Charlies has a hard water booster sold individually.

Sparky you know I have to say it lol.......Olivia, the best water softener you can use is STPP

I did see they have a water softener. But I don't know if I am willing to put all the work in of washing all loads multiple times, and the machine too. Putting all that effort into it, and then it may not pan out at all. I can pick up, more conveniently, detergent at target, when I shop. I need a detergent that I know works.

I not sure exactly where I stand on phosphates. I think of course not everyone needs them, and their use has been dramatically reduced. But people with hard water, like me ( 25 grains) have an absolute need to soften the water, so I don't just add crazy amounts of detergent that build up on the machine and the clothes. I also think salt is a big problem in water and soil as well. So anything like borax, washing soda, and salt from water softeners really are not great either, as the salinity is bad for fresh water aquatics, and salt builds up in soil. I'm not preaching, I too use borax and washing soda. I couldn't do laundry without them. I'll have to study up on the pros and cons for water softening additives i can add to the washer. Gosh, I better stop rambling now, lol. Do you find you have to use less stpp per load to soften the water than borax or washing soda?

For my loads for the dogs, I use method free and clear 8x ( but I have to use a much larger dose per load than recommend, so its not cost effective) or Mrs Meyers baby blossom ( also a larger dose, and no oba's in the baby formula) I have a Chinese crested, so all his sweaters and shirts need to be washed super gentle, as he has allergies up the wazoo. My other guys aren't sensitive, but I wash dog loads together so all get the same. With either oxygen bleach or borax, and a vinegar rinse.

Most of the people who are really unhappy with Charlies Soap have very hard water. I don't think it's for everyone. Adding some Calgon (water-softener) might help, but there are other detergents out there that will be easier to use and have the softeners built in.

I too tried Charlies once and it left a white slippery deposit in my FL. I too have hard water. Perhaps adding sodium percarbonate with the Charlies may help...I hate to toss it out.

I have tried Charlie's powder three different times with both regular and he washing machines and in three different areas with varying water hardness (front load and top load he ) and it did not work worth a darn in any instance. Made my cloth diapers stiff and just didn't get any stains out. I also used their spray pre treater and oxygen bleach they didn't work that well either. I am now buying oxygen bleach (sodium percabonate) straight from a chemical supplier and using biokleen or ecover with way better results. Not worth the money and I am not sure what the fuss is about. I kept thinking it would eventually work because people claim it is so good... but now I just feel like I wasted a ton of money. Who wants crispy clothes? I tried the booster and calgon...clothes still did not get clean. I only have these issues with Charlie's.

WHat I would like to knowis..when you first start using Charlies you are supposed to see lots of suds as the Charlies is pulling out trapped detergent, so what is in the Charlies that does this? I'm sure there's no phosphates in it to do this. I've never used the stuff but I've used Nellies which I'm told is the same as Charlies.If Nellies is the same as Charlies I can understand Charlies giving poor results. I dumped my Nellies out, I only wanted the adorable Tin it came in lol.

As for Biokleen Premium Plus...I like the stuff, no its not a TOL detergent and I wouldn't bank on it removing tough stains but on light to moderate soiled clothes it does an acceptable job. I've even had great results using it to clean vintage linen. But if you want to use the Biokleen as a daily driver and plan to throw heavily soiled clothes at it....add STPP it will enable Biokleen to really do a great job. For those of you that want a scent free detergent that will clean your clothes I highly recommend ALL Stainlifters with Oxi Free and Clear...there's really no Oxi in this product so no worry about it fading your colors, but it does have a nice concentrated mix of Surfactants to get the cleaning done. You can always add pure sodium percarbonate and boost the water temp to hot for whites, pure sodium percarbonate has no scent. Just a few of IMO.

I think "trapped detergent" in the clothes is BS. What exactly causes it to get trapped such that a rinse with *no detergent* won't release it but a wash *with* Charlie's Soap or Nellie's (supposedly) does release it?

@ dadoes...H E A D on the NAIL!! Charlie's and Nellie's are so full of sh*t!!!

Exactly what I thought...but not knowing the ingredients in Charlies I thought I better ask just on the off chance there was some magic ingredient in this stuff. As I said I don't have the ingredients but I'm guessing Charlies is nothing more than Sodium Carbonate.

Thank you Dadoes and Larsi.

LOL Larsi- NAIL on the HEAD.

Pink---Go to Charlies site and they tell(or used to) the ingredients used in CS.

CS is garbage. I bought a huge bucket based on the recommendations of a few people here when CS was first mentioned in this forum and when a representative from CS used to participate here and answer questions. I have a whole house water softener and CS causes my clothes to come out stiff. No softness whatsoever. I can overdose using Persil or Tide all day long and my clothes still come out nice and soft. If you read the story of CS, it was originally used as an industrial degreaser to clean machine components. Ask yourselves, honestly, is this something you want on your clothes? I think CS puts a great spin on things, but the bottom line is that the product is a massive FAIL when it comes to cleaning and protecting clothes.

