Grainlady--I like the idea of keeping the bucket in another room/closet and taking a months worth or two at a time. Can't beat $.09 per load! Ree--I'm betting the Shaklee detergent is leagues better than Tide toxicity wise, so I would have stayed with that rather than go back to Tide. But I was determined to exhaust all my other (more natural?) options first. Is Nature Bright similar to Oxyclean? Plumbly--Yes, we are starting the seasonal switch here in MN. I don't want to wear anything from last season until it's been washed. Speaking of that, my DH had a drawer full of t-shirts. He only wore the top 5 or 6 in the pile and the ones underneath (Tide remnants) were stinking up the whole drawer and this was a drawer with cedar on the bottom! I took out the entire pile, washed with CS, and now the drawer and the shirts have no smell. Ahhhh... Now, if we could just talk Charlie's Soap into making a dedicated dishwasher detergent (haven't had the guts to try the laundry soap in the dishwasher as I've heard of mixed results), I'd be in cleaning machine heaven!

mado - I love my F/P top loader (GWL 10 Ecosmart - they don't make this model anymore). When I got it 11/2001, they were touted for being "America's Most Energy Efficient Washer" (by the Consortium of Energy Efficiency - 12/1999). I don't think there were many machines out there at that time with 1,000-rpm spin speeds and a precise auto water level sensing system, but that's changed now and there are many machines that offer similar or better spin speeds - but not in a TL. They averaged 26-gallons of water while typical TL at that time were using 39-47-gallons. FL are using what, 16-25-gallons now??? I'm not real sure about that statistic. I doubt I ever use 26-gallons for a load of laundry. This was about this time there were rumors that ALL washers were going to go to front-loading for energy efficiency reasons. The service people I knew were bemoaning this move. They hated front loaders to a person because they didn't clean well and "gunked up" (that's a technical term - LOL). I researched everything and everyone I could about F/P and Asko (my second choice) before choosing the F/P. I also purchased it from a hometown shop that also services what they sell. Another hometown shop (a friend I went to school with) sold/serviced Asko - didn't think I'd be happy with the Asko and he didn't like repairing them. Since I line-dry, and only rarely dry clothes in the dryer, I've been glad the F/P has a SPIN HOLD cycle (designed for hand washables or when you line dry so that your clothes don't get super wrinkled from the high-speed spin cycle. Less moving parts: no belts, pulleys, gears, transmission or clutches mean there were less potential problems to begin with. They also had a great warranty - 2 complete years parts and labor and when I returned the warranty registation card I got 3 more years parts. That lengthy warranty is no longer available. BTW - I've never had a repair of any kind. I average 7 loads of laundry per week. I also took the washer apart at the store (with the aid of the sales clerk), so I felt comfortable with the fact I could probably make a simple repair myself, if necessary. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't bother with the extra expense for the matching F/P dryer. I rarely use it, and the "bells and whistles" difference between the inexpensive and the expensive, when it comes to dryers, don't justify the difference in price for me. -Grainlady

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~

compumom, I haven't tried Charlies Soap yet as I found this site looking for Miele 4840 reviews, and then found this string on this soap. I wish it was cheeper for Canadians, so I haven't gone and made my first purchase of Charlies. Then I found someone that is trying to get me to try the shaklee green stuff, since I am into all natural stuff. Right now I use a product that is all natural in my TL, but it isn't a product I could sell myself. (I've been a victim of two car accidents, and haven't worked full time since 2003, now our savings are all drained. We are converting our garage to art studio for husband, in hopes to make extra income, and a space for laundry so I don't have to climb the basement stairs with laundry anymore. All on the equity of our home. I just don't believe in suing, now after the lost of income etc almost wish I did believe in suing. Anyway I am looking for something I could make an income on too, be easier to make money on things I highly believe in like green cleaning products.) Anyway that is why I am presently coming around this site, now about your rough towels, I've never used chemical fabric softeners, I use a water/vinegar/essential oil compo as my fabric softener. Never straight vinegar. Then dryer balls in my dryer, use to use tennis balls for a few years. I don't want to repeat what I have already posted on another gardenweb string, so check out the link with Dyer balls. Here is a link that might be useful: dyer max balls