I have had much luck with hard water using my own homemade soap flakes, so I am interested.

I only used it a couple of times and my husband started to break out (on his body) He thought it was the soap for sure. That is the only thing I changed so it is a good chance it was the soap. I recently went back to my old detergent and my husband's skin is getting back to normal.

I am still using the soap for my dishrags and bath rugs, mainly just to get rid of it.

It did seem to clean well. However our clothes are not very soiled. Currently we use method brand.

I also only use cold water to wash clothes. The CS did appear to dissolve well in the cold water.

-Renee

Maybe it just doesn't rinse away as well with our hard water.

-renee

That really doesn't make sense to me. Of course it doesn't make sense to me that he was allergic to it, but when I stopped using CS he did get better very quickly so it does seem that he had problems with it.

I also line dry everything and don't use dry sheets and stuff so I know that wasn't the problem.

Anyways, I promised him I wouldn't use it anymore. I tried it at least. I really like the soap we use now, it is just expensive so I thought I would try something cheaper.

-renee

I say, post on! I've already ordered some based on high reviews I've seen elsewhere, so I'd be interested in hearing a fix, just in case this happens to me.

Folly

P.S. I think that he has to be "invited" because we are all prohibited from advertising in our postings. He's a stand-up guy who is just trying to abide by the rules.

Thanks for inviting me. I tried to post a few things where it didn't look like there was a question posed to me before and I got the garden web police sending me a nice little note. So I try to be vague unless otherwise asked.

I'll try to answer two questions at once. To the price issue, some other people have asked me why Charlie's Soap is so expensive, and I can't figure out what they're seeing. When you get enough to get free shipping, the bag is $13.79 for 80 washes. That's 17 cents per load. I just went to the grocery store where they were selling 120 load bucket of brand T for over $0 which makes 16 to 18 cents depending. If I'm missing something, someone please let me know.

On to the allergic reaction question. When you make the transition to Charlie's Soap, the first thing it does is start to pull out detergent residues. It's not that residues are in and of themselves bad, but they do distract the CS from working to its full potential. For individuals with sensitive skin, we recommend cleaning their clothes 3-5 times after cleaning the machine itself and before letting that person wear them. You don't have to do this all the time, just the first time. Because while another residue may be "hypoallergenic" when used as directed, Charlie's pulls all of it out at once, and on that first or second wash, it's all just layered on the outside of the fabric. Put that on, and yeah, you'll break right out. The Charlie's Soap itself is long gone (rinsability test done at Clemson Unif) It just didn't finish, and it left all that other stuff to be right up next to your skin. After those residues are gone, then dirt and whatnot, comes off in just the one normal wash.

I saw this first hand, a few months back. My sister brought me a shirt from Goodwill. I didn't know where it had been so I decided to wash it. One wash, and my laundry room REEKED of detergent perfume. It took 3 washes to get it down to a dull roar. I figure, one more and it will be gone, but I just haven't gotten around to it.

I hope this helps a bit?

Okay, so this was a bit of a commercial, but I tried to make it an accurate portrayal of the Charlie's Soap transition.

I'll try to remember to come back and post a review (good, bad, or neutral) after I get my soap. Which should come soon, I hope. :)

Caveat: I found out that we have soft water. People with hard water may want to use some Borax.

Pros: Softer clothes. No scent (and none of the rancid smell I always found with "unscented" detergents). Warm fuzzy feeling of knowing that I'm putting fewer harsh chemicals into the water supply. No need for wasteful fabric softener. Does clean clothes well.

Neutral: I still have itchy skin, which I've had for years. It's probably just my skin, and not any detergent, but I was hoping that this would help some. I also now have even more reason to look into reclaiming/diverting greywater from the washer. (This is a neutral because that means work. It probably should be a pro.)

Cons: I have to be a little more careful with pretreating stains, because it seems to let a little more spots through. Also: Static cling, but this is countered by snapping out clothes before wearing and using more moisturizing lotion on my skin.

Overall: I'm very happy with this product and have already ordered more so that I can give away some to my mother. She has long been bothered by scented cleaners, so I'm taking some down for her to try. Maybe I'll get her hooked on it and and longer have to deal with that musty/rancid smell when I visit. :-)

P.S. Glad to see that tip about snapping clothes to combat static cling.

Folly

-rj