so I've decided to try out Tide F and G after asking all of you wonderful people. I've been using Charlie's soap for about 6/7 months now with zero issues regarding smells or absorbency, rashes and whatnot, but the tide is a lot cheaper and I wanted to switch to avoid any mineral build up because we have hard water. so....should I strip? and if I were to strip, FLU () said if I didn't have all 3 ingredients to strip, then I could use more of just 1 ingredient ( I have washing soda)...so what do you think? TIA.
@281travis I believe you can either use RLR or a mix of Borax, Calgon and washing soda.
I’d make sure your detergent matches your water hardness and is cloth diaper safe. Tide Free and Gentle is good for 75-100ppm water hardness. Charlie’s Soap, not sure if that’s cloth diaper safe, I’d strip.
@markiplier this is from FLU regarding the borax/calgon/washing soda mix, "Note: If you are unable to get ALL 3 ingredients, you can mix ¼ cup of two of the three ingredients, OR ½ cup of a single ingredient. HOWEVER, the more ingredients you have, the larger the broad spectrum of minerals being targeted will be." , and that's why I put that bit at the end on thoughts about using just the washing soda because that's what I have on hand.
Charlie's soap is apparently not recommended because it doesn't have enzymes and doesn't do well with hard water?
@281travis I’m not super familiar with whether or not that’s effective for stripping. I’d see if you could find one other source that says something similar, but if not, I’d find the three and do that. I’ve gotten Calgon super cheap at Walmart but I’m not sure where you are in the world and whether that’s as easy to find. I’d just hate to go through all that effort of stripping and sanitizing for it to not do a thorough job!
I’ve heard most “soaps” don’t actually have anything that disinfects like a detergent would. I’m not an expert on every detergent and soap on the market as I found one that was good for my water and have stuck with it.
If you have hard water and a detergent (or soap) that is too weak, you’ll get mineral build up. If you have soft water and a detergent that’s too strong, you’ll get detergent build up. Both are not good!
I tested my water with a clorox pool strip test then found a detergent to match.
@281travis Stripping is for mineral buildup. If you didn't have any issue with the old detergent, there's nothing you need to do. Just start using the new detergent.
) said if I didn't have all 3 ingredients to strip, then I could use more of just 1 ingredient ( I have washing soda)...so what do you think? TIA.