washing--what am I doing wrong? I thought prefolds were easy!

[ShareBear]

So after a lot of trial and error, I have come up with the following washing routine: small loads (10 diapers), cold rinse, hot wash with 1/2 teaspoon of Purex Free and Clear (yes, you read that correctly, 1/2 teaspoon) and then warm rinses until there are no more bubbles. Usually I do three rinses and then look in the washer and think, "Okay, a few bubbles around the edges but this is taking freaking forever, so it will have to do." But then I get buildup/powerful ammonia smell/irritated bottoms/unhappy toddler crying "change diaper, change diaper, that kind"--pointing at the disposables that I have for my daycare children.

So the last couple of loads I have tried to rinse till all the bubbles are gone...which takes like five rinse cycles!!! And then to be honest there are still a few bubbles. My water bill has already doubled, which means that I am officially spending as much on water to wash these things as I used to spend on disposables. So cloth is costing me more when you add in the extra electricity to run the washer/dryer/hot water heater (which I had to turn up higher to get these things clean, I might add). And that's not even counting the up-front cost to purchase the diapers.

The water issue really bugs me--I'm doing cloth primarily for environmental reasons, as my boys were happy (leak-free, rash-free) in disposables. So using a lot of water and electricity to wash cloth kind of makes me feel like it's not worth it. The only thing keeping me from going back to disposables is the trash issue.

I have stripped a couple of times with a teaspoon of Dawn, super hot water, and a zillion rinse cycles. But the buildup issue returns within a couple of weeks. And I am getting fed up, to be honest.

I thought prefolds were supposed to be easy to wash? What's the deal?!?

I am seriously considering switching to flats! Surely flats would wash more easily, right? Please tell me that they would be easier!

I think the universe is conspiring to prevent me from using cloth (have I mentioned that I once had most of my diapers stolen from the laundromat? And, separate incident, someone at the park walked off with my diaper bag which contained all of my usable covers...*sigh*)

Any suggestions and/or encouragement would be most welcome.

[mommyhopeful3]

Here is a great site for detergents:
http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.co...entchoices.htm

Do you have a FL or TL washer. Maybe you could rinse by hand? You shouldn't need to rinse it that many times with that amount of detergent. It could also be how few diapers you have in there. You don't want too many and at the same time you don't want too few. Fun isn't it

Washing is trial and error. What works for one person doesn't alway work for another.

I don't think flats would wash any better than PFs. And that is horrible that someone took your diaper bag.

Do you wash your diapers in a laundry mat all the time? If so, then I think it is left overs that is causing you problems. The machines get build up and can cause all sorts of problems! I would do my regular clothing first and then the diapers. That way it will take some of what is in there out. IDK. I am going to have to deal with this when we go to Disney World in October. I am so worried that they are going to ruin my diapers I don't want to do sposies since they tend to give DS a rash. Sorry...off track there.

[jjawm]

It could be your detergent - I swear by Allen's, or Charlie's. It could also be buildup from any fabric softener you're using with the rest of your clothes, or even residue from any different from your other clothes.

We did Allen's for dipes, and Charlie's for the rest of our clothes.

Also try putting some baking soda in a cold a soak before you wash. That did wonders for me, as did sunning dipes

[ShareBear]

I don't use a laundromat any more, thank goodness. I have my own washer and dryer now. I use the same detergent on my other clothes, and I never use fabric softener or dryer sheets. So I really don't think my washer or dryer have residue of any sort.

If I remember correctly, Allen's and Charlie's are too expensive for my budget. But I can definitely afford baking soda. So I'll try the cold soak with baking soda.

So you really don't think flats would be easier? I was hoping that since they're so much thinner, they would rinse more easily--I was imagining that the detergent was working its way down into those nice fluffy prefolds and clinging there.

[Mrs-Mama]

Do you have a top-loader? If so, I doubt that 1/2 tsp is enough to get the diapers clean in the first place. Maybe they're not getting cleaned well enough? Have you tried adding more detergent?

[Mrs.Oz]

First, try boiling them all to get them back to square one. Next, try adding vinegar to your cold soak (vinegar is acidic and will neutralize the ammonia which is basic). Do you have hard water? If so, try adding a water softener to your hot wash along with your detergent (and I think you need more detergent...1/2 teaspoon doesn't seem like near enough to actually clean). Put vinegar in your fabric softener dispenser as well...it helps to break up bubbles and allows your detergent to rinse out better.

I use both flats and prefolds...I don't really notice much difference in washing them, but flats dry a heck of a lot faster.

[Dabble]

It seems that I am always hearing about wash routine issues from mamas using Purex F&C. From what I've seen, it is just NOT a good choice for cloth diapers - it's like it works for a while and then gets to the point where it is so built up that everything goes haywire.

I agree to start by stripping the dipes and starting fresh with another detergent. Pick a highly rated one from the list a PP posted. Yes, some of the good ones are expensive and hard to find, but you will be saving money by not having an insane wash routine.

