Glass Magic sightings?

Glass Magic is a powder you put in your dishwasher, along with detergent and drying agent, to help prevent spots and white film from hard water on glassware. I can't seem to find it anymore in local stores. It is now Finish Glass Magic Performance Booster and comes in a blue box instead of a green one.

Has anyone seen it? Or something similar? (Note I am not talking about Jet Dry or such liquids; this supplements those.)

I read somewhere that you can make a substitute out of sodium bicarbonate and borax -- think that would work?

HI,

Since phosphates have been expelled from dishwasher detergents, this waxy film on glasses is a constant issue.

I wonder if the product you are mentioning has phosphates and the manufacturer withdrew it.

Woodmans has often been my source for difficult to find household products. I will check Sunset the next time I am there. Jewel has been purposefully removing low volume products from their shelves. If other stores are adopting that strategy, it might also account for its scarcity.

I don't know about your homemade brew. I do have a question I intend to inquire with my dishwasher's producer: can I add some bleach to sanitize and rinse the machine?

Regards,

The main ingredient in Finish Glass Magic is sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) so it may not be allowed to be sold in Illinois anymore.

Fujisan wrote:The main ingredient in Finish Glass Magic is sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) so it may not be allowed to be sold in Illinois anymore.

Correct. Here is a longer explanation that I was getting ready to post before seeing your comment.

LAZ wrote:Glass Magic is a powder you put in your dishwasher, along with detergent and drying agent, to help prevent spots and white film from hard water on glassware. I can't seem to find it anymore in local stores.

Cathy2 wrote:I wonder if the product you are mentioning has phosphates and the manufacturer withdrew it.

I suspect Cathy2's explanation is correct. Finish Glass Magic is composed mostly of sodium triphosphate, with several other minor ingredients. Illinois and many other states banned high-phosphate dishwasher detergents about a year ago. I'm not sure, but probably dishwasher additives are also included. Reportedly dishwasher detergent accounted for about 10% of phosphorous in municipal wastewater.

LAZ wrote:I read somewhere that you can make a substitute out of sodium bicarbonate and borax -- think that would work?

You can certainly try baking soda and borax (sodium borate), although neither is present in Glass Magic. It won't cost you much to find out if it works. Keep in mind borate may be slightly toxic when ingested (I doubt there would be much residue left on your dishes) so be a little careful using it in the kitchen. I wonder what the sodium bicarbonate is there for. I suspect most of the cleaning muscle is provided by the borax.

You can buy sodium triphosphate of various purities. I don't know what grade you'd want for a dishwasher additive. Also I'm not sure how important the minor ingredients in Glass Magic are. But I'd guess sodium triphosphate would work almost as well as Glass Magic. And it would be even more effective at ecological damage!

Cathy2 wrote:I do have a question I intend to inquire with my dishwasher's producer: can I add some bleach to sanitize and rinse the machine?

Chlorine bleach can be tough on certain metals and plastics so they'll probably tell you not to use it (I'd guess very occasional use wouldn't be much of a problem). Glass Magic contains a minor proportion of sodium dichloroisocyanurate, an antimicrobial. You probably want anti-scaling agents as well as disinfectants to clean the innards of your dishwasher so something along the lines of Glass Magic might be ideal. There may well be products specifically formulated for cleaning dishwashers (you'd kind of think they'd clean themselves, no?).

Hard water scale is frequently treated with vinegar. For example, various coffemakers I've used recommended a vinegar tank-full every once in a while. My SAECO has an expensive bottle of special sauce to be run through the machine from time-to-time. I'd bet that there's a dishwasher analogue. If not, maybe use the coffemaker sauce?!

Geo

Thanks, everyone, for the explanation. I had no idea of the content of the stuff and somehow missed the news of the ban. Glass Magic's manufacturer apparently did not find it worthwhile to post "not available in some states" on its website.

I put vinegar in the last cycle and the glassware came out even worse than before: streaky and spotted.

Rene G, my guess the purpose of baking soda in homemade dish cleaners is as a water softener. Possibly washing soda (sodium carbonate) might work better.

I use tang.

razbry wrote:I use tang.

To clean the glassware, right? (I'd shudder to think you were using it to clean the dishwasher, although one never knows )

If your dishwasher is underperforming in rinsing off film, in addition to using Jet Dry: 1) switch to a liquid dishwasher soap; and 2) use less of it -- I'd start with halving what you normally use. (The dishwasher canisters call for too much soap as is.); or 3) get a new dishwasher. Like all mechanical/electrical products, they're not meant to last forever, parts wear out, and underperform.

My dishwasher is very new and I guarantee that the problem I am having (the same one everyone else is) is due to the change in dish soap content. I already use less than is recommended, use jet dry, etc.

We've been very pleased with the Kirkland liquid dishwasher detergent from Costco. But then, maybe it hasn't been reformulated.

Nope, just checked: "Sans phosphates". And our dishwasher is old as dirt.

Geo

You can find it on Amazon.

Hi,

This phosphate ban is limited (at least the last time I heard) to 13 states. When I first heard of this, people were traveling to adjacent states to buy phosphate laced dishwasher detergent. If I had known the manufacturers would react by changing the formula for everyone, I would have stocked up.

When I was at Woodman's last time, I checked every dishwasher detergent hoping to find any with phosphate. I found none.

I read the amount of phosphate used didn't have much of an environmental impact. It sure does affect how clean and cloudy my dishes appear. I thought my glasses were ruined until I hand washed them with Dawn. Suddenly they sparkled once more.

I did call Costco and eventually talked to the company who makes their dishwasher detergent. This person suggested buying the dishwasher capsules. I believe I checked them, too, to find they were absent of phosphates, too.

I miss my phosphates.

Regards,

We have two dishwashers in our breakrooms at the office. We had been using Cascade Complete (liquid) until our company went all green on us and took it off the approved ordering list. We tried eco-friendly Palmolive and Seventh Generation liquids and watched the film build up, both on the glasses and in the stainless dishwashers. We switched over to the approved Cascade powder and the film is gone. At home, I use Finish liquid and don't have the film build-up. I believe both the Finish liquid and Casade powder are phosphate free.

Hi,

I am just about finished with my Costco/Kirkland liquid dishwasher soap. I will buy a box of Cascade powder next to see if this really reduces this annoying film.

If anyone has had any other products to try, please advise.

I never knew I would miss phosphate so much.

(What if ... I added a tad bit of phosphate to the dishwasher soap? If yes, what do I really need?)

Regards,

I use the Cascade ActionPacs with Dawn and I have absolutely no spots, streaks or haze on any glassware.
The dishwasher is only two years old and I do not have hardwater, so that may also be a factor. It may be worth a shot for you though.

http://www.cascadeclean.com/en_US/cascade-with-dawn-action-pacs.do