I do not like the look of stains in the diapers, so for dirty diapers, I soak them overnight in Oxygen bleach and Bi-o-Kleen or Oxygen bleach and a detergent with enzymes and water. I NEVER use chlorine bleach or Borax as both breaks down the cotton fibers. The next day I throw the diapers in the washer with the others unless the diaper still has stains after soaking, If there are stains in the diaper, I hand wash it and set it in a window to be sun bleach. By taking the diaper out and drying it on the line I don’t have to look through all the white diapers for the stained one. Setting the diaper in the sun usually gets out all the rest of the stains.
The wet diapers go through a regular wash in hot water where they are triple rinsed (my machine does not have a double rinse feature so they go through the wash 2 times.) If the diapers do not appear to be as absorbent, I fill the downy ball with vinegar for the rinse cycle to help get any detergent build up out of the diapers. I use All free and baking soda in the wash. I have very sensitive skin and can only use “All free” even though many diaper sites caution against using it. I trust http://www.diaperpin.com’s review on detergents the most. I have looked into the claims of Free & Clear, Dreft & Ivory Snow being soaps that leave a film on the diapers, but this is not true. All are safe for use in washing cloth diapers and are detergents not soaps. If you don’t believe me, look into it yourself.
Drying the diapers:
I do not put the diaper covers in the dryer so that they will last longer. The rest of the diapers go into the dryer on a normal or hot cycle.
A CAUTION ABOUT DETERGENTS WITH ENZYMES:
Enzymes are natural substances that are supposed to attack organic matter to break it down. We want this when we have stains in clothing. What we don’t want is for the enzymes to attack us if they remain in the clothing. When enzymes remain in the clothing they attack us if we perspire, drool or, in the case of diapers, urinate on the cloth.
I have tried several other enzyme cleaners besides Bac-Out including Biz, shout, and Zout. Most caused a rash on DD. Oxi-clean may have also caused a rash; however, I now triple rinse & it does not seem to be a problem. I just started using Bac-Out; which I purchased at Zerbo’s, a local health food store. I will have to wait to see if this will cause a problem on DD’s skin. I have also recently read that enzymes “die” if heated above 140 F. If I still have problems with DD’s skin, I may turn up the heat on the water heater when laundering her clothes, or I may forgo the enzymes all together and just use the clothes line even in the cold weather.
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October 29th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
I just purchased some new ProRap covers. The washing instructions said not to use Oxyclean (along with some other cleaners) because it could break down the covers.
It also said that scented & Baby detergents can weaken the Velcro because they generally have softeners in them.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I now wash my diapers differently now that I have 2 kids & a front loader.
- Cold rinse with AllFree detergent & OxyClean sometimes or Enzyme cleaner that I have on hand.
- Hot wash with more detergent sometimes, but not usually & sometimes Baking soda.
- Double rinse with vinegar sometimes.
- Double spin for a quicker dry time.
I Strip the diapers when they seem to loose their ability to work properly. I do this with a wash of a bit of dawn dish detergent & a rinse of vinegar. I will then wash the diapers again with a double rinse and spin to make sure they do not have any detergent in them .This method also works for towels that loose their absorbency.
I had trouble with Tyde Free & Clear causing the diapers to lose their absorbancy, but haven’t with All F&C. I have a stash of Prefolds, gDiapers, & Pockets.