I think all the ingredients have been mentioned..washing soda, metasilicate, and a detergent.

I've used it for years and have been happy with it. There's nothing magic in it..it's more unique in it's simplicity. It's kind of an old school anti-big-detergent philosophy in cleaning. Where Tide/Persil is a 'one scoop' and your done, they do this with the other additives such as OBA, enzymes, etc.. CS encourages steps like presoaking and pretreating

As far as their claims..I think there is some truth to them, but it's not magical ingredients, more process and the typical way many use detergents.

Detergent buildup? True, but most products encourage WAY overdosing. I also think liquids are more guilty than powders, especially since cold water is encouraged for most loads. CS if anything probably errs on the side of too little. I do tend to use a scoop and a half. Cut back the detergent a bit and you may get the same results

Softer clothes? Buildup can make them less soft, so do all the Zeolites they use post phosphate era, so therefore they push fabric softener. So CS can help with softer clothes vs regular detergent, but don't expect the Snuggle/Downy feel..Therefore, CS is much pickier about hard water because of their approach.

Less white clothes with CS? Kinda. I tend to think OBAs just mask the problem and make our clothes unnaturally white with UV reactive 'dye' and our perception of 'white' has changed. Use some oxi bleach to counter any yellowing.

Just my thoughts and experience with it. I don't use it every load..maybe 25%. The only items I consistently use them for is fleece and sportswear

I have a whole house water softener and I can tell when my spouse washes a load in CS just by feeling the clothes. They feel like they have been line dried. Nice and crispy. CS has been banned from my laundry room! lol :)

Speer...does Charlies use a detergent as you stated above? Or soap....isn't it Called Charlies Soap?

I ment is Charlies a detergent or a soap?

It's a detergent. from their website:

Is Charlie's Soap a "detergent"
or a real "soap?"

Charlie's Soap is a blend of natural-based surfactants (detergents) derived from coconut and mineral oils, salts and water (Laundry Liquid) or pure washing soda (Laundry Powder).

Real soaps are made from heating a variety of oils treated with caustic soda (lye) or pot ash. Real soaps do not bind to water very well and thus have a tendency to leave a residue.

There is a good reason that it is called Charlie's Soap and not Charlie's Detergent. Almost 40 years ago, the product was first created for the textile industry. It worked so well that workers in the plants started stealing it.

They eventually found their way over to our office looking for it. Everyone in the textile plants knew Charlie Sutherland, Sr. They started calling it Charlie's "soap," not knowing the chemical difference between soaps and detergents. Charlie Sutherland, Jr. actually created the product, but it's not his name on the bottle.

After years of trying to name the product everything under the sun, the name "Charlie's Soap" just stuck.

http://www.charliesoap.com/faq_everything.html#real

I don't use Charlies Soap for everything but it has a firm spot in my stash. It was the only detergent I used on cloth diapers for 3 kids. It's also the only detergent I've found that doesn't give my son rashes from his sport clothing where it touches his skin during heavy workouts. It's great for sweaty synthetics. I like Biokleen Premium but it leaves almost a waxy buildup over time if used solely or maybe just not in hot water. Nellies I had no love for despite the ingredients being the same as Charlies.

Sandy...will hopefully pop in here.....but if this is detergent I believe its the same ingredients as Nellies. And that wouldn't clean stains or remove odors...and heaven forbid its used on whites or bedding...the odor in sheets and pillowcases will develope fast.

So what is in the Charlies that makes so many peoples clothing stiff.

Speer..no offense but I'd rather my clothes be brilliantly white reguardless of whether its by rook or crook than dull and dingy.

Just shows you how different we all are. LOL. And I'm not saying your whites arnt white

I really wanted to like cs... I tried it the first time many years ago. I kept trying it over the years. (I actually tried it one other time I forgot about...when a friend gave me hers because she didn't like it) I have three kids... oldest is 19 years and youngest is 18 months. I was "cloth diapering when cloth diapering wasn't cool". I have tried many, many, many things. I don't use any one kind forever. (I don't like to use the same soaps and shampoos either, I alternate.) And I don't claim that any one gets diapers (or anything else) clean every time. I really like Biokleen and several other brands, but I still add a little percarbonate every few washes and strip as needed. I am just saying I gave it every chance in several different scenerios following the instructions exactly giving it a long time to adjust thinking maybe it would work...but it just didn't.

Charlies Soap is very basic. It has no enzymes, softeners or anything else to care for clothing. Soft water is the key to it I think. It won't remove red sauces but does well with basic grime. Whites will grey over time without optical brightners, bleaching or bluing.

A lot of grime will wash out just using water too....lol..

