It's official...I HATE Charlie's Soap Powder Detergent
deutsch100
14 years ago
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sparky823
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8 years agoRelated Discussions
Charlie's Soap ~ Laundry Booster & Hard Water Treatment
Comments (14)@ Cavimum I always thought 4 grains per gallon was considered relatively soft, but a quick googling says that 4 GPG would be considered moderately hard water, as you said (USGS defines hard water here). CS laundry booster and hard water treatment may help a little, but I wouldn't expect a major change given your hardness values. I have a whole house softener, so my water has 0 hardness. CS still gave me dingy whites and did not clean as well as my other products. It also did not make my clothes feel soft, as others have claimed, despite repeated washes. I eventually stopped using CS because the results were unsatisfactory. Granted, I'm a picky person. My suggestion would be to buy the CS laundry booster and see how it goes. If you are happy, great. If not, switch to another product and donate your CS detergent stash to a local animal shelter - the puppies will love you forever. Keep the laundry booster to use with any other product you buy down the road. If I were you I would not buy the EcoVantage - there is nothing "eco" about it except the name and it doesn't clean much better than CS. The full ingredients list is not disclosed anywhere, and there are no environmental claims on the label except for the name of the product. I think it's smoke and mirrors. I highly recommend Bi-O-Kleen Premium powder. It's scent-free, environmentally friendly, and most importantly, it cleans well. That's where I would start. You may also like Vaska scent-free. It claims to be as effective as Tide while being natural and using no enzymes. It's herbal-based cleaning at its best, and the lavender scented version is my go-to detergent. It also leaves your clothes much, much softer than any other product (without fabric softener)....See MoreStarted using Charlies Soap, and still have dirty clothes
Comments (7)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....See MoreHow long does Charlie's Soap take to stop crunchy towels
Comments (11)Looks like my clipping link didn't work so well... so, here is the content. The following text is copied from a PDF I received from the Charlie's Soap people (topic = hard water) ***excerpt*** Water Quality and Laundry Problems Ann Vanderpoorten Beard Extension clothing and textiles specialist, The Texas A&M University System This paper has been altered (....) by me, Charlie Sutherland, only to clarify some terms and show how our Charlie's Soap relates to the report. Research on laundering has shown that many factors affect the cleanliness of the wash. One often ignored factor is the quality of the water used. Several laundry problems are directly related to minerals, organic matter, and other impurities in the water supply. Some laundry problems may have similar symptoms but more than one possible cause. To determine if a combination of factors or water quality alone is responsible for your laundry problem, consider your equipment, water, products and procedures. Problem: Hard Water Laundry Symptoms: Dinginess or graying, yellowing ÂGeneral soil build-up ÂStiff, harsh feel to fabrics ÂWhite or gray streaks on colored fabrics Calcium and magnesium are usually the minerals that make water hard. The greater the concentration of these minerals, the harder the water. Hard water doesn't clean as effectively as soft water. In hard water much of the detergent added to the washer goes to soften the water instead of to clean the clothes. This means that more detergent must be used than in soft water. Softening water by using more detergent has two drawbacks; it is expensive and if the detergent contains phosphate it can add to water pollution. Heavy duty liquid detergents will remove soil in hard water almost as effectively as powdered phosphate-built detergents and they do not contribute to water pollution. Normally, non-phosphate powdered detergents and soap do not perform satisfactorily in hard water. (Charlie's Soap is generally quite good, but very hard water needs some extra attention.) Solution: To prevent the problems caused by hard water, First, use water as hot as recommended for the fabric since all detergents perform better at higher temperatures in any quality water. Second, soften the water. Water may be softened in the washer with nonprecipitating ion-exchange water conditioners* (these are the phosphates you were just warned about), commonly sold in grocery stores simply as water conditioners. Water softener systems which exchange sodium for calcium and magnesium may also be connected to the water supply lines for the washer, the kitchen, or for the entire house. However, persons on sodium-restricted diets should consult their physicians before adding a water softener system to lines that supply water for drinking and cooking because the sodium content of the water will increase. To remedy problems that have already occurred, fill the washer with the hottest water appropriate for the fabric. Add (a double scoop of Charlie's Soap Powder) and one cup on nonprecipitating *(phosphate) water conditioner. Agitate just long enough to wet the clothes. Soak overnight or for about twelve hours. Drain and spin without agitating. Launder, using regular cycle, no detergent, and one cup of nonprecipitating *(phosphate) water conditioner. If needed, repeat the launderings using one cup of nonprecipitating *(phosphate) water conditioner and no detergent until no suds appear during the rinses. In order to remove all dinginess it may be necessary to launder with one cup nonprecipitating *(phosphate) water conditioner and chlorine bleach if safe for the fabric, following package instructions for the amount of bleach to use. ***end of excerpt***...See MoreCharlies Soap
Comments (49)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...See MoreHarlow
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