance, from essential oils. The powder comes in a plastic bag, and while it uses less plastic and takes up less space than the plastic bottles, it carries a plastic identification code of 7*, which some councils and recyclers reject as it is harder to make new products from. The packaging is not childproof. Ecobasik is a new range made in Kerikeri.

Earthwise Dishwasher Powder

$9.49 for 1kg (approx. 19 cents per wash)

Also available: Dishwasher Tablets and Dishwasher Gel Concentrate
From www.earthwisedirect.co.nz or selected supermarkets

Full list of ingredients – yes
Recyclable packaging – yes

Following a wash using Earthwise, we found the dishes looked clean with no streaks and very little filminess on the glasses, although most of the lipstick remained on the glass rim. The powder has a delicate lemon fragrance. While other Earthwise products have gained Environmental Choice NZ certification, its dish range has not. The bottle has a childproof cap.

Our pick

ecostore Auto Dish Powder was the most effective phosphate-free brand in our unscientific home test. It was the only one that removed all the food and lipstick, and overall it did a decent job. While it was the second most expensive brand at 20 cents per wash, it was only marginally more than the others and less than half as much as the most expensive brand. We also like the fact ecostore Auto Dish Powder has received the most robust third-party certifications.

How does a regular brand perform?

We replicated the test using the phosphate-based Finish Power Powder brand. The dishes and cutlery were clean, shiny and spot-free and while some of the glasses were a little filmy, there was no trace of lipstick remaining. Finish does not list any ingredients on some of its packaging and has no third-party certification, but the container is recyclable and it has a childproof cap. At 18 cents per wash, Finish is more expensive than two of the phosphate-free brands and only a little cheaper than Ecostore and Earthwise.

$8.99 for 1kg

Available from most supermarkets