You Little Stinker!

Nobody wants to refer to their dipes with this term, but unfortunately, most of us will most likely face this battle at least once in our cloth diapering years.

The best way to prevent this, or at least keep it at it's minimum, is to have a tried and true cleaning method.

"But, every website I go to has different directions.  What's a mama to do?"

Number one disclaimer, if your current method is working- CHANGE NOTHING!

If it is not working, feel free to try this methods, tried and followed by many:

#1 water is your friend.
#2 rinse
#3 when in doubt, rinse some more!

Here is my method of washing:

1. Set the washer to the middle (most washers will say high) for just enough water to cover the diapers.
2. Run a WARM pre-rinse.  Cold will do nothing for you.  If your washer does not offer a warm pre-rinse, either skip it, or run a 1/2 cycle.  (My washer does not offer a warm pre-rinse, so I manually make it, fill the drum to high with warm, then advance the timer to the final spin cycle).  This will cause the diapers to "scrub" themselves to get the excess off.  
3. Set the water level back to extra high/ or largest capacity, and on a hot wash/ cold rinse.  Do NOT use the sanitize setting if you have any PUL or snaps, this can damage them, as well as void your diaper warranty's)  Add your detergent.  If you are using a Cloth Diaper detergent, (My favorite cloth diaper detergent is Rockin' Green, and I use it on all my laundry) 2-3 TB is sufficient for an entire load of diapers/ clothes.  If you prefer to use a mainstream/ grocery store detergent, Tide Regular Powder is a widely accepted detergent, and has proven successful.  When using mainstream detergents, less is more.  Use 1/2 the manufacturers recommended amount, even with regular laundry.
4. If you are using a clean rinse formula, such as the Rockin' Green a final rinse is not needed.  If you are using a regular mainstream detergent, a final cold rinse is needed.  I like to check mine on the rinse cycle.  If there are bubbles after the agitation stops there is still detergent, and you need more rinsing, use slightly less detergent next time. If there are no bubbles, you are fine, proceed to drying :)

Do not use Free and Clear detergents.  All though they sound like they would work, they often have waxy additives (so much for that free part right) and often do not have strong enough cleansers to clean your diapers fully. 

Powder detergents are going to be your better option.  Think about it, what do they have to add to the liquids to keep the cleaning agents from separating?

The following rule is golden- If your dipes smell coming out of the dryer, use more detergent, if they smell after being urinated in, use less.  (too much detergent will mask the stink coming out of the wash)

Never use fabric softeners.  These will coat your diapers and make them repel.

Drying:

I LOVE the sun to dry, even in the dead of winter, I like to line dry, outside!

If there is daylight, they will get sunkissed :)  I have pulled many a sun-bleached frozen solid insert inside at night to finish in the dryer.

If you are not one of the lucky ones to have a clothes line, you can sun bleach your dipes using either a balcony railing, patio table, car dashboard, or any surface that you can lay them on to get some precious rays!

If you prefer the quicker method of using a dryer, use nothing higher than medium heat.  High heat can damage your PUL and kill your elastic prematurely. Always allow your dipes to cool before stuffing them, as they are easier to stretch and damage them when still hot from the dryer.  (If you are like me, they still sit in the dryer until the next day when I use that method, or until I have run out of pre-stuffed stash!)

Final rule, RELAX! There is a give away here!

As I said, I love Rockin' Green, and it had limitless uses.  I am sure there are some uses out there that I have not heard of, so here is your entry requirements:

1. (mandatory) Follow my blog.

Extra entries

2. Go to my FB page  and tell me 1 thing you learned from this post.

3. Go to Rockin' Green's FB page and spread some fluffy love, as they are giving 1 lucky reader a full sized bag of their detergent!

4. Visit Rockin' Green's website and tell me your favorite item they carry.

5. Post your most creative use yet of Rockin' Green detergent (if you have used it)

6. Share this on your FB page, and post a link back here for us all to oogle over :)

Who knows, I *might* be persuaded to pull out of my own pocket a 5 pack of samples for another lucky winner!

Entries close Saturday, Feb 26th at 8:00 pm EST, and winner announced shortly after.

winner of the full size bag is comment number 24:

Amber said...
I am following your blog!

‎2nd winner of the 5 sample packs is comment number 9

Kase's Mom said...
I went to your facebook page and posted that I learned the golden rule!