Started using Charlies Soap, and still have dirty clothes

16 years ago

I also just received my bag of CS a week or so ago. I've watched probably 6 - 8 loads, mostly of towels and sheets so far. However, when washing a load of clothes today, I've noticed that several pieces (mainly belonging to my 2-1/2 yr old) didn't come out clean. I'm using the recommended 1 scoop, and it was a pretty full load in my Bosch 700 series FL. Forgive me if this question has been asked in a previous thread, I tried reading some of the Charlie's threads, but didn't find any sort of answer that helps me. I do understand that water hardiness plays a roll. We're on city water, and according to their annual report, our water averages 29. So my question is, do I either need to more aggressively treat dirty clothes/stains (the ones I have issue with I wouldn't normally pre-treat - it's just 'normal' dirt, food stains, etc.), pre-soak dirty items, use more detergent, or do something else? I was having a similar sort of problem with Tide powder, and after some trial and error, found that I just wasn't using enough detergent. Like one of the previous posters, I'm finding my whites aren't too terribly bright; I assume is it okay to use OxyClean with CS? Any advice would be appreciated.

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Comments (7)

jrdown
16 years ago
Using OxyClean with Charlie's Soap is perfectly fine. You know, stains can be tricky things. You might try adding one more scoop and see if that makes any difference or you might try a pretreat before. I use Charlie's All-Purpose Cleaner as my stain treater and have found it successful. You might try using what you have in the laundry room first.

When I first started using Charlie's I found some stains that I recalled from previous washings that I thought were out but then discovered that they were covered up and not really removed. That might be what is happening to you or you may be sure that those are fresh stains. Now and then a particular stain interacts with the fabric and is tougher to remove.

Try what you have first along with Charlie's Soap and then consider trying the All-Purpose Cleaner. I really, really like that product!

Robyn
reeree_natural
16 years ago
hokie
stains in general need to be treated .. (especially with a 2 Â½ year old.. lol) I either use CharlieÂs all purpose cleaner full strength pour a little right on the stain, then sprinkle Charlies laundry powder on it and really rub it into the stain, let sit and put it through a wash. .my favorite is Nature Bright by shaklee..I love that stuff! It zaps out every type of stain you can think of, including red ink on my sonÂs white school uniform shirt. ( that amazed me.. nothing I have ever used in the past fully removed ink ) You can also use it on upholstery and carpeting. It is also a laundry boost, so I do add it in my whites, but not every load. I honestly do not have a problem with dingy whites.. My whites using Charlies exclusively are still white. I did have dingy whites back when using regular detergents and bleachÂ

