The real reason I love the new Whole Foods by my house

There are lots of things I'm not a fan of at the new Whole Foods that sprang up right near our house.  Most being a sad lack of certain products in the bulk food aisle I like (like raw cashew pieces and certain herbs/spices to name a few) - my main reason for going to Whole Foods.  But there is one thing about the new store that I L.O.V.E.  You'll laugh when I tell you.

Bulk laundry detergent.

There.  I felt ridiculous just typing it, but seriously I was so psyched when I found that out.  It's not just any detergent (because yes I realize that you can buy huge amounts of laundry detergent at BJ's), it's my beloved Charlie's Soap!  Ha!  Don't you just love the fact that my son and my laundry detergent share the same name!!  I do.  I love using Charlie's soap because it contains three ingredients with no extra fillers and additives.  Because there are no extra fillers, you use all of A TABLESPOON in each load of laundry.  Less if it's a small load. I love that I'm not putting extra, unnecessary things in my wash load to get in my fabrics and onto our skin, and I'm not paying for extra fillers either.  The ~2.5lb bag will do up to 80 wash loads!  And while it's not the cheapest detergent out there, I don't mind paying above "dirt cheap" for it since it's non-toxic, biodegradable, hypo-allergenic, and generally a smart choice for washing baby clothes and cloth diapers.  (Not to mention I think does a bang up job of getting my clothes clean.)  But....

my refilled bags

What I totally love about buying it in bulk is that not only can I refill both of my old Charlie's soap bags that I had from previous purchases (thus saving on new containers), but buying in bulk cuts the price ALMOST IN HALF!  I was totally psyched when I saw the reduced price for bulk purchases!  It made the whole trip to WF's worth it right there.  So I bought about 2 bags worth, came home and refilled these bags right up!  (Yes I did use a brown sack to get the soap home since I didn't anticipate buying it in bulk and bring my empty bags.)

I did notice that the container for purchasing Charlie's Soap (not in bulk) had unfortunately changed to a big plastic jar.  I was at first turned off by the switch from the cute cloth bag to the big plastic jar.  Upon searching their website I found this "New Jars are here! HDPE recycled, recyclable, reusable, even refillable at participating local retailers."   Given that the cute little cloth baggies DID have a plastic bag on the inside (in order to prevent the detergent from drawing damp I suppose), and that refilling a plastic jar has the potential to be less messy and less hassle than refilling plastic bags (that can break and tear), I don't totally hate the package change.  Of course if you already use Charlie's soap and have a cloth bag to refill or don't feel the need to have an "original" Charlie's soap container to store your detergent, by all means head to WF's and put your bulk detergent in a glass jar or reused ziploc bag.  Reusing is always good where possible.


If you're curious about Charlie's Soap, check it out. 


We like our laundry soap and our kid, Charlie-style.  ;-)