Charlie's Soap+FL washer+softened well water = non-repelling FBs?

519 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Shanana, Aug 20, 2006

Shanana

Discussion Starter · Aug 20, 2006

Anyone BTDT? I have a heck of a time with build-up on my FBs, and I think it has mostly to do with our softened well-water. I've tried every recommendation I've seen on these boards:

Sportwash
baking soda + vinegar
washing soda + Simple Green (works best so far)
Allens Naturally
rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse
etc.

No matter what I do, my FBs start leaking after 6-8 weeks, and I have to strip them again (using a stiff brush and liquid dish soap -- which works great, but it's a PITA to have to do it so often). I think it's because the softened water just doesn't do a good job of rinsing soap out (ever take a shower in softened water? you feel kinda slimey because it's so hard to get the soap off, lol).

Now whenever I pop in here for a look, everyone is going gaga over Charlie's soap

, and I'm wondering if anyone has used it with my combination of things: front-loading washer, softened well water and FBs. If so, is it working well?

I would be sooooo happy if I found a solution to my problem!

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caligirl

· #2 · Aug 20, 2006

when I had a front loader I resorted to washing my pockets in a squirt of Dawn dishsoap and that worked pretty well.

I just got some Charlies and it is working well but I had TONS of suds from using Tide recently. We also have a top loader now and we moved to a different city and I can't figure out if the water is hard or soft. Probably medium (if there is such a thing) .
Good Luck!

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rad

· #3 · Aug 20, 2006

I'm gonna take a guess here and say that you may be using too much detergent. You need less with a FL since there is less water being used. Then since your water is softened, you should need less detergent there. We're in kind of the same boat. We have a FL and just recently got a water softner, so I'm still trying to figure what I need to do in our new house.

BTW, I was told that the slimy feeling is from your natural oils cause the soap is being rinsed off instead of building up on your skin.

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Shanana

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 20, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by rad
I'm gonna take a guess here and say that you may be using too much detergent.

I have tried a wide range of detergent amounts ... from one teaspoon up to a tablespoon or so. The problem still persists. Also, I really don't understand how I could get buildup with baking soda and vinegar! I mean, what is there to build up? There isn't even any detergent! But, they still leaked after a month or so. Plus I felt like they weren't even getting clean, so I gave that up.

I forgot to mention that these are the "old" FBs, so I'm currently running an experiment to see if their new fleece is more resistant to the buildup. My friend has new ones, so I swapped an old one for one of her new ones, and am using it with the rest of mine. That was almost 3 months ago. I stripped all of mine when they started leaking about a month ago, but did NOT strip hers. So far it isn't leaking, so that may be a solution. DD will be outgrowing the mediums soon, so I may just have to make sure my next bunch have the new fleece.

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