If it's calcium buildup, white vinegar should dissolve it. Try dipping a paper towel in vinegar and press it on there for a while and see what happens.

I'm not sure that the Charlie's would cause it, but have you tried using a different detergent for a while to see if it makes a difference?

Lime Away shouldn't hurt the tub. I don't see how it could damage stainless steel.

One other thought, CLR sometimes works where others won't, but sometimes won't work when others will. Might be worth a try, but I still think vinegar is the best all-around.

What product are you using in the rinse? I have extremely hard water and have not experienced this using Charlie's (almost a year now), and I either use nothing or vinegar in the rinse.

-Grainlady

I do not use anything in the rinse.....I just called my water company and our water is rated a 15. I have a Lifesource Whole house water filter on my house....don't know if that would make any difference.

...I don't actually know what a 15 is personally. I do have an old log cabin with the original 70 year old 4" cast iron drains that are completely coated with white on the inside. So-much-so that my husband initially thought that our shower had new PVC drain pipe when we bought our place...only to find calcium coated cast iron. Long story, but there is now a brand new PVC S-drain in our shower. Yes, indeed, I said S and not P...another long story.

I would try washing a few loads in Persil and see if it cleans off. I like Charlie's but I have noticed that my tub starts looking dull instead of shiny like the SS should. I just use some bleach and it shines back up. Not sure why my tub would look dull cause I have naturally soft water. I would try the other soap again and see what you get.

My machine is brand new, and after a few loads with Charlie's Soap I have noticed the same thing.

White coating on the glass is in the pattern of the soapy water flow from the dispenser. Stainless steel tub has a white coating as well.

I have cleaned up the glass with white vinegar, but done nothing to address the coating on the tub.

The coating could be the soap, it could be the hard water. I am thinking I'll clean up the tub and glass a bit, and give another brand of soap a try and see what happens.

Well it could be varying things causing the problem depending on water type, how long you have been using Charlie's, etc. FWIW I'll chime in since more than one person seems to have this problem.

Most of them are no brainers so not trying to insult anyone, just trying to help. I know from experience that frustration with a problem can cause you to over look something.

1) Already mentioned, hard water. Depending on the hardness of your water the Charlies may not be enough to cut through it. An added water softener may be required. One real easy way to tell if you have hard water is, look in your bathroom. Do you get water spots frequently that are cloudy and they accumulate fast? Do you have whitish stuff on your faucets? If you answered yes to either of these you most likely have hard water. To what degree, you will have to check with your municipality if you are on city water. If you have well water..it is most likely hard.

2) If you haven't been using Charlie's for that long, you may be experiencing built up detergents and fabrics softeners getting loosened and ending up distributed around the machine from either your clothing or the machine itself.

3) If you have soft water and you have no build up, you may be using too much of the Charlie's. It is extremely concentrated and a little goes a long way.

If none of these help, call Charlie's Soap and explain the problem. They may know some technical answer that isn't common.

Once again, this is not meant to insult anyones intelligence. Just trying to help, so please no one take any offense.

All fair points, happymomof2kids, no offense taken! ;)

Hard water in combination of the things you mentioned is probably the root cause of the white film.

You mention a water softener. I take it you mean an add in water softener? Something added along with the detergent? Anny suggestions/recommendations?

Mike

Water hardness of 15 is VERY hard. It's not off the charts, but still solidly hard. Unless your using some type of RO filtration which will remove a very high percentage of the total dissolved solids (very unlikely anyone has a whole house RO system) your whole house filtration probably addresses taste (carbon filter) and relatively large sediments. Did the white film clean off with a direct application of vinegar? If these white deposits are hardness minerals precipitating out of your water because your water chemistry and CS are not compatible, the solution seems pretty clear - ditch CS. Why use a detergent where you would probably have to use some fairly expensive additive (maybe like Calgon or STTP)? If you have access to STTP it would be an interesting experiment to see if this solves the problem. Our hardness is between 7 and 8 and we don't have issues with mineral buildup on anything other than humidifiers which take large quantities of water and turn it into vapor leaving behind everything else. Water can be difficult to figure out sometimes. We have a high percentage of iron so we need to keep away from things like chlorine in our dishwasher detergents or else we get iron deposits on our dishes. We learned about this by calling our local water company and found they had guidelines about which dishwasher detergents would be OK. Maybe your water company has similar knowledge about laundry products.

At a hardness of 15, I'd start to investigate getting a whole house water softener.

I have no clue about my water hardness... but have been using charlies for ~9 months now.. and my stainless tube is shiney and bright... I wope down my door and gasket after I'm done with the washer, but there is no noticeable 'white' streaking when I do this....

wow... I got up to check the tub before I posted this... how sad it that????