Phosphate detergent wash, clothing

Alternatively, finely powdered zeolites may be used in detergent powders as a builder since zeolite particles smaller than 10 pm do not stick to clothing. Formerly, sodium polyphosphates (Section 7.7) were used extensively as detergent builders to tie up the Ca2+ and Mg2+ in hard water as soluble complexes (or as a precipitate that washes away). However, many communities ban phosphate detergents because of pollution problems (Sections 7.7 and 9.6), thus creating a major new market for zeolites. 

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