Ralph,
It's legal for use in home laundry in California. That's because we don't have all the fresh water lakes that places like Minnesota or Massachusetts might have. The main culprit in water pollution here in California and the rest of the Southwest isn't phosphates, it's nitrogen.
Glenn,
Be careful putting hands in that "charged water". You might get electrocuted! ;-)
Seriously, as I've pointed out, the slippery feel is just from alkalinity. Most powders will give the same feel, without STPP, because washing soda is alkaline. I've found the best way to determine how much STPP is by trial and error, but a standard amount is 30% by weight. I use that amount routinely, and get great cleaning results.
Also, even if your water is soft, STPP still has a function. I'm starting to feel like a broken record, but water softening is only one of STPP's purposes. It also complexes with dirt on fabrics, lifts them off ("breaks" them away from the fabric) and keeps them suspended so that they can be rinsed away. Water that is simply soft or softened with an ion exchanger simply won't do quite the same thing. The effect will be most noticible with mineral based soils on whites, or heavily soiled work clothes. Look at a pair soiled faded blue jeans. If the threads between the yarns looks brown, it's not clean. That's ground in dirt. Wash again in hot water with an oz or so of STPP. You'll most likely see that brown color has disappeared. Added bonus: your jeans will last longer because they are no longer being abraded internally by all that dirt!
It's legal for use in home laundry in California. That's because we don't have all the fresh water lakes that places like Minnesota or Massachusetts might have. The main culprit in water pollution here in California and the rest of the Southwest isn't phosphates, it's nitrogen.
Glenn,
Be careful putting hands in that "charged water". You might get electrocuted! ;-)
Seriously, as I've pointed out, the slippery feel is just from alkalinity. Most powders will give the same feel, without STPP, because washing soda is alkaline. I've found the best way to determine how much STPP is by trial and error, but a standard amount is 30% by weight. I use that amount routinely, and get great cleaning results.
Also, even if your water is soft, STPP still has a function. I'm starting to feel like a broken record, but water softening is only one of STPP's purposes. It also complexes with dirt on fabrics, lifts them off ("breaks" them away from the fabric) and keeps them suspended so that they can be rinsed away. Water that is simply soft or softened with an ion exchanger simply won't do quite the same thing. The effect will be most noticible with mineral based soils on whites, or heavily soiled work clothes. Look at a pair soiled faded blue jeans. If the threads between the yarns looks brown, it's not clean. That's ground in dirt. Wash again in hot water with an oz or so of STPP. You'll most likely see that brown color has disappeared. Added bonus: your jeans will last longer because they are no longer being abraded internally by all that dirt!
