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!

asolo... 'town' water in central MA from underground wells pumped into tanks (not an 'open' reservoir system)... per the 'quality' reports we get, we do not have "issues" or mineral or other problems, although it is not 'soft' water.... that said I will say there are days when I fill the bath and the water has a brown sheen to it... other days a blue sheen... so I know they have consistancy issues. I don't know that I could "tell" if I had buildup/scum issues in my old tl machine... all you ever see ther is the inside of the tub.... not the window or the boot/drainage holes... in the tl that was all out of sight.... As far as temp goes, i typically always run my bosch using the water heater, so that should not be the problem here... All that said... after two weeks of going back to charlie's except for my whites (when my 'sample' arrives from charlies I'll try their first auggested approach for whites and see how that goes)... the scum is now totally off my door and the boot/drain hole area is back to looking like new from a cleanliness perspective... scum is gone... I will stay with the charlie's for all but whites for now... it seems to be working at keeping my machine clean and all but my whites clean... now to fix the whites problem... liriodendron... can't use cheer or most 'mainstream' laundry products with my husband's skin problems... but thanks for the suggestion...

When mc was having the sudsing problems with the Whirlpool Duet I had suspected it may have been the detergent. I went out and purchased some Tide HE liquid. Upon using it I had the same trouble as mc with oversudsing and the suds not rinsing out. Out of curiosity, I sent Tide an email explaining my problem in detail. I explained that I had purchased Tide HE liquid for my Frigidaire Affinity. Specifically told them the type of machine too. I informed them about the excessive suds, the poor rinsibility, the stiffness and the fact I can not use fabric softener due to having small children and the effects it would have on the flame retardent on their clothes. I explained that due to the liquid formulas concentration, I was unable to cut the amount of liquid used back to a safe level. I even informed them that I had seen others mention similiar problems on the net. I was very nice in my email and this was the response I got. Mon, 9 Jun 2008 09:29:26 -0400 (EDT) "P&G Consumer Relations" cleanclothes@custhelp.com Thanks for contacting P&G. [Incident: 080608-001294] I'm sorry you experienced oversudsing while using our detergent. There are a few situations that can cause this. They include: -- Using too much detergent for the amount of soil in each load. -- Water hardness level. Less detergent can be used in soft water. -- Do you use cold water for most wash loads? You might be experiencing buildup of detergent and mineral deposits in the outside tub of your washer. This can happen when cold water is consistently used for washing. Here's how you can fix that: add 1/2 gallon of white vinegar to a full tub of hot water. Run the washer through a complete cycle without clothing. If this resolves the problem you may want to repeat the process every 6 months. -- Overloading the washer can be a cause. Suds can become trapped in clothing if there's not enough room for them to circulate freely. -- Using regular detergent in a high efficiency washer. If you have one of the new HE washers, make sure you're using HE detergent, like Tide HE. A final word, it isn't unusual to see suds in the sink when the rinse water drains. The force of the water coming from your washer can generate suds as the tub empties. Since I'm not able to help the way I'd like via email, I'm following up via postal mail. You should hear from me in 7-10 days. Thanks for taking the time to write. Debi Tide Team [---001:001084:47166---] As you can see per the response they did not read my email to them in it's entirety as I had told them I was using the Tide HE liquid. They also totally neglected the fact that the suds were not rinsing out completely aka still seeing suds in the washer, not the rinse water. I also as of yet have not gotten this secondary contact she refered to. To be honest, I really didn't care one way or the other. I just wanted to see what they would say.

I keep my bucket of Charlie's Soap in the basement in the storage room (this room is designed with large rolling shelving racks to store food/grains/seeds/beans, household goods... I fill a 1-quart container I keep in the laundry room about once every 2 months. My container is a clear plastic, wide-mouthed container that has a hinged, snap-on lid I found at Target. I also keep the 1 T. measuring spoon inside. The back corner of a closet would also be another place to consider. You could also sub-divide it into empty 1-gallon or 1/2-gallon milk jugs or 2-litre pop bottles. They may be easier to store than the bucket. I figure it will take us 3.5 years to use this amount. -Grainlady