Heavy duty dishmachine detergent (Ecolab)

[mamapinky]

Hi
I was given a few of these. Still in clear overwrap. Do any of you know anything about this stuff? I'm assuming it can NOT be used in a home dishwasher?
Thank You. .Cheryl

 

[whirlykenmore78]

That is VERY good stuff:

I have used it in a very busy restaurant and it not only cleaned the dishes very well but kept the dishwasher tank clean too. It really has to be used with it's designed Ecolab dispenser/controller for proper dosing and concentration based on the soil level and water conditions in the dishmachine's wash tank. AKA; lazy operator who doesn't pre rinse well and or change the dishmachine water as often as he should.
If you could find a way to SAFELY break up these blocks, small doses would work ok in a home DW but it is not Ideal for that purpose.
WK78

 

[launderess]

In order to obtain optimal performance you'd need the dosage/dilution ratios.

Good luck with that because Ecolab will *NOT* divulge such information to non-authorized persons. This most certainly includes domestic users who manage to get their mitts on their products.

Being as this may was given a stash of Ecolab Solid Metal Pro (posted about it in a thread here several weeks ago), and it works well for cleaning pots/pans and other metal ware. Have also used it as a laundry "break" and or part of a "reclaim" procedure.

Without the proper dispenser your likely only other remedy is to get a mallet or something similar and break off bits of block. Taking such bits then making them smaller and or grinding down into a powder. You *could* try simply adding broken off bits/clumps to your dishwasher and then checking towards end of wash cycle if everything has dissolved.

These Ecolab "solid" products aren't like consumer tablet dish or laundry detergent products. Those are meant to dissolve instantly upon contact with water.

Ecolab solid products are meant to dissolve slowly as water passes over at a certain force/speed to provide proper dilution ratio. If the blocks dissolved too fast it would cause waste among other issues.

Depending upon how game you are to use these things, search eBay for the proper dispenser. Sometimes things can be had for very little money. But then you'll still need dilution ratios and or a way to dispense into your machine.

 

[washingpowder]

Having worked as restaurant manager for a couple of years now, just wanted to bring up some safety issues.
This Apex line is a new generation of detergents, designed with more additives than the regular stuff. That being said, the main ingredient is the usual; in this case, potassium hydroxide. Caustic, nasty stuff. Had two workers comp- involved situations where porters had severe damage to there hands. One stuck their hand in a clogged dispenser, instead of calling me over. Another was changing out an empty container (previous generation detergent came in a plastic casing), and a leftover piece landed on his arm.

No matter what it is, take all possible safety precautions to avoid an issue, including heavy duty gloves and googles, if you plan on hammering it into pieces. Products as caustic as this can melt your skin away in seconds.

 

[littlegreeny]

I wouldn't use it for fear of ruining my dishwasher. Those types of detergents are designed for a quick 1-2 minute wash, not a 30+ minute wash cycle of consumer-grade dw.

 

[iej]

Probably unsuitable for a domestic machine if they contain large doses of caustic ingredients.
The cycles are designed for enzyme and milder surfactants and are much longer than a commercial machine. Also catering grade tableware is usually capable of surviving much harsher washing than typical household stuff. You might find that very harsh products could fade your crockery or when cause etching, especially if used with a residential dishwasher's much longer cycles.

Older residential dishwasher detergent formulations used to contain caustic ingredients and they were pretty harsh on patterned dishes compared to modern equivalents.

Also be VERY careful of your eyes if you're breaking up something like that. You should probably wear goggles! I'm not kidding. They're not designed to be broken up manually and one crumb in your eye ana you'll do very nasty damage.

 

[launderess]

Like many other institutional dishwasher detergents

This stuff seems laden with chlorine bleach. Thus extreme caution is required when used, especially if (as recommended against by above posters) one goes with attempting to dilute without proper dispenser. Could end up with bleach spots on fabric/textile the solution came into contact.