I had to check the directions twice to be sure that only 2 teaspoons of the powder were all that was needed to clean a load of dirty dishes with no pre-rinsing. The result: The dishes came out cleaner ? and with no residue of detergent ?than with any other dishwashing detergent I've tried (Arm & Hammer, Cascade, Ecover or whatever is on sale). The company says the enzyme-activated cleaning powder contains no polluting phosphates or hazardous dry chorine bleach and is safe for septic tanks.