Thanks for the info on the bubble wrap. I intend to attach with clamps from the cheapest I can find (my husband loves clamps and has volunteered to help with this). My problem has also been to reduces heat in the summer. Will this help at all or should I use something else. For this winter, I want the bubble wrap. For next summer, I just want ideas since the water is supplied from a well and also feeds my parents home. I did not use the greenhouse this summer due to water risks from the draught. Anyone got any ideas? I already have exhaust fan, roof vent and back wall vent and am running three fans. Purchased a portable swamp cooler but early on it couldn't handle the heat so I need something else to help.

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.

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***

Ooops.. Took a while to respond there. Sorry. Dryer sheets are just a way to get the fabric softener onto clothes in the dryer rather than in the wash. Fabric softeners coat individual fibers with an oil and make them separate and stand up. They are used usually because things like perfumes, brighteners, and other insoluble material in detergents can build up on fibers. In some detergents, that extra material can be upwards of 2% of the weight of the fabric (Clemson Univ. School of Textiles AATCC Test Method #61 2A Scour). Other insoluble material can come from calcium and other minerals in the water that end up in fabric. This extra material is usually irritating and can make clothes scratchy. So many people use the dryer sheets to cover this up. An upshot to the one more chemical added in the dryer is that it kills static. Charlie's Soap has shown ability to remove detergent residues like insolubles material, alkaline residues, perfumes and fabric softeners. It's not so great at removing brighteners or limestone or rust or similar hard water buildups. When you add a dryer sheet to the wash, you will get that scent, and kill the static. It will add some oils to your clothes that Charlie's Soap will have to remove on the next wash. It does not "turn it off" or anything like that, but it does increase the amount of work it needs to do to get the clothes clean. If you add a fabric softener in the wash, however, you're trying to get a detergent to remove buildup at the same time you're trying to ADD buildup. The result is usually nothing gets clean as those two fight each other. I've told several people to dry the clothes as normal and to fight static, at the last minute (or a few minutes after the dryer stops) dry the clothes for a few minutes with a wet and wrung out facecloth. If you want scent, put a few drops of your favorite essential oil on there. That should kill the static for a time and add just enough scent to smell but not so much to be a pain to remove at wash time. As to the statement about CS removes residues, there was a test done with GoreTex, Tide and our Laundry Liquid (unnamed third party). With one wash in Tide, water would pass right through the water proof garment indicating residues. 10 washes in the CS Laundry Liquid later, the water would bead up again. Compare that to the earlier mentioned Clemson test, and it shows that the residues were removed and the fabric was allowed to perform as designed. Does that help a bit...without being a commercial?