How do you wash cloth diaper? Is it hard to clean cloth diapers? What's your wash routine? What kind of soap do you use to wash your diapers? What about stains?
We have all seen these questions on forums, been asked in person, or spend countless hours on "Dr" Google (my pet name for the popular search engine :P)
And the stander answer almost robotic is to say Cold wash no soap, HOT large wash with soap, cold rinse no soap. Simple enough right? Well get a room or forum together of nothing but beloved CD mommies and you will find 100 different ways and 100 different methods, soaps, tricks , and more they swear by.
I personal have CD'ed for a year now and have pretty much stuck to the Cold HOT cold way to cloth diapers but more recently have felt like experimenting. My stash has grown a lot in this past year and affords me more room to experiment without fear of running out or ruining my fluff. This as well as my growing love for all things fluff , having way to much time on my hand and my belief that not any one persons way is right for everyone I began my research.
Brace your self some people swear by Tide original , others use the dishwasher to sterilize their diapers (tho this can posse a fire risk). There are those who prefer to make there own soap, Do a HOT wash cold rinse, Wash by hand (I personally have done this twice in my CD life time),
Those who boil Cloth diapers, And many many more varying ways to ensure clean diapers And as I sit now in my craft /Laundry room writing this , I am filling the diaper pail and my son's bath pod with water from the bathtub to pour in to my washer because the new "fixer up" house we are buying has a problem with the main supply of water to the washer and the person we have called has not been out to look at it yet:( oh for the love of fluff.
Why not use disposables you ask? I could answer something noble like my love for the environment but that's not it I'm crunchy and soggy at times. Or answer the number of chemicals found in a disposable diaper. But that's not it (tho I'm not going to go into the list as I'm sure you have seen it all before I do admit it's pretty shocking what is in those) No those are not my reasons. Simply put I prefer cloth diapers and there is the bit of money I have spent on them! And I'm just don't want to go out to buy diapers call me lazy but I see it another way I admit that it is my hope that one day when my kids have children of their own one day that they too will use cloth diapers and that the memory will stick with them just to what links I went to in order to keep them in fluff and feel a little bit of love<3 (cause you haven't know yet I'm pretty honest)
Why not go to a laundry mat then?
I love laundry mats I do. Something about waking up early loading the car grabbing my iPod and a Monster energy drink. Pulling in to the parking lot and starting all my wash at once while I listing to music and read through the mess of magazines laying around! I love it. Not to mention taking my clothes to a laundry mat is about the only sure fire way to get me to fold all my laundry straight from the drier;).
But no I have only taking my cloth diapers to a laundry mat once. And that's cause in small part chemicals but mostly cause the laundry mat is the one place I don't want to talk about fluff! Shocking I know me not wanting to talk about fluff. But really in a laundry mat I don't want to talk to anybody or about anything!! It's mommy quite time hints the reason I take and iPod and get up at O dark 30. It's my zen and my guilty pleaser much the same as walking down the laundry aisle at the store I love the smell of the laundry aisle tho I never really buy soap there. But that's a whole other story for later.
When asked in general I too am guilty of giving the short answer. But only because I know it work and above everything else I want those trying or thinking about trying CD's to be successful.
But for those a little more like me, who are not afraid to experiment or likes to know a little more then basic these are the tips I can share.
First I'm a practical I want to know what soaps work what safe beyond the stander answer or heavily use. Here is the standard I hear a lot.
Rockin Green Soap-yes I use and love it but I have also heard many mom's say their Lo's have had reactions to this as well.
I do believe it's worth a try. Sample packs are available.
I am very excited to now find that both Diapers.com and Soap.com are stocking RNG gone forever in my house are the long waits for the postman to deliver my RNG. I really like that the soap is formulated to the kind of water you have simply look for hard rock for hard water , soft rock for soft, and classic for all those in-between.
Charlie's soap-I have this kind too , but will offer this bit of information Charlie's is an Enzymatic cleaner. This is a Great soap just as long as you rinse your diapers REALLY well. Enzymes can effect your baby's skin if their bottom is not cleaned well enough or the longer the diaper is left near the skin.
A reaction may go unnoticed if lo's Diaper is changed often enough.
