Charlie's Soap, at least in powder form is wonderful! I bought both powdered and liquid when I first purchased our Siemens FL and found that generally half a scoop is quite sufficient. I haven't tried the liquid except for pretreating. I did try some HEs, TIDE and Small and Mighty, not because I didn't like Charlie's, but because I was used to having a "fragrance" left when clothes were clean and CHARLIE'S is odor free. I used up the Tide, and just tossed the rest the the Small and Mighty......bad me......wasn't thinking, should have used it up some how, and have gone back to my half scoop of CHARLIE'S and MUCH cleaner clothes again. The difference is noticeable and a small bag lasts forever. It says 80 washes but that's with a full scoop. I decided that if I want a fragrance, I'll spray some lavender on after, lol.

I have recently been using Fels Naptha as a pretreater for stains. Wet the stained area and rub the stain with a bar of Fels. Rub the resulting soapy stuff in well. Somtimes I use an old toothbrush to get it into the fabric well. Let it sit for 10 minutes before laundering. I find the "new" Fels Naptha has quite a strong perfume, so I keep the bar in a plastic container. As to it not being the same as grandmom's Fels, Stoddard Solvent is also called white spirit in other parts of the world. It is a type of naptha, which is a petroleum distillate. It's the naptha in Fels Naptha that makes it the most effective soap for removing greasy oily soils. Perhaps Dial is being more specific in naming the particular type of naptha being used in the formula. They have also highly scented the product. It no longer is "the soap with the clean naptha odor" touted in the old ads. I have used Zout for years, and loved the results. I recently ran out of my original formula Zout. It was very lightly scented. The Zout I replaced it with is still effective, but I object to the way it perfumes my clothes, hence the switch to Fels.

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.

I had already written on another thread that I just purchased the Samsung 328 so I'll paste some of that here: *********************************************************** A little over 5 years ago I bought an LG WM2277HW - and now it's kaput. The maintanence history was not extraordinary - the motor had to be replaced shortly after the manufacturer's warranty ran out, but to LG's credit it was replaced without charge. I noticed that the new LG's have a 10 year warranty on the motor (guess I wasn't the only one with a motor problem) But now my LG has blown electronics and bearings, estimated $1,000 to repair. In a matter of two days I've purchased a Samsung WF328AAW. It's a little bigger than my LG with a few other snazzy upgrades pertaining to Samsung. ($750 from Best Buy using a price match from Frys sale). The LGs still looked good but I just could not bring myself to buy another LG because my old one should have lasted longer. I figure the Samsung and LG are comperable, I just decided to give my business to Samsung this time. I most definitely prefer a FL because I like to wash bulky things like comforters, stuffed animals, throw rugs, sleeping bags, etc. My daughter has many household allergies so I like to wash all that stuff regularly and I used the extra-hot sanitary cycle on anything that could handle the heat (supposedly kills dust mites). I probably use the extra-hot sanitary cycle every-other-day and believe that that is why I've never had a problem with mildue/mold I need the onboard heater. I also liked the hand wash cycle on the LG, unfortunately the Samsung I bought doesn't have that cycle. I plan to keep the LG dryer - I don't care if the washer and dryer don't match, they're in the garage. The Samsung washer is scheduled for deliver on Monday - it will take me a couple days to catch up the laundry, when I get a good feel for the washer I will post my experience. ********************************************************** Houserookie - your model is fancier than mine: bigger capacity, steam, and more washing options. I had the salesperson put in the delivery order to be sure to leave the machine in the box and DO NOT remove the shipping bolts until the machine is almost in place. The salesperson said that the delivery guys already know that but I had her add it anyway. I really liked my LG, but it should have lasted longer. After reading this forum I'm beginning to wonder if I was using way too much detergent and I am to blame for its demise - I'm a little compulsive about cleaning products - I always put in the amount written on the pachage and maybe a little more. Then I read on this forum about people using one or two tablespoons detergent. This time I'll try to control myself and not over-do it. I used various HE detergents over the 5 years, they all seemed fine EXCEPT the Costco Kirkland liquid HE. That's when the LG motor broke down. Now I stay away from generic brands. Not long after that I noticed that Costco didn't carry it anymore. Maybe I'll try Charlie's soap. I've got a mountain of laundry building up for the delivery. Hope there isn't much of a learning curve.