Dishwasher rinse aid is a relatively new concept to me. I don’t recall seeing or hearing about rinse aid products when I was a child, nor do I recall there being a special spot in the dishwasher where you were supposed to deposit one of these products.
I’ve ignored the rinse aid reservoirs in the dishwashers I’ve had access to during my adult years until now. My husband and I recently bought appliances for our newly purchased house. I want our wonderful new dishwasher to function optimally, so I looked into rinse aids to see if I should be using them.
What is rinse aid?
Rinse aid is a surfactant. Surfactants are substances that reduce the surface tension of water. When surfactants are used in the dish rinsing process, they prevent droplets of water from forming, which speeds the drying process and makes dishes shine.
Are rinse aids beneficial?
There’s no doubt that rinse aids can improve the appearance of dishes, so in this sense they are beneficial. However, when we consider what substances are being used to achieve this end, it becomes more complicated.
According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), many brands of rinse aid contain ingredients that may be harmful to human health and the environment.
- Antiredeposition agents: These may cause cancer and have adverse effects on the respiratory, renal, and urinary systems. They are known for causing skin irritation, eliciting allergic reactions, and causing skin damage. They may also cause chronic aquatic toxicity.
- Methylchloroisothiazolinone: This is very toxic to aquatic life.
- Oxybenzone: This may have adverse effects on human development and on the endocrine and reproductive systems.
- Sodium tripolyphosphate: This is ecotoxic.
- Troclosene sodium, dihydrate: This may cause cancer and have adverse effects on the respiratory, endocrine, reproductive, renal, urinary, nervous, digestive, and integumentary systems. It may also cause chronic aquatic toxicity.
When we use rinse aids, these substances get into our water systems and we may ingest them when traces are left on our dishes.
Are there better alternatives to standard rinse aids?
Fortunately, not all rinse aids contain these potentially harmful ingredients. The EWG has identified three rinse aids that it believes are safe based on the data that is currently available: Ecover Rinse Aid, Seventh Generation Free and Clear Rinse Aid, and Nature Clean Rinse Aid.
Some people advocate using vinegar or hydrogen peroxide in place of rinse aid. While these products may help dishes come out looking clean, they do not truly function as rinse aids because they are not surfactants. If you want to try these, please check with the manufacturer of your dishwasher first to make sure they will not damage the dishwasher (e.g., vinegar is acidic and may harm dishwasher components that are exposed to it over time).
As you can see, rinse aid may be convenient in helping your dishes dry quickly and spotlessly, but it definitely isn’t necessary. My family certainly has always managed to get by with some water spots on our dishes! If you want this benefit, then consider choosing a safer version for the sake of your family’s health and the health of the environment.
Do you use rinse aid? Why or why not?
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This was a super helpful post about something that I’ve been wondering about for awhile. I was going to simply use vinegar but now that you mentioned it may harm the dishwasher, I may have to look into it more. I’d love for you to share your post with us over at Simply Natural Saturdays!
Thanks for sharing about the link party. I will check it out next week!
I haven’t tried using any rinse aid, just the regular dish detergent. Interesting topic!
It was very eye-opening to learn about it. 🙂
This is a very helpful information. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Anita!
We don’t have a water softener so I was horrified (though not terribly surprised) when all of our dishes and glasses went really cloudy. We tried several rinse aids but found the only thing that really worked was 1/4 cup of vinegar in a glass set in the top rack. I’ve read that you should NEVER use vinegar as a rinse aid as the compartment in dishwashers is not meant for vinegar and will start to deteriorate. Great article!
The deterioration of certain dishwasher components is what I read about when researching this, as well. It’s interesting that a glass of vinegar set on the top shelf works. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I know this is an old post, but hoping you’ll still see this. Do you leave the glass “right side up” with vinegar in it?
Hi Becky,
That is my understanding–the glass should be right side up.
This was a really interesting read! I’ve never had a dishwasher so it’s not something I’ve ever really come across before. x #FridayFrivolity
It’s definitely a frequently used product among those with dishwashers. Thanks for stopping by, Jess!
How interesting! I didn’t know rinse aid was a surfactant… I’ve been using vinegar. I’m glad to know better now! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us at #FRidayFrivolity! Pinning and tweeting.
I’m so glad to have learned all of this myself and am happy to be able to share it with you.
I read at some Sciency website that the benefits of rinse aid is reducing surface tension of water, which allows water to sheet off dishes, which reduces (or hopefully eliminates) water spots, AND this also helps any remaining small food particles to slide off dishes.
So it results in cleaner dishes, as well as cleaner looking dishes. So it’s about more than just appearances. It’s about a cleaner result (no small food particles left behind).
That said, I don’t know how the safe rinse aid chemicals are, or if any is left on dishes. The sciency website says very little to no rinse aid remains on dishes. I hope that’s correct, but I’m not sure.
So I’m searching for the safest possible rinse aid. Perhaps I’ll try 7th Generation brand. I won’t be using vinegar for my rinse aid because my Bosch website says not to use vinegar (may damage dispensor seals).
We tried the 7th Generation and it worked fine for us. Hopefully it will for you, too!
I just got a new all stainless steal in & out Maytag dishwasher my 20 yr old all plastic interior bit the dust. I am so disapointed in my new one, it does a terrible job the dishes and interior are never dry evn when I choose the por dry. So then I find out I need a rinse agent, what a crock , why do I have to buy toxic chemicals to dry them?? If I could return the washer I would! My old one did such a great job with just plain rinse water, I really miss my old one.
That sounds very frustrating!
Our dishwasher has a stainless steal interior and it doesn’t dry the dishes, but it’s never rusted (we’ve had it for about 3 years). I try to open it as soon as it is done running a cycle so the dishes air dry immediately. This seams to help a lot with the spots on dishes.
I don’t use a rinse aid, I have a soft water conditioner & I get very minimal spotting. I don’t want to be buying more products/chemicals either. I just got rid of my 21 yr old dishwasher with plastic sides. I was happy with it but to replace the racks, which had rust on them, it would have been half the price of a new one, so I opted for a new one with pure nylon racks which won’t rust. My new dishwasher has stainless steel insides & is still wet from the installation test early this morning. I guess I’ll have to get used to that, my old one dried quickly with no heat.
It does take some getting used to. I think not having a heated dry feature saves a bit of energy, which means you can save a bit on electricity. This is nice. 🙂
I use a rinse aid commonly known as a dishtowel. After 12 years of washing and drying by hand, this works for me, and is very labor-saving.
Hi Mike,
I love this. Sometimes the “old-fashioned way” is the most effective way!
This is a very much useful piece of information…I recently bought a dishwasher…used the rinse aid and after looking at the result of completely dry dishes thought of investigating it…I really found this very much helpful…thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! I’m glad I could share it.
Thank you for this article. I was already in doubt and leaning toward “why spend the money?”
My interest was generated because I recently had to purchase a new dishwasher and it came with a package of a rinse aid (cascade?).
Like you we never used one growing up and I certainly have never purchased one. So I was curious.
I was already in doubt about them from the perspective of another thing to buy. Add in another plastic container and your article and the decision was simple. Thank you!
It’s much simpler, cheaper, and better for the environment to go without.