Don Maximo soap contains phosphates and therefore this soap is banned in the US. In the 80s and early 90s we used to spend winter in Mission, a southern Texas border town. Everyone there knew of the cleaning power of Don Maximo soap and it was only a nickel or dime for a huge cake of it. I took a cheese grater and grated the soap and would put just a pinch in the laundry and it not only got everything clean it also cleaned the inside of the wash machine. My mother-in-law still uses it as a stain remover. She swears by it and says it works better than anything we can buy. BTW...it is also awesome at completely cleaning your hands of most anything that may get on them.