[amandapanda9]

I spoke with the man at Charlie's Soap today because we have hard well water and I wanted to see if I need to do anything special because of that before I order Charlie's Soap....he was telling me that some people use something called TSP in their wash or TKPP....not really sure what those are but the first one you can get at a paint store and apparently the second one is harder to find (he said it had something to do with phosphates? no idea what that means and my phone was cutting out so it was kind of hard to understand)....anyway, he said some people have good luck with the TSP when they have hard water....but I am really nervous about adding something like that to my wash and having it up against our skin, much less my baby's bottom with the dipes....I can't seem to find any info online about it so I can understand it better...anyone know anything about this?

I was also wondering if I could add Calgon water softener to my wash to help combat my hard water issues? (and if so...what's the process of doing that....first cold prewash? Second hot or warm wash? and where do I put it? I have a front load washer if that makes a difference) I don't know the difference between that and an actual fabric softener and I know you aren't supposed to use fabric softeners with dipes...but someone told me I could use Calgon in my water...anyone know if this is so? I dont want to ruin my dipes by doing that...but I also don't want my hard water causing issues either. I hate that we have well water! Grrrr.....

 

[TwiceBlessed]

I have used calgon and my diapers are fine, I only used it until I ran it, it does help but Im not sure how much really. I would just add it in your detergent cup of your front loader, also it may not just be your water I have heard that front loders may not work as well as traditional machines for dipes because they use less water. Maybe you can add another extra rinse, We have terrible water too and i know it makes it harder to get all the detergent rinsed out! good luck!

 

[CawMama]

Don't use fabric softeners...they will create wicking issues from what I've heard.

For Calgon, you add 1/2 cup to a full load to soften your water. I would try to wash them in Charlie's with your normal water before you do anything else, and see if you get issues that way.

 

[amandapanda9]

I will definitely try with just the Charlie's first and then only add the Calgon is needed.....I wanted to make sure the Calgon was ok to use if needed...thanks!

 

[jessiemom]

I would not use TSP (trisodium phosphate) if I was you, it is an industrial cleaner used to strip walls and floors before you paint or lay flooring. It would not be good for your diapers or your baby. Incidentally they also use it as a preservative in cereal, isn't that gross!!

:

http://www.inchem.org/documents/icsc/icsc/eics1178.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisodium_phosphate

 

[amandapanda9]

Oh how gross! Thanks so much for the link...definitely helps me understand the TSP thing better! I knew when I heard that you buy it at a paint store, I didn't want to put it in our clothes much less my baby's dipes! The guys at Charlie's Soap was not telling me to do this...just that he had heard of this option from a few of his customers.....I think I'd much rather soften the water with Calgon than do that. I ordred my Charlie's Soap today and will try it alone first...if I need the Calgon, I will add it....I'm thinking I probably will need it though since we do have well water and a HE front load washer....I have noticed that with our regular laundry, I have to make sure I wash small loads at a time (kills me to do that when I have that HUGE washer and dryer than can do huge loads!

) or nothing seems clean....and if one of my kids throws up or something on their clothes, I have to wash the item about four times by itself before it smells clean....I didn't really realize it was a water problem....we are definitely going to get a water softening system put in when we build the new house! Thanks again!

 

[rad]

In my old house I used calgon cause the water was so hard. It worked just fine.

 

[amandapanda9]

Thanks! I'm glad to know that there are other people who have used it and it worked fine...makes me less nervous about trying it (if I have to) and ruining my dipes! I'd like some of these to last so I can use them with my fourth baby!

 

[wiredupweb]

I honestly think you will be okay with just the Charlies Soap. We are on well water here too and nothing was getting clean...our dipes smelled horrible, no matter how many washes. Switching to Charlies has made a WORLD of difference. Everything smells great...like just off Grandma's clothesline in the sun great! I couldn't believe the difference. I bought some Calgon to try and used that with the Charlies to see if it would soften up my Kissaluvs (a little crunchy from hard water) and it did not seem to make a difference. The guy at Charlies told me about using TSP too, or another product that removes mineral buildup, think it is CLR (for Calcium/Lime/Rust or something like that). Honestly, I'm going to give it a try. I am pretty careful about chemicals, but after a long talk with the guy at Charlies and researching it some more I am going to give it a try to see if it will pull some of the mineral buildup out of the clothes. I'm going to do it with caution. While I don't want chemicals against baby's skin (so will wash regular after using this) I also don't like the mineral buildup and corresponding dirtier, crunchier clothing and dipes against baby's skin. Although with the Charlies things are getting much cleaner, I will admit. I'd just like to get rid of the crunchy factor.