Surfactant question--just what is "Jet Dry" anyway?

[Jane in NC]

OK--I'll admit that I have not used Jet Dry or any other "rinse aid" type products in my dishwasher until recently, when I tried a sample. My son and I were studying the labels of various brands of rinse agents and found that none admitted what was inside the bottle. We understand how these products work (lowering the surface tension of water so that it spreads off dishes, thus eliminating water spots), but just what the heck is this stuff chemically? Anyone know?

 

Jane

[Lisa in SC]

The ingredient list is fairly vague. From the Jet Dry website: "JET-DRY® products are a special combination of nonionic surfactants, a chelating agent, dye, and fragrance* (*for our fragranced products)."

 

You can try to do a search on each individual ingredient, but even so, you will likely come up with conflicting information regarding the safety of each. If you're uncomfortable with this, you can certainly try filling your dishwasher's "Jet Dry" reservoir with white vinegar. I've done this, and the results have been satisfactory.

 

Lisa

[Jane in NC]

The ingredient list is fairly vague. From the Jet Dry website: "JET-DRY® products are a special combination of nonionic surfactants, a chelating agent, dye, and fragrance* (*for our fragranced products)."

 

 

Lisa

 

A note of the "special" combination has been made. It just seems peculiar that they are not required to say what kind of surfactant is in the bottle. (Do I sound a bit paranoid? One wonders sometimes just what in the heck goes down the drain and into the estuary!)

 

Jane

[Lisa in SC]

A note of the "special" combination has been made. It just seems peculiar that they are not required to say what kind of surfactant is in the bottle. (Do I sound a bit paranoid? One wonders sometimes just what in the heck goes down the drain and into the estuary!)

 

Jane

 

But no more paranoid than I. :D The reasoning is something along the lines of "We can't be more specific for fear of giving away our secret." ::snort:: Methinks that "We can't be more specific for fear of scaring off all of our customers" might be more accurate.

 

More googling turned up the fact that the nonionic surfactant could be glycol ether or alcohol ethoxylate. If you google those chemicals, you can find all manner of concerning information particularly in the arena of inhaling these chemicals.

 

I don't know. I think that it is ridiculous that companies are free to be so intentionally vague about ingredients. I also believe that, in this case, "better safe than sorry" applies.

 

Lisa

[Jane in NC]

So glycol ether is an industrial solvent that can cause birth defects. Proctor and Gamble reports in their product information "Science in the Box" page that alcohol ethoxylate is safe--and then references publications produced by their scientists that claim it is so.

 

I have been reading about how municipal water systems are contaminated with birth control meds and antibiotics--one wonders about the other stuff as well. And I do literally have an estuary at the end of my street. As you may know, estuaries serve as nurseries to our seafood industry. What goes from the septic tanks and lawns to fish and shrimp in their infancy?

 

Ugh. Too painful to consider.

 

Jane

[melissel]

My two cents: I used to use Electrasol with the Jet-Dry powerballs. Every cycle, my dishes would come out soaking wet, even after the heat dry cycle. I finally managed to use up all my stash and switched over to Seventh Generation dish detergent, and have had dry dishes ever since. I'm mystified as to why this is, but apparently, the Jet-Dry was just a gratuitous extra chemical. I would just skip it, or use the white vinegar like a PP said.