Thanks Sandy....I'm not buying Charlies..besides they don't have a cute Tin like Nellies. Lol.

I'm not trying to sell anyone on Charlies Soap. Just sayin if you wash a lot of synthetic workout wear and athletic pads this is the stuff. It isn't the thing for delicate clothing or things you want fluffy and soft but it is the best detergent I've found for Jake's sport clothing. Gets out the sour sweat smell from running shorts, sweat soaked under armor without rashes and rinses out of lacrosse and football pads without an extra wash cycle. Charlies smells a bit different than Nellies. It almost has a solvent kind of smell in the tub.

Lots of reports online in mommy blogs about CS causing rashes, too.

Charlie's and Nellie's are NOT the same. Charlie's cleans better, and Nellie's leaves the clothing a little softer. I throw some citric acid powder in where fabric softener is supposed to go, and the clothing comes out reasonably soft. That's as close as I can get to fabric softener due to skin problems.

I agree Charlie's and Nellie's are different. Charlie's works better for me. But I have a Boston Terrier, so I HAD to have it for the tins :) I don't think CS is awesome at bio stains (I hit those with a pretreater with enzymes), but works great on oil/grease. I've removed oil change garage floor grease on jeans with it. I think that (and the clean rinsing) is why it works well with synthetics and body odor, the smells are trapped with the body oils

Speer, did you know the dog on the Nellies Tins name is Nugget..lol...I also have the smaller Nellies Tin that came with Sodium percarbonate in it...no dog on it though.

I really dont know where you are getting all this. It is all we use for 3 years. Just adults. My daughter uses and has a 2 year old. NEVER a problem. My last purchase was the 1250 load bucket. Never had an issue. Also no SLS or SCS.

And yes some may CHECK me out. I am in the baby products wholesale business. I work with Baby Boutiques. This has nothing to do with my liking the product.

Personally IMO there is absolutly not a worse laundry detergent on the market. Doesnt even clean CLEAN clothes, makes everything feel stiff, scratchy, and dry. And the worst part was everything had an odor like unwashed body. I cringe just thinking about it. But you say it works for you, I don't know maybe I should try it again, I just really don't like having more than one laundry detergent around at a time taking up space, but maybe when this bottle of Sun is empty I'll try it again.

Your in the baby business huh..guess you might say I am too.

+1 mamapinky0

Charlie's is pure crap. Whites will fade to grey even in soft water and high temperatures. You might as well save some money and wash in plain water.

Lol...yes I was being sarcastic..Sun detergent LOL..and only one detergent in my house..LOL.

Mamapinky I got took, by your comments! Lol

You know, some of dislike Tide, but I can't imagine that we'd bother to run a seven year long rant against it. Just saying.

ENduring, I figured when I made the comment that I don't like having more than one detergent around taking up space it would be a dead giveaway to the regulars that I was being sarcastic...lol. considering I have a dedicated closet for detergent lol.

Hisown, sometimes I think people just stumble upon these old threads and not pay attention to dates.

Houzz picked up the full history of posts when merging-in GardenWeb. Search engines index all of it so it's common that people find old threads and bring them up active.

Mamapinky, when I read the post I was thinking "Wow, she has really made some changes with her new machine", Hahaha, is what I said when you replied to sshrivastava. You are too funny!

I have used and liked Charlie's Soap for a good number of years. We rinse with white vinegar except when washing our bath towels. I found that the towels were "crunchy" and we played around and finally liked Seventh Generation fabric softener. Downey was awful. We wash rags with All unscented or whatever my daughter seems to find unscented that has a coupon. We're not washing heavy duty sweat or dirty clothes. We pretreat all stains with Oxyclean prewash. My 2006 Bosch machine looks like new.

Compumom..great that your washers up on ten years, very good.

When people talk about dirty washer syndrome they generally are not talking about the exterior of the machine, but rather the parts that can't be seen unless there's a problem and the washer needs taken apart. I'd say your one of the lucky ones, since you've got ten years and counting on yours.

Just found this thread today. Been using Charlie' Soap for over 8 years now. Love it! I think it's like eating at your favorite restaurant chain in two different towns: one you may love, the other, not so much. Different products work for different people. Not so sure why sshrivastava was so h*ll-bent on turning people away from CS. Use what works for you! Peace!

I find this thread discouraging. I started using Charlie's Soap due to recommendations on this forum, but the vehemence of the opinions here is hard to figure?! Does anyone consider why they have such strong opinions about laundry detergent? Or whether they feel these strongly worded comments are actually helpful to the forum?

Clearly, some of the difference with results has to have something to do with the difference in water from one community to another. Hard water, soft water, heavily treated water have to make a big difference in how a detergent works.

