This giveaway has ended. Thanks to all that entered!
Today I want to tell you about 2 NC company’s that I have found and am really excited about! I first want to tell you about Charlie’s Soap. No, not the kind of soap you wash your body with. Let me give you a little bit of history that is a great story.
One day in 1976, in Mayodan, N.C., Charlie Sutherland Jr’s boss asked him to go find some soap that would clean their textile yarn machines. Charlie and his brother-in-law, Ron Joyce, got the idea to make their own soap and then sell it to the textile company. They worked on a perfect high quality formula that was completely biodegradable, hypo-allergenic, and environmentally friendly. The soap was a success and cleaned all of the oils off of the machinery. Of course their plan didn’t fully work out and they got caught. Ron was fired, but that gave him time to continue working on the soaps with Charlie working with him on the weekends. In 1983, Charlie bought the company from Ron and has been running it ever since. You can read the full story here.
Over the past 33 years, Charlie’s Soap has continued to strive and Charlie’s sons have joined the team. Now they have added Charlie’s Laundry Liquid and Laundry Powder to their stock. Charlie’s Soap is really a blend of natural-based surfactants (detergents) derived from coconut oil, treated with a product of natural gas (real soaps are treated with caustic soda or pot ash), and salts in water (Laundry Liquid) or pure Green Mountain washing soda (Laundry Powder).
A lot of the laundry detergents you buy in stores are made with Synthetic Surfactants and can contain Alkyl phenoxy polyethoxy ethanols, Diathanolamines, Linear alkyl sodium sulfonate, Petroleum distillates, Phenols, and Sodium hypochlorite– all of which are known toxins and cause various health problems. You can read more about these ingredients at Sixwise.com. The scary part is that if you go to your laundry room and read your detergent label, you probably won’t see any ingredients listed. Hopefully this will change soon since an environmentalist group has sued several companies because they refused to release their ingredients. Kind of shady.
Another BIG thing that is found in detergents is Optical brighteners. These synthetic chemicals convert UV light wavelengths into visible light, which makes laundered clothes appear whiter (although does not actually affect the cleanliness of the clothing). They’ve been found to be toxic to fish and to cause bacterial mutations. Further, they can cause allergic reactions when exposed to skin that is later exposed to sunlight. So if you’ve been buying organic clothing and using regular detergents, it’s all gone to waste.
Charlie’s Soap is not like any brand of detergent I’ve ever used. We’ve been using Method and Seventh Generation for the past 2 years and now that I’ve tried Charlie’s Soap– I will never go back. When I got my instructions on how to use Charlie’s Soap I was a bit thrown back. You have to first clean out your washing machine with the soap and old rags before doing a load. Most detergents leave behind perfumes, brighteners and/or softeners to cover up the fact they aren’t really washing your clothes. These additives are meant to stick like glue, so they are left behind on your washing machine. I then read that it would take a few washings for the residues to fully get out of my clothes. I was then scared to death of what my family has been wearing for it to take several loads to get off! After a month’s use of both the powder and liquid, I’m happy to report clean, extra soft and non-toxic clothes. No fading, no skin irritations and extra clean clothes. 🙂 If you have extra hard water, please read the info on the FAQ page.
We also got to try the original Charlie’s Soap All Purpose Cleaner. When they say all purpose, they mean all purpose. It can even be used to clean your pets if they get into something extra sticky! It is completely non-toxic and doesn’t cause skin irritations. So I put the Charlie’s Soap to the test. First, there was a huge dried coffee stain on our carpet, so I sprayed 4 squirts and after a tiny bit of scrubbing it was gone. Ella had some Play-Doh from over a year ago stuck to the carpet, 2 squirts and it was up. There were several unknown stains on my carpet and after I sprayed, they were gone. Then I went to clean the metal part over my stove. It was caked with grease-OK I’ve been slack and haven’t cleaned it in a very long time- I sprayed 3 squirts and it was off. It cleans counter-tops, carpets, toilets, glass, heavy machinery, bath tubs, furniture, vinyl seats, floors… basically if you have something that needs to be cleaned it can clean it.
Charlie’s Soap offers 100% money back guarantee if you aren’t happy with their products. My experience has left me 100% satisfied! Right now if you make any purchase over $40 you can get a free reusable grocery tote by entering freetote at the checkout.
The Giveaway: Charlie’s Soap is offering 1 very lucky reader a Laundry Powder Combo which contains: 80 loads of Laundry Powder, a handy Sprayer of All Purpose Cleaner, a Portable Emergency Stain Treater, a gallon Refil of All Purpose Cleaner, and a stylish, non-woven reusable Grocery Tote sporting the Charlie’s Soap Logo.
Rules: You have until 11:59 p.m. EST October 17, 2009 to enter. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced after they respond to the winning email. The winner has 48 hours to respond to the winning email, or a new winner will be chosen. You must leave your email address! This contest is open to the US.
