Has anyone changed their wash routine even if it works?

I did. I had been washing CDs for 2 years, with little issue. I use PFs only, basically. I have 2 pocket dipes and 2 pocket fitteds with inserts.

I had been using various free and clear type detergents, sometimes with vinegar rinse, sometimes not. Sometimes DA, sometimes not. Maybe I didn't hesitate to change my routine because I didn't have any loyalty to any particular detergent. I had stinkies sometimes but I just zapped them with a little bleach once in awhile. :

A little over a month ago, I switched to WS/SG for all our laundry. Love it so far - I guess if everything falls apart in two more months then I'll feel stupid but for now it works SO well. I love knowing that there's no weird optical brightening crap and God only knows what else lurking in our laundry. Everything smells awesome (not like detergent, yk, just CLEAN) and my husband hasn't said anything. I keep him as far out of my laundry business as I can because if it was up to him we'd use a cup of bleach and three dryer sheets for every load.

I also ditched our fabric softener sheets (although they were unscented ) and got those dryer balls. DH hasn't said anything about static cling either so looks like I'm off the hook!

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I laughed reading your post because I'm considering switching to Tide on the basis of one of your previous posts saying how successful it's been for you. Allen's worked well when we had all cotton dipes but isn't getting my pockets as clean as I'd like.

I totally understand not wanting a bunch of mysterious things in your laundry detergent. However, my understanding from various posts is that optical brighteners are just dyes and they don't make fleece repel. Given that most of my clothing is dyed, that doesn't freak me out too much. One thing you may want to consider is that carbonate-based detergents can sometimes cause build-up in hard water (http://www.sdahq.org/laundry/fact/laundrytable1.html), and I believe WS is carbonate-based. Also, many sources (Consumer Reports, my midwife, lots of moms here) agree that Tide is great for getting out organic yuckies (like poop & bacteria) because of the enzymes in it. Ammonia stink is due to bacteria reacting with pee, so if SG/WS doesn't kill/digest bacteria as effectively as Tide, you might be more likely to get stink. If your kids are sensitive to the enzymes and getting rashy, using enzymes are bad. But if your kids aren't reacting to the enzymes, they do in fact get out organic yuckies very effectively - that's why they're the main ingredient in things like Bac-Out. Anyway, if I were you I wouldn't fix a system that has worked well for a long time, but it's up to you...

It seems that a lot of people have used Tide without problems. It seems to work well for so many people. Normally I'd say don't change anything that's been working!

But it sounds like your beef is more about them adding stuff - more schloppity schlop, as the Lorax would say - to the environment. The brighteners, in fact, stay in the environment so long, and it's in nearly everyone's household wastewater, that it's now used as an indicator to test if household water is leaking into creek systems or there's illegal dumping (they use a blacklight to detect traces of it in the water). Some sources say it's toxic to aquatic life. But I haven't seen enough evidence to personally be afraid or start labeling using it as horrible for the environment - mainly just offended that there's yet another chemical out there going into the environment by the gallons without good reason.

In that case, if it's a question of not liking the trend toward adding more stuff to an already overtoxified planet, it makes sense to try something else.

But if your main concern is finding a system that works (for, I might add, the cloth diapers that are doing so much good for the environment) I'd say don't feel like you have to switch! It doesn't sound like they're doing your diapers any harm!