thanks herbs girl.
w/ my laundry (2 yrs natural ) I am just not happy about whites...they end up pretty grey & grimey after a while. : P adding natural dish soap to strip isn't effective at all, but neither is a bit of bleach.
I've gone to washing whites in Tide once a month or so...hate the chemicals and smell..but it does the job. double rinse hopefully helps ; )
Same with dishwashing. I've tried every brand! For our new GE d.w., nothing beats Finish Gel, just 1 T. in the cup, and a bit of vinegar in with it. I am absolutely thrilled - it's the first time I've tried this product (sale, now I'm hooked) with how well it cleans...nothing natural (bought or home made) comes close...so I'm sticking with Finish, and pretty confident the long cycle and hot wash/rinses are getting ALL the detergent off, completely.
I like natural as much as I can (no xenoestrogens...) but, I just have to get CLEAN dishes. With natural I spend just as much time REwashing by hand and shining grimey dishes as I did loading and emptying, lol. We run 2-3 loads daily here.... : ) With kids, too, the Finish has been amazing. I may try every other load natural (but I'll create a gel if I do, powder anything just doesn't work well for me in the d.w.)