Cloth Diaper Friendly Detergents

Many supermarket detergents have chemicals in them that can break down your cloth diapers over time.  Also, they can cause detergent build up, causing a case of the "stinkies".  A cloth diaper safe detergent is imperative to cloth diapering successfully.  If you type "cloth diaper friendly detergents" into your search engine of choice, there will be many choices that pop up.  These include, but are not limited to, Eco Sprout, Rockin Green, Charlie's, Thirsties Super Wash, Tiny Bubbles, Eco Nuts, Country Save, and Bumgenius Detergent.  Any of these detergents work great in most situations.  Water quality can cause issues with some detergents.  If you have hard water, it is recommended that you add Calgon water softener to your diaper load to prevent detergent buildup, and to allow the detergent to do its job by tying up all those nasty minerals in your water.

I am somewhat of a washing routine rebel.  I use Tide Original on my diapers.  Shh! Don't tell anyone!  Actually, I use 2 Tablespoons of Tide in my prewash (a short cold wash/ cold rinse cycle).  Then, I use 3 Tablespoons Eco Sprout, with Calgon, in my hot wash.  Finally, I run two warm rinses.  The Tide prevents the "stinkies" in our SW Missouri hard water, and the Eco Sprout helps to wash the Tide residue out of the diapers.  This may sound a little complicated, but it really isn't difficult, and it gets my daughters diapers clean every time.

If you happen to have a case of the "stinkies", or if you are having ammonia buildup in your diapers, I recommend stripping your diapers.  The safest way to strip your diapers is by soaking them in 4-5 Tablespoons of your cloth diaper safe detergent (Eco Sprout, not Tide) for at least 4 hours.  An overnight soak works even better.  Then, run your load as normal, with an extra rinse. 

You *can* use bleach on your diapers, sparingly.  To use bleach, use 1/4 cup in your wash, soak for 30 minutes, and rinse WELL.  However, if your diapers are still under factory warranty, do not use bleach, as it will void your warranty.  Also, do not use bleach in every load.  If you use bleach too much, it will end up eating holes in your PUL and destroying the elastic in your covers and shells.

One final note on washing cloth diapers.  Do not use any form of fabric softener or dryer sheet.  These coat your diapers, rendering them useless, as they will no longer absorb.  I don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets at all anymore, and my clothes are just as soft, or even softer than when I did.  "How?" you may ask.  I use wool dryer balls in my dryer.  These 100% solid wool balls, the size of tennis balls, naturally soften and reduce static in your laundry.  They also reduce the drying time significantly on your loads of laundry by separating your clothes or diapers as they rumble around.  This allows the air to fully circulate around your clothes.  Currently, I have anywhere between 8-10 dryer balls rolling around in my dryer.  The number fluctuates as my daughter takes a few out to play with them between loads. :)