I have seen a few comments here that point out the basic reasoning that many people had in using Charlie's soap, but it bears repeating. Using a detergent that has fewer harsh chemicals and less negative effect on the environment and the water supply. And the second big reason was trying to escape the overabundance of products that cause reactions to the skin from who knows what ingredients.

What I want to use as a laundry detergent, is a product that cleans clothes well but is made from natural ingredients that do not affect the water supply or the environment. And definitely, a product that rinses completely out of the clothes so that there is no residue to sit on the skin and either provoke a reaction or be absorbed into the body.

It would be more helpful to me, to read comments from someone who actually knows and understands what is in these competing products and what affect they have on not just cleaning the clothes, but do they affect the environment and do they leave a residue that can cause a problem for the skin? And I'm also trying to avoid fragrances. I really dislike them across the board, unless they are natural fragrances, as in coming from essential oils or something. I don't wear perfume and I find it difficult to spend time in a room with someone who does wear it.

Bottom line - this thread did not help me figure out which detergent is going to help me have the laundry experience I am looking for.

My post is from 2009!!!!! OMFG!!! This thread and my vinegar thread! Please, please let them die. People....move on, move on!!!!

If you have no interest in this thread - why respond at all? You didn't even start it, did you? And with vulgarity to boot? Your post is just part of the discussion. You don't want to continue to discuss - don't. No one is twisting your arm. Ignore it. You do realize you can turn off notifications on the thread, below, right?

Prairie, how are you liking your results with Charlie's? In the end, that's all that matters.

I personally like Charlies and previously bought the big plastic tub of like 1000 loads. I used it for years until it absorbed enough moisture to eventually become a clump. I've since bought a small bag and do use it on occasion for certain items, but I also have dozens of other things that I like to use.

I'm with you in that I can't do scents and like to be as green as effectively possible

Charlie's is polarizing. I think it's because Charlie's not a lot of things that some people want in a detergent, but on the other hand doesn't have a lot of things the people dislike in a detergent.

Bottom line, if it works, then by all means use it, I do. If it's not the right tool for the job, use something else, I do that too.

If you're looking for something else, then feel free to ask, there are a lot of pretty good green products that have some mix of detergent, enzymes, oxi, natural scents, liquid/powder

SSpeer9 - I have been using Charlie's for a few years, but not exclusively. Sometimes we use Tide for stain spotting, but I really wish for a detergent that has no synthetic fragrances and I do worry about some of the ingredients that are hormone disrupters in many of the commercial detergents. I really want to find a substitute for Tide to remove stains.

I like the fact Charlie's seems to rinse out of the clothes better than other detergents I've tried. I'm not 100% satisfied with it. Really, I just haven't taken the time to investigate other options, which I am planning to do now. You seem to have hit it on the nose about Charlie's - if you are looking to get away from certain ingredients, that gives you an option, but if you are shooting for top performance, it might not get you there.

It would seem you have to compromise on something. [g]. I don't feel comfortable in compromising by using something that is known to affect your health. So if I have to give up a little better cleaning to use a product that is safer, I think I can do that. But, maybe I won't have to, if I can find other ways to increase my success with laundry and still use natural, non toxic products. I found a couple of lists today of green products that people recommend and I'm making a list of products to try. Nothing so far, sounds perfect.

I just discovered that EWG - Environmental Working Group and I hope I can get some good information on that site to get a better idea of what to try and what to avoid. It looks like they put a lot of effort into doing the kind of research that I don't have the time to do.

Do you have any greener products that you have been happy with, to recommend?

Green ingredients do not always mean safer.

I don't use Charlies but seems to me I remember some of the ingredients being unsafe?? Or am I wrong?

@ Mamapinky - I believe you are right. In my reading this morning I came across a few comments on another site that indicate Charlie's has some ingredient that is not as green as I thought. the EWG only gives them a 'D'. I haven't confirmed that on their site yet, but I'm looking hard for something that works well and doesn't have anything objectionable in it. There are a number of products that they give an 'A' to, and I want to spend some time on that site tomorrow. Whether their 'A' products wash well, I'll have to find out by trying a few.

I commented here 6 years ago about how I couldnt get CS to work … well a few weeks ago my husband bought me a gallon of the Charlie’s Soap liquid. He saw it locally on sale and wanted to try it. Well, it isnt like the powder at all! It works pretty well and doesn’t leave clothes stiff or dryed out! I use it without FS and everything is soft. I really like it! I still use a stain remover for red stains and other organic stains… Give the liquid a try.

I like Charlies soap. it works great. Theres no plactic waste. its not harmful to the environment. It’s easy on my washing machine. It gets my clothes clean.

I still use and LOVE Charlie's Soap. For those of us with terribly sensitive skin (itching, bleeding rashes, etc.) NOTHING works better. I put citric acid powder and white vinegar in where fabric softener is supposed to go and I put Borax and STPP in with the Charlie's. I get great results and Happy Skin!