So, it might surprise some of you to learn that despite all the crazy harsh chemicals I use in refinishing furniture, I am very very careful about what I use in my house and around my children. There are no harsh chemical cleaning agents in our home.
I am also a total nut about laundry. I know most people sort their laundry into whites, colors, brights. Right? Not me. Here is how my laundry sorting breaks down.
- whites- underwear
- whites- not undewear
- brights - reds, yellow and oranges only
- darks
- pastels
- jeans (and colored socks)
- white socks (socks are too nasty to be washed with anything else)
- towels
- linens
- kitchen towels and wash cloths
- rags
Yes, I am a little bit insane, I recognize this. This partially comes from my mother, who also 'over' sorts her laundry and partially it comes from the fact that I rarely buy new clothes so I need and expect my clothes to last a long time, and I feel like I have to take extra care with them to accomplish this.
So, what does someone this OCD use to clean her laundry, expecting it both to do an excellent job AND be gentle and non toxic? And did I mention that Leo and I both have super sensitive skin that reacts to EVERYTHING?
Well, I'm sure my blog title gave it away. I am a super fan of
Charlie's Soaps.
On their all purpose cleaner is says "Cleans everything from diesel engines to false teeth," and it's true. I've yet to find something that I can't clean with one of Charlie's four products. Yep, they only make four products, and those four products will clean anything. (Here's a secret, in fact, I only use two of them.)
They offer
1.
Kitchen and bath natural cleaner
2.
Indoor/outdoor surface cleaner
3.
Laundry detergent (in powder or liquid form)
4.
Laundry pre wash
They also offer a laundry booster for people who live in areas with especially hard water.
Our family uses the Indoor/outdoor surface cleaner and the powdered laundry detergent. We dilute the surface cleaner for our everyday cleaning jobs and even us the laundry detergent for some cleaning jobs, like cleaning our stupid plastic bathtubs. (Does anyone else have those? Someone who never has had to clean one clearly sells them!) We also use the surface spray for our stain treatment on our laundry and for seriously difficult jobs, like cleaning up after our plethora of animals (if you know what I mean!)
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| What? I never throw up random mouse parts! (ICK!) |
Recently I added a scoop (about a TBLS) of laundry detergent to a bucket of water and John Henry and I used it to wash our car. It did an AMAZING job, and that is actually what led to me wanting to write this post. When we were done John Henry wanted to wash is wagon. I had no issues letting him wash and play to his heart's content with the water that had Charlie's Soap in it. It has no lye, phosphates, bleach, dyes or perfumes. I fell confident that it isn't going to hurt him, unless, of course getting clean is harmful to a three year old (he thinks it is, I disagree!)
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| I scream like a banshee when my mama tries to wash my hair. |
I also feel really good about supporting their company. Charlie's Soap is a small, family owned company that was started by two men with $200 who saw an opportunity and ran with it. You can read all about it
here.
I also love how important customer service is to them. They have PDF's that you can download (at the bottom of their
products page) that provide you with information about the best ways they have found to clean specific items with their products. I also saw a woman comment on their
facebook page who was having a hard time getting some stains out of her laundry. Within a few minutes someone at the company had commented telling her to call their 1-800 number and someone would talk her through some techniques and trouble shooting. How's THAT for awesome!
As I prepared to share with you my favorite way to clean everything, I thought that it would be fun to offer one of you the chance to try Charlie's out for yourself. In the "never hurts to ask" spirit, I emailed Charlie's and asked them if they were interested in doing a give away. Well, just one more reason to LOVE this company. . . Sherry emailed me back within a few hours and said they would love to offer one of you the chance to try TWO of their products, a bottle of their Indoor/Outdoor Cleaner and a bottle of their Kitchen and Bath cleaner.
See. . . AWESOME!
OK, OK, enough of me blabbering on about how much I love this stuff. (Seriously, I do.) Here's how you can enter, up to three times, for a chance to win this awesome stuff.
1. Follow Apple House Revival either via my RSS feed or LIKE my
facebook page and then leave me a comment letting me know you do.
2. LIKE Charlie's Soap on
facebook and leave me a
separate commenting telling me you have.
3. Share the give away love via Twitter or on you facebook status. . . and, you know it, leave me another comment letting me know you've let your friends in on the fun!
I'll randomly select one comment on Friday, the 17th. Comments will be accepted through Thursday the 16th at midnight.
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Disclosure. I was not paid or perked in any way to write this review. I approached Charlie's Soap about offering a chance to win their product, they did not approach me. My opinions are 100% my own.
*** This give away is only open to US shipping addresses.
