To those of you who have been using these "home made" detergents, are you experiencing any odor, mold or mildew issues? The reason I ask is because castile soap builds up into a gooopy, gel-like gunk if not properly rinsed. This could potentially cause problems in washers. Every home-made product I've tried - from detergent to fabric softener - has proven unsatisfactory. Either the products don't clean well, they risk building up in my machine or on my clothes or they just don't work. Price is not the only consideration, which is what appears to be driving this homemade laundry movement.

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

I was interested to read your post, because coincidentally, I have had the same symptoms over the past couple of days. I just purchased Charlies Soap maybe about a week ago - I just got a new HE front loader, and I've been washing away. Thus far, I've had nothing against Charlies soap, but now you got me thinking and I'll have to pay closer attention to my symptoms to see if they are possibly related to the soap. I have to make a few comments before I digress back to the main subject. First, I don't see the logic behind "washing your clothes a few times in Charlies Soap" in order to remedy a problem that didn't exist BEFORE you used Charlies Soap. There is NOTHING logical about that. Outside vs. inside fibers?? Um, not buying that either. In that respect, it would be like saying that Charlies Soap is causing us to be allergic to our old detergent, though we never had problems with those detergents before. Hmmmm...then maybe we shouldn't be using Charlies! I don't mean that literally, but come on...that sounds ridiculous. The fact is the FDA can't prevent a company from claiming that their product does something like get your clothes rid of residue by washing it three times, else they'd have pulled the Herbal Essences commercial years back when those girls seemed to have an ******** experience while washing their hair. By washing your clothes three times, it is just making you use more of their soap so then you have to buy more. Hmm..isn't that a convenient concept for CS? And now you are afraid to go back to your old detergent, because the residue is now on the "outside" and not the "inside" of the fibers. I can't keep myself from laughing at this, and I (so far) have nothing against Charlies Soap, but these claims seem a little silly to me and far-fetched. Now, this isn't to say that Charlies isn't removing residue, because I'm sure the more we wash our clothes without fabric softener, the less residue there will be on our clothes in the long run anyway, regardless of ANY detergent we use. The fact is, most manufacturers are moving towards the "ultra" concentrated products, claiming that they are "saving the environment" by using less plastic and smaller bottles, so now the average laundry detergent formula is 3X more concentrated, but have you noticed (at least the bottles I've seen) that while the bottles get smaller, the measuring caps don't? Sure, maybe those faint little measures on the inside of the clear cap that you can hardly see to begin with are labeled differently in accordance with the new formula, but my guess is that the larger portion of the population isn't going to notice or even care. This results in an increase in profits for the manufacturer. In other words, the average consumer is probably using the same amount of soap with a higher concentration, so it's no wonder people feel the difference when they switch to 1 measly tablespoon of Charlies Soap. And it's not exactly a perfect science when you are tipping a heavy bottle of liquid detergent to get just a small portion of a capful - most the time there is excess, and guess what, it goes in my washing machine, where else? My husband also made a good point that some people may look at a concentrated bottle that reads in big bold letters, "3x ultra" (it stands out from the rest of the label), and perceive that to mean that it's three times as good...not realizing they are using a concentrated product. It's good marketing in my opinion, especially that they are now competing with those who are selling detergents for HE washing machines. It's also comparable to using conditioner on my hair every day, and then switching to shampoo without a conditioner - of course my hair is going to feel different, but that doesn't mean the conditioner was ever a problem for my hair, or that I should have a reaction if all residue is not removed. So if the residue didn't bother us before, then what is the purpose of washing it three times before we wear something (other than to troubleshoot the residue on the outside vs. the inside of the fibers...LOL)?..... that's the point I'm getting at. Is Charlies a good soap? Yes, so far I like it. Does it clean my clothes, and leave them soft without perfumy scents and use of fabric softener? Absolutely, from what I've observed thus far. I digress... Like you, I have skin allergies, but I have controlled them by using only ALL free & clear detergent and Downy Free products - I've been doing this for years without any problems. I only switched recently due to my new HE front loader, otherwise, I was 110% happy with those products. For the past two days, I've been walking around and I'd swear that I got bit on my leg due to small welts. I'd itch, it would be a small welt, like you said, the size of a pea. Then today another part of my leg started itching again, and I had a small pea sized welt. Not ruling out other possibilities, but I will say that I'm going to pay closer attention after reading your post. Hmmm...could it be the in-laws? LOL I know you said you are now rash free - if your symptoms persist, please let us know. I'll give Charlies the benefit of the doubt for the interim (but I still reserve the right to laugh at some of their claims!). I suppose you can't blame them for using sales tactics.

@ ladeeanne I'm laughing at your jingle at the end, but NOT laughing about what CS did to your clothes. Most people love the product or hate it. Initially I had good results and said good things about the product, but over time I noticed my whites greying and starting to feel stiff. I emailed Charlie's and they suggested I use 2 TBS instead of 1 TBS per load. That didn't do anything. I have soft, conditioned water. I stopped using CS and went back to my trusted Persil. I've added Vaska and Clorox Green Works to the mix as well. Vaska, although a liquid only, is everything CS should have been. I'm sure CS works for some folks - there are many satisfied users. But because the product does not contain the usual ingredients you find in more mainstream products - soil suspension and color protection agents, water softeners and chelators, etc. - results will vary wildly depending on water conditions. People often criticize the mass merchandise products (Tide, Cheer, etc.) for having too many and possibly toxic ingredients. However, those products also perform rather uniformly across a wide variety of water conditions. Once you take away those ingredients, you must make sure that what you're using is suitable for your water conditions. This is the reason that Charlie's Soap now sells a product to use with CS in hard water conditions. A primary ingredient in CS is sodium carbonate. If you have hard water, that sodium carbonate will cause the calcium in the water to form a precipitate which will then settle back onto your clothes and washer parts. That may be what you're seeing in your dark clothes. Try soaking them overnight in vinegar to see if that can loosen or dissolve the calcium. You can also use citric acid, which can be purchased in your grocery store's dishwasher aisle as Lemi Shine. Throw a couple of tablespoons into your front loader and run a cycle with your ruined fabrics.