How did we choose the name "Bubble Bandit"?

Well, you have to go back to 2009 when Spokane County in Washington state became the first place to ban the retail sale of dishwasher detergent containing phosphate for residential use. Many residents of that county soon started to notice the new “green” detergents didn’t work. And they didn’t like that at all. So ladies would hop into their minivans and drive 30 miles to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where they would stock up on their old dishwasher detergents, bringing back cases of it for themselves, friends, relatives. The media dubbed these folks bubble bandits.

The strategy worked for the bubble bandits, for a while. Until more counties and then some states also instituted the misguided ban on phosphates in residential dishwasher detergents. Then in mid 2010, the large manufacturers decided to change their formulas, removing phosphates from their residential dishwasher detergents regardless of where the detergent was being sold (commercial detergents were not part of the bans). It seemed the bubble bandits were foiled. Everyone would just have to accept that their days of truly clean dishes were over, and instead they’d end up buying multiple products to try and compensate. Rinse agents. Dishwasher boosters. Dishwasher cleaners. Pretty little multi-colored pods that look like candy. The big manufacturers were pleased with all the new avenues of sales and profits.

We thought about those ladies in Spokane County when we developed a new dishwasher detergent... one that worked, and yes contained phosphates. So it was fitting when we launched it in 2012 that we pay homage to those bubble bandits.