Saturday, February 19, 2011

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!










     

32 comments:

  1. I'm a new follower on your blog!

    cadbetty AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I posted on your FB wall. The stink/detergent golden rule is something new! But it makes total sense.

    cadbetty AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I posted some RnG love on their wall. This week I used it to clean my diapers, soak my high chair straps (gunk-o-rific!!), and in my dishwasher!

    cadbetty AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  4. My fave item at RnG is the Hard Rock. It works wonders on our diapers. I also love the Shake It Up pail powder - it also works great as carpet deodorizer!

    cadbetty AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Most gunk out: Soaking the High Chair straps. It only took about 15 minutes, but those straps went from gunk covered and stiff and stinky to clean in no time flat.

    Most frequent other use: as dishwasher detergent. With vinegar as a rinse agent. Works great!

    Revelation: Short soak and wash on my shower curtain liner. I bet most people treat them as disposable and just toss them when they get icky. RnG has it looking like new again in no time flat. And you just hang them back up on the rod to dry!!

    cadbetty AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I posted a link on my FB Fan page:

    http://www.facebook.com/TheMaxwellsMadness?ref=ts

    cadbetty AT gmail DOT com

    My wash routine: (top loader)

    Short cycle warm wash at max water level. (high water levels are most important in the rinse cycle!)
    Hot wash with RnG at normal water level - dependent on load size. (if there is too much water here, you won't get good 'swish' of your diapers rubbing up against each other)
    Cold Rinse at Max water level. (if I miss turning up the water level on the first rinse, I will often do a second rinse just to be safe).

    My other diaper washing tip: rinse those night diaper inserts in the sink in the morning. It helps SO much at fending off any ammonia build up.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I went to your facebook page and posted that I learned the golden rule!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I went to Rockin Green's FB page and spread some love.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I posted on your facebook wall and shared some love. I would love the hard Rock Bundle from the website.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I showed lovies to you and them.. but I can't have a favorite product from them because I have never used anything by them

    ReplyDelete
  11. These are great tips. I wish I had known more about cloth diapering when I had my boys. I would have saved a ton of money and helped the environment as well.

    ReplyDelete
  12. WOW great tips! I'm not entering to win because I do not need these. I'm kids are all tween and up. I'm stopping in to say HI from The Product Review Place. Thanks for joining our Daily Challenge today!
    You still have a few days left of your giveaway. I suggest you go to our Website and post this in GROUPS and select Baby Gear ... here is a link. http://productreviewplace.ning.com/group/babygearreviews START a new discussion and add some of your tips and giveaway info. You can just copy and past your info there and MAKE sure you include a link back to your blog post!

    We then tweet it out to our followers. People should read your tips! They are great!

    Stop in at my personal blog and say HI! Susieqtpies Scraps of Life http://cafescrapper-scrapsoflife.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm your newest FB and GFC follower! susie from The Product Review Place

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh and I posted on your wall. Hehehe

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hmmm Motley Clean and Lavender Mint Revival. Haven't used rockin green but might have to just for those scents

    ReplyDelete
  16. Follow your blog
    alexis4castr2yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. I spread the love on RnG's fb page and tagged you
    alexis4castr@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. My fav scent is Motley Clean
    alexis4castr@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. I haven't started cloth diapering yet, so I've only used RnG in my steam cleaner :)
    alexis4castr@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Shared about giveaway on fb and tagged you
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fluff-Zone/149151265140753?sk=wall#!/profile.php?id=100000182785770
    alexis4castr@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wrote on your wall about what I learned from this blog post and tagged you.

    alexis4castr@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. I am following your blog!

    and_amber420@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. I like you on Facebook, and i learned that free and clear detergents have waxy additives and shouldn't be used on cloth diapers.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I went to Rockin Green's facebook page and spread fluffy love!!

    and_amber420@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. I like Rage Against the Raspberries Rockin Green Detergent.

    and_amber420@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  26. I shared this giveaway on Facebook, and tagged you in it.

    https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=512890497


    and_amber420@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  27. I left a note on your facebook wall sharing how I learnt that Free and Pure detergents are not ideal for diapers.

    amanda.woodworth 'at' gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  28. I spread some fluffy love on Rockin' Greens facebook page.

    amanda.woodworth 'at' gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm really looking forward to trying Rockin' Green's "Classic Rock" in Mighty Mighty Marshmallow.

    amanda.woodworth 'at' gmail.com

    ReplyDelete