This does not mean that Charlie's is not a good soap or cloth diaper friendly, my only personal dislike about Charlie's is the need to wash your washer out if other soaps that are not clean rinsing are in use in your washer. This is not the case in my house nothing gets near my washer that is not CD safe. But if you use a laundry mat or other soap you need to remember to do this . Cleaning your washer is done by simply doing a load of towel or sheets or rags and adding two scoops to the wash before doing a load of diapers with the standard one scoop. Will your diapers be ruined beyond repair if you forget this step? No the trouble is over time your diapers with began to repel do to the build up of other soaps picked up from the washer.
Some avoid Charlie's due to the cost but I believe it's only a matter of doing the math to see it's not that costly 80 loads 2 lbs is in one tube at $14 dollars that's not that bad. To avoid that cost I have found a store that sales in bulk as well as being able to reuse the container at my local whole food store I can buy it for $4 a lb. That's only $8 for the soap and forgoing The packaging
it's both cheaper an Eco-friendly.
Allen's
Tiny bubbles
And a few others marketed by Cloth diaper makers would also fall under this category as well as Free and clear brands of soaps used everyday like All and Tide.
I have found that if I am ever left wondering about a soap and if it's safe/ friendly to use on my diapers that I can go to the below listed links to find an answer to put my mind at ease.
The third link listed is just a quick and easy ways to make your own laundry soaps at home. There are many ways to do it but this is just a quick example of a couple I know. I hope that you find them as useful as I do
http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm
http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html
http://www.diaperjungle.com/homemade-laundry-detergent.html
Some washing tricks I use are BioKleen Bac-Out.
I love what this has done for me and my fluff. I keep a squirt bottle near my washer and spray bottle near my changing station in my boy's room . When using in wash I add 3 quick squirts in to the washer as the water fills for my initial cold rinse. When using at the diaper station I just spray a couple sprays on to the diaper or soaker and toss in the pail. This works wonders at keeping smells away and has saved my fluff on occasion when I did not get to wash for a day or so past the standard every other day I normally do diapers.
Rinsing well is ALWAYS Important when it comes to diapers but Bac-out is Cd safe/friendly. Bumgenius makes something similar to Bac-out only I don't favor the smell.
White vinegar is nice but care must be used if you live in an area with hard water as I do because it can cause a smelly build up in your diapers.
I seldom use it but when I do the trick I find works is adding it to a Downey ball and tossing it in the washer. This helps in releasing the vinegar in the cycle it is need in. Adding it to your fabric softener dispenser works too.
Do to my hard water I only do this when I am battling something that vinegar will help or in case of a yeast infection(I have been luck to have only had to fight this ) .
Calgon water softener if hard water is the case but have found that this is not needed when I use RNG hard rock as it already has additives meant for better cleaning in hard water.
Borax what can't this stuff do, Just don't soak you PUL diapers in it (guilty) it will ruin the water proofing (all is not lost I was able to save my PUL diapers lessen learned).
Tea tree oil/TTO and Grapefruit seed Extract /GSE both are amazing at combatting things like yeast. Fun fact GSE has been shown to be more effective the silver , TTO, and even bleach at killing things like yeast.(look for later post on how I battled yeast)
And last in my laundry arsenal but not least is RLR
Now this stuff rocks. This is my laundry problem go to my work horse.
A soak over night in RLR is amazing at removing build up in diapers! The stuff works nothing else need be said! I have yet to find a local carrier of RLR so I buy it online mainly at the GroVia sister site Thenaturalbabyco.com but I have found it available on amazon as well.
As I come to the end of this post I ask this question of you , What's your wash routine? Please share in comments below beyond the Cold HOT cold so as to provide some renewed meaning in to what works for you. And maybe share a favorite laundry tip. I am always looking to try out some things that have worked for others to see what it can do for me as well. It is also my hope that others new to CD will find the comments you share and the tips I have shared. Helping them find a routine that works for them as well.
Please note I am posting unedited. This is done not out of disrespect but in my own way only further proof that I am genuine in what I share and who I am. Just a busy mom doing most all her blog post from my iPhone was I parent four children through the day. When time allows my wonderful understanding husband does my editing.:)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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