shot of sass, served on (n)ice

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Cleaning Up the Bar, Part 3: Charlie’s Soap!

CharlieSoapRegular programming on Pen’s homemade cleaners must be interrupted so we can discuss Charlie’s Soap. If you’re ever looking for a new laundry soap, one that’s relatively inexpensive, non-toxic, free of all the stuff that sometimes makes a sensitive girl such as myself break out all over, consider buying Charlie’s Soap. It’s made in NC, another bonus (buying local, or whatever), and they give you all kinds of deals on ordering and shipping costs. For instance, for my first order, which was recommended highly to me by a friend and neighbor, I selected one bag of the laundry powder (80 loads), and 1 small bottle of the all-purpose cleaner, which I’ll get to in a minute. They discounted approximately $2.50 from the order and shipping was free—via FedEx. Overall, I’d say the laundry powder itself is a pretty great deal. It works in high-efficiency washers as well, if you’re fancy enough to own one of those. The all-purpose cleaner, which claims to clean everything from dentures to diesel engines, doesn’t seem as a good a deal at first glance, but it turns out that you dilute it before using it, so it does stretch. And, it’s worked on everything I used it on so far: the shower, the carpet (my daughter pees on it), the stove, my false teeth (kidding, kidding), etc.

The Charlie’s Soap company also has A+ customer service. Because I’ll be honest, they kind of screwed up my order at first, sending me two bags of laundry powder instead of one bag and one bottle of cleaner. The company president emailed me back right away with the following message:

“Ooops.  I have yelled at the appropriate people with the required amount of vitriol! :)

Keep the extra bag or give it to a friend.  I'll send out your All Purpose sprayer right away.”

You know what? I totally appreciate that. Besides that the screw-up worked in my favor (BOGO laundry powder, woohoo!), she was totally funny and nice about the mix-up. And followed up… wrong, again. Two days later, I received yet another bag of laundry powder, delivered via FedEx. Yeesh! This time, I decided not to say anything because I had gotten more than my money’s worth, and well, they’re just so darn nice. But then, hours later, USPS delivered the cleaner. Huh! Talk about getting your money’s worth. I almost feel guilty. Almost. But see, I’m making up for it with this PSA: Buy Charlie’s Soap. Despite a little bit of flakiness (and hey, who out there isn’t a tad flaky every now and then), great product, great customer service. I highly recommend it.

And the laundry powder, by the way, is excellent. Making one’s own laundry detergent is actually rather *involved,” and seemingly not that cost-efficient. I say, just buy it. And you don’t even have to leave the house!

4 tips left at the bar:

Ruby said...

I'm all for natural and buying local, etc. but HOW DOES IT SMELL? I tend to buy detergent purely based upon the smell (Tide with April Fresh Downy, YUM!).

The president's email is hilarious and would totally make me want to give them my business.

I love your cleaning TIPS, PEN!

Anonymous said...

I used to work for a company that sells an all purpose cleaner door to door and the best thing I can tell you to do with a stain on your carpet, is spray that cleaner on, put a damp cloth over it and then iron. It's called an iron transfer and it pulls Kool Aid out of a carpet!

I totally get my huge bottle of detergent from Grocery Outlet for $6.99 and it lasts me years. Okay, well not years, but a long time. It feels like years. Three if I haven't been drinking.

penelope said...

Excellent tip, Molly! Although I suppose it's not wise to operate the iron while drinking, right?

Sadly, Charlie's Soap does not have much a scent. It's one of the pitfalls of a detergent with no dyes or perfumes or whatever. I was just thinking about this issue. Did you know you can use laundry powder as a car freshener, too? Just fill the ashtray with it. I used to use Gain, which smells fantastic. So fresh and clean.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. .LOVE the letter and corrective measures, but I am a Mtn. Spring Tide girl myself. AND I use the liquid Mtn. Spring Downy in the wash AND the Mtn. Spring dryer sheets in the dryer. I do LOVE the smell of my clean clothes. I've had boxes sitting in my car before and they did make the place smell good, but hadn't thought about actually putting some in the ashtray. .very intriguing (but doesn't sound fun to clean up - or if there was a spill and you got suds everywhere!)
2 dogs and 2 kids later, I am no longer a fan of carpet. ick!!