I honesty love Charlies Soap and my clothes are clean.. Maybe try the OC if you have that on hand and see how it worksÂ
Hope you have good results!
Ree
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Kim, I, too, find CS less than satisfactory for cleaning my laundry, but I've learned that there's not much point in reporting that here on the forum since it's like sticking a stick in a hornet's nest. ::shrug:: Taylor does have a sort of point that each individual water supply has its own chemistry and products will vary greatly in how well they work from one water source to another. Increasing the dosage may make a difference for you, and you've nothing to lose by trying. I have naturally soft water and am a long-time FL user with no detergent "build up" in my clothes to remove, but CS at every dosing level I tried still didn't get my clothes as clean as other products. So I moved on. BTW, you don't have to stick with "official" HE detergents if you find another product that works well in your machine. The key is a product that can clean efficiently at a dosing level that's correct for your machine. It's the oversudsing, and consequent poor rinsing that creates the build-up/mildew problem associated with non-HE soaps. For example when I got my first FL I was an ERA liquid user, and no matter how I tried I could not get to the sweet spot with that product where it cleaned well enough without oversudsing so I had to give up my then-fave detergent. However, since I started using Fl's many years before there were such things as HE detergents I just cast about until I found a low-sudsing mainstream powder detergent that worked splendidly in my machine and wash water and I've stayed with it ever since. I only make forays into other products to test new things like CS - and for special washing projects like down, wool, silk, etc., which demand special detergents. If you're not happy with CS, I'd just return it for a refund (which apparently is offered cheerfully) or use it up as a general household cleaner for scrubbing out things like trash barrels or litter boxes. That's where all my trial detergents wind up and many do a very good job at that, too. I've used some of fanciest (and priciest)detergents in the world to spiff up my garbage pails. Molly~
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You do what is right for you. I'm a CS fan myself, but what works for me may not work for someone else. On top of that, when I switched to CS I still had other detergent here I was trying. I'm not about to let the other stuff I had prior to the CS go to waste no matter how much I like the CS. To do so would be wasteful. I just figured out a way to incorporate different things into different loads and use the CS exclusively on my lil ones clothing and the hubs uniforms right now. When I first got my HE washer, I got some Cheer HE to try it since the HE's were suppose to rinse better I figured the scent may not hurt. Everything seemed to be okay for a while. Then I got some Tide Free HE to help another poster as they were having a suds prob and wanted to see if it was the detergent. Found out it was as that stuff sudses a lot in certain machines. Then I got some ALL FC HE to see if that would do the same thing. It didn't suds as much and rinsed out much better, but it didn't get all the stains out either. Now to use them up, I use the Tide Free HE on my and my hubs clothing because I can use an unscented fabric softener to cut the suds. I put a cap of the Cheer into a spray bottle with water to use as a pretreater on our clothes as the Tide washes out the Cheers perfume. I use the All FC on all of our bedding as they do not get stained. Like I said earlier, I use the CS on my lil ones clothes and hubs uniforms. As I use up all of my old detergent, other things will get switched to the CS. CS was just the over all right thing for me as: I can't use scented things on mine and my kids clothing for very long, I can't use fabric softener on my kids clothing, Tide Free HE was leaving behind too many suds because of the way my washer works (very little water) and cutting it back too much didn't get my clothes clean, and the All FC wasn't getting all of the muck out of the kids clothes. As you can see, I have special needs for a detergent anyway. CS just fit the bill in my situation. On top of that, CS does work slower than many commercial detergents so pretreating and presoaking are definitely a requirement here for me, but I use to do that before anyway so it wasn't that much of a switch. I can see where many would not like the CS for that reason alone and do not begrudge them for it. Also, the CS does have to be orderd online as it is not carried in many stores in many areas. Depending on where you live, it may very well be more expensive than what a person could find at the store. For me the CS happens to work out cheaper per load even with the multi purpose pretreater. I'm a big advocate of finding what thing or things work for you. If you want to use more than the Charies go right ahead. You have to do what is right for you. There is nothing wrong with that. You may end up not liking the CS at all, so it would be good to have other things on hand. If that ends up being the case, use up the CS by cleaning out your machine with it occasionally or mopping your floors with a little or whatever you can think of. At least, in the long run, you will be happy with the results of whatever you do and that is what matters the most. : D
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sspye
15 years ago
Hi Hokie, I've just started using Charlie's soap, too. I am on 'City' water at my house, and on a well at our cabin.

I am currently using what is left of my Tide to pre-treat stains. I was pretty skeptical about Charlie's at first, but I am really loving it.

I know that someone here mentioned that their whites look dingy after Charlie's. I've had the opposite reaction. My whites have never been cleaner or whiter. However, even though I don't have a washing machine at my cabin, I have given up handwashing ANYTHING there as my water is so hard that everything looks worse after handwashing.

I go to the laundromat near our cabin and have similar disappointing results, regardless of the detergent, my clothes just don't get as clean as I would like. I'm not blaming it on Charlie's, Tide or anything else that I have purchased out of the machine. Up there, I blame it on the water.

I hope that you find a solution. I just love the scentless, clean smell of my laundry with Charlie's.
fishers2008
15 years ago
How much oxy clean does everyone use? I've just started adding it and I'm uncertain about the amount. The directions say one scoop however that seems like too much compared to the amount of Charlie's I use. I have been very happy with Charlies (going on 3 months of it) but was wanting a little boost in my whites.

Lori
reeree_natural
15 years ago
lori
I do not use OC..but I do use nature bright by shaklee as a laundry boost and stain remover. I use one scoop per load together with charlies, so I would think one scoop of OC would be the right amount . Glad you are happy with Charlies!
Ree
beanwabr
15 years ago
I'd really like to try Nature Bright by Shaklee ... where can I find this product? Thanks!
reeree_natural
15 years ago
here is the a link....

Here is a link that might be useful: Nature Bright Laundry Booster and Stain Remover

Started using Charlies Soap, and still have dirty clothes

Comments (7)

jrdown

reeree_natural

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