Charlie's and cloth diapers

[Rikki Jean]

I am so confused. I've been using Charlie's for almost two years. We switched shortly after DS1 was born because he was having some eczema in his groin, and we suspected it was our detergent. It cleared up shortly after switching.

For the last month or two, we've been having some serious issues with blisters, and again, eczema. I'm getting so much mixed information depending on who I talk to, but I'm really thinking it has something to do with the dipes (we had considered food allergies, teething, etc.), especially because he started to clear up right away as soon as I put him in sposies.

Other than this situation, I've been happy with Charlie's. From some of the reading I've been doing, it seems that it can be effective under certain circumstances, and that there are just adjustments that'll have to be made. Other things I'm reading say that it should, never, ever be used on dipes, and there are diaper associations (whose existence I was previously unaware of) that are against it's use.

I just can't decide what to do. I mean, it seems like there are stories everywhere of people having issues with all kinds of detergents, even the ones that are recommended. So, what's a mama to do?

[Katie T]

We use charlies cause my dd breaks out w/other detergents. I swear my soaking ur dipes at least 30 min during the hot wash w/soap it gets them even cleaner! Good luck I be suprised if after 2 yrs you started having a problem but im no expert : )

[Anastasiya]

Are they getting clean enough? We've used Charlie's for three years and the only times we've had blistery rash problems was back when they weren't getting clean enough. If your water is hard, you might need a water softener added to the wash because the Charlie's will work on the hard water first, and then there's not enough left to clean the dipes.

I've heard mixed reviews from Charlie's, but after talking extensively with the owner about the concerns, I'm convinced it's not the Charlie's causing the problems - after all, there is no residue left behind - but something else. Could be that they're not clean, could be yeast, could be ammonia from her urine, etc.

We still use Charlie's and have had no more issues.

PS - make sure there IS no residue. Have you tried just washing the dipes in hot with no detergent to see if there's a bunch of suds?

[thefreckledmama]

If you don't already, try putting 1/2 cup of vinegar in the rinse. When we were having issues from using Charlie's on dipes, that totally cleared it up.

[Katie T]

Also even w/using charlies I do a couple hot washes w/no soap & check for suds. It has to be hot h2o & I rinse till there are no suds usually 2 or 3 times. We also have very hard h2o but I dont add softner as it adds to the cost thats y the soak helps.