Does hard water cause the soapy film on my dishes?
I tried the liquid sunshine concentrate yesterday as a dishwashing liquid. My dishes and stainless steel dishwasher had a film all over the inside. I’m thinking this was probably because of my hard water but this doesn’t happen with regular dishwasher liquid. Any suggestions? (I used a 50% solution of the liquid sunshine concentrate mixed with water and filled the little detergent dispenser with that.)
The film you are seeing is soap scum. According to my friend Google: “Soap scum is an informal term for the white solid that results from the addition of soap to hard water. Hard water contains calcium or magnesium ions, which react with the fatty acid component of soap to give what are technically called lime soaps: 2 C17H35COO−Na+ + Ca2+ → (C17H35COO)2Ca + 2 Na.”
Best way to remove soap scum is:
a) Neutralizing with a mild acid ie vinegar or
b) Scrubbing it off with a mild mineral abrasive ie Bon Ami (unscented, natural and cheap)
Detergents don’t create soap scum. One of the advantages of a synthetic detergent system (there are a few) is that they can be made to foam better in hard and cold water, and they do not tend to create soap scum as a generalization.