2. Become a fan of Mkokopelli on FB, Mkokopelli on Twitter, or Follow my blog
3. Subscribe to my blog by email (on the right sidebar) You must verify and be active at the time of the giveaway- those who are unverified will become disqualified
5. Enter another giveaway I have going on and tell me which one or leave a comment on a non-giveaway post (1 extra entry total)
6. Tell me where you can find Charlie’s Soap near you
7. Tell me something else you learned about Charlie’s Soap on their site
8. Become a Fan of Charlie’s Soap on Facebook and tell me something Charlie’s Soap cleaned that nothing else would
Looks like they sell it at Teeny Greeny in OP, KS!
katiekarr at gmail dot com
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Woah, the Laundry Liquid 5 Gallon Bucket sounds awesome!
katiekarr at gmail dot com
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**Daily Tweet**
http://twitter.com/joeandbridge/status/4752028777
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i can find these products at the closest location to me which is Roslyn Natural Market in WA — thanks again!
ranmel(at)televar(dot)com
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i learned that without all the extra fillers, Charlie's Soap only takes one tablespoon for a full wash load!
ranmel(at)televar(dot)com
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This comment has been removed by the author.
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i would like to try the all-purpose cleaner since it's always good to have some on hand, especially if it is a brand made with safe ingredients — thank you very much for the chance!
ranmel(at)televar(dot)com
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I'd most like to try Charlie's Laundry Powder. asthenight at gmail dot com
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I would also love to try the All Purpose Cleaner, thanks for the chance!
Hotsnotty2@hotmail.com
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This looks awesome. I'd love to try the Laundry Liquid. Thanks.
sweet_soul_sistermi@yahoo.com
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I'd love to try the Laundry Liquid the most. I love trying out new household products.
hebert024 at aol dot com
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**Daily Tweet**
http://twitter.com/joeandbridge/status/4725720725
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I would love to try the All Purpose Cleaner.
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JeansandTs@hotmail.com
I would like to try the All Purpose Cleaner.
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I learned that they recommend both forms of Charlie's Soap for either top or front load washing machines.
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Only 2 retail locations in Oklahoma, and neither is 'shopping' close. One is in Norman, the other in Stillwater.
clynsg(at)yahoo(dot)com
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Probably the liquid laundry soap–I prefer liquids over powder.
clynsg(at)yahoo(dot)com
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I want to try Laundry Liquid
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I think I would like to use the laundry powder because it only tales 1 tbsp!
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I'd love to try the All Purpose Cleaner.
bebemiqui82(at)yahoo(dot)com
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I'd love to try the laundry powder! stuffparentsneed (at) gmail (dot) com
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Tweeted about this giveaway! http://twitter.com/retelling
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I subscribe to this blog!
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I follow this blog!
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I'm a fan on twitter! 🙂
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I'm a fan on facebook! 🙂
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The all purpose cleaner sounds great! Thanks for the giveaway!
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I would like the laundry powder because I cloth diaper. 🙂
athrahans at hotmail dot com
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I learned that diapers washed in Tide actually gained in weight from residue. Those washed in Charlie's did not.
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I can buy it at Lehman's Hardware in Ohio.
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The Laundry Liquid looks great to me.
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I'd love to try the Laundry Powder. I've heard it would be good for washing my son's diapers!
heatherlbrandt (at) verizon (dot) net
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I am a Facebook fan of Charlie's Soap (Aimee Waerhouse). Also, I learned that it cleaned dried paint on one customer's carpet that nothing else would clean.
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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I learned that Charlie's Soap does not add the necessary chemicals to handle the hardest water problems because that would unnecessarily burden soft water areas with unneeded chemicals.
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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The closest place I can purchase Charlie's Soap is at Heaven on Main Street in Bovina Center, NY.
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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#3 — I shared this post on Facebook (username: Aimee Waerhouse):
http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmkokopelli.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fcharlies-soap-giveaway.html&t=Charlie%27s+Soap+Giveaway#/posted.php?id=841241519&share_id=190426122176&comments=1#s190426122176
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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#2 — I shared this post on Facebook (username: Aimee Waerhouse):
http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmkokopelli.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fcharlies-soap-giveaway.html&t=Charlie%27s+Soap+Giveaway#/posted.php?id=841241519&share_id=190426122176&comments=1#s190426122176
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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#1 — I shared this post on Facebook (username: Aimee Waerhouse):
http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmkokopelli.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fcharlies-soap-giveaway.html&t=Charlie%27s+Soap+Giveaway#/posted.php?id=841241519&share_id=190426122176&comments=1#s190426122176
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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Tweet 3: http://twitter.com/Nelsby/status/4674662465
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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Tweet 2: http://twitter.com/Nelsby/status/4674662465
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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Tweet 1: http://twitter.com/Nelsby/status/4674662465
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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I subscribe to your blog feed via email.
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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I am following you on Twitter (username Nelsby).
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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I am a Facebook fan (Aimee Waerhouse).
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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I am following your blog (username Nelsby).
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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Tough decision! I believe I would most like to try the Laundry Liquid.
Thanks!
Aimee
sierranelsby (at) gmail (dot) com
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The all purpose cleaner would be great – I already love the laundry powder.
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laundry liquid!
Thanks for entering me! Great Contest!
Janna Johnson
janna@FeedYourPigBlog.com
jannajanna@hotmail.com
http://www.FeedYourPigBlog.com
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**Daily Tweet**
http://twitter.com/joeandbridge/status/4669946984
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I can buy it at sprout soup
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