[sagemomma]

i was having alot of issues with my diapers when i used traditional washing detergents. they leaked, stunk to high heaven, even gave my babe a rash at points. i switched to soap nuts, boil them into a liquid and use that, sometimes a splash of vinegar,dash of baking soad or a few drops of TTO . but never had a problem since and it's been close to 6 or 7 months now

[amj'smommy]

The only detergent I've been happy with is Tide HE (I have a FL) I have used others if it's what I have but Tide works great for us. I use mainly pf's, pul covers and MEOS and have had no issues with Tide. I tried a WAHM detergent which was OK but Tide was obviously more accessible for me. I've also used other HE detergents (ALL and Purex) which clean the dipes fine but something about Tide that really gets them clean and smelling great and I don't have that ammonia smell (I wash every 3 days so they are sitting in my dry pail for awhile) I also do a cold rinse, hot wash/cold rinse on my washers super cycle option and one more cold rinse. I don't worry about bubbles in the rinse cycle and I use up to the 1 line on the cap. I'm usually washing about 18 dipes at a time since now it's only ds #3 (22m in dipes) I'm not sure if I'll still go the 3 days in between washings once the new lo is here.... I definately have enough dipes for the new lo to go that long but the # of nb dipes will be alot more in 3 days then my toddler goes through and I don't want to overload my washer and then have stink issues so I guess I'll figure that out when he's here

[brietta]

Honestly, I think your problem probably stems from NOT using enough detergent. Get a good rinsing one (like Allen's or Charlie's) and then use the full amount. Yes, it needs to rinse out completely. BUt I think you probably have lots of bacteria build-up. That's what happened to us when I first started CD'ing. I kept washing the diapers and I would see some bubbles and so I kept reducing the amount of detergent and upping the rinses. Eventually someone told me (a Charlie's rep, actually) that I needed to use the FULL amount or else there would be a massive bacteria build-up. I boiled my diapers to get a fresh start and then I started using the full amount. It's worked like a charm.

Now every time I start to get ammonia smells, I know I need to give the diapers EXTRA detergent (which does require 1 extra rinse, but since I only do cold rinse, hot wash, cold rinse normally, it's not a big deal). That takes care of it.

[LionessMom]

i use purex f&c on my dipes. do you have quality prefolds or the gerber ones with the absorbant pad?

i use 1/2 to 2/3 the reccomended amount of detergent in a cold prewash. then i do a hot wash (my water heater is set to 135 F) with some WDVinegar in a fabric softener (downey) ball. then 2 cold rinses.

what temp is your hot water?

[syd'smom]

My fave detergent was/is Country Save - it is really cheap b/c you don't need to use much. I also used the washing soda and simple green recipe. I haven't tried my soap nuts yet.

Are you using a top loader? 1/2 tsp doesn't seem like enough for a top loader.

Hopefull you can figure it out - it would be frustrating.

[ShareBear]

Well, I started out using more detergent and gradually cut back to where I am now when I started having buildup issues. When I pull them out of the washing machine and stick my nose into them, they smell fine, like nothing at all really--I thought that meant they were clean? And when I look into the machine in the middle of that first hot wash cycle, there are plenty of suds, like an inch of suds on top of the water. Do I really need to use more detergent? I'm doing small loads, so the washer is only half full of water.

I guess I don't get how upping the detergent would help. Surely there isn't much bacteria lingering on those things after they're dried on hot. And wouldn't that just mean more rinsing? Am I off base in thinking that I'm supposed to rinse until there are no more bubbles?

Back when I used more detergent, I thought the buildup issues were worse--at least the ammonia smell was powerful enough to stink up the whole house instead of one room, and my poor baby had a flaming red bottom instead of this relatively mild irritation.

Gotta run--kids need me. I'll be back later to re-read the responses and respond more. Thanks for all the feedback!

[jjawm]

Originally Posted by syd'smom

My fave detergent was/is Country Save - it is really cheap b/c you don't need to use much. I also used the washing soda and simple green recipe. I haven't tried my soap nuts yet.

Are you using a top loader? 1/2 tsp doesn't seem like enough for a top loader.

Hopefull you can figure it out - it would be frustrating.

I've heard good things about Country Save as well.

[brietta]

Do you use a FL?

Because I have found that small loads don't work well in FLs-- the larger ones trigger more water, which leads to better rinsing.

Just trying to think of things that might help...

[ShareBear]

To answer a few questions:

I use a top-loader
I don't have hard water
I'm using quality prefolds, not the kind with the polyester in the middle
The reason I'm doing small loads is two-fold--firstly, if I didn't, the diapers would be sitting for a while before I had a full load; and secondly, I can rinse till there are no more bubbles with a full load, then pull out half the diapers and run another rinse cycle with a small load, and I see a whole lot more bubbles--the small load gets churned around more or something, I guess.

I think after my little guy's nap, I'll have enough diapers for another small load, so maybe I'll try using more detergent. And I can soak them first with something...I'm confused, I always thought you used baking soda in the initial soak/rinse, but baking soda is basic, so I should be using vinegar to soak them with? Is that right? I feel like I'm getting conflicting advice here, so I don't know what to try. Maybe since I've tried baking soda before, I'll try vinegar this time, since I've never tried it before.

Of course the diapers smell fine right out of the wash anyway, so it's not like I will know right away whether a new method has worked...*sigh* why does this have to be so hard? Was it this hard in the olden times, when cloth was all anyone ever used?

[~bookcase~]

is it possible you've got a bit of thrush? 60degree cycle needed to clear that out until baby's bottom is clear. i still like to run a 60degree cycle from time to time anyway.

[sagemomma]

the cold soak rinse in the beginning is just to spin out most of the urine so you're not really washing with pee water so to speak.
then hot wash with detergent, rinse with vinegar , and you can do an extra cold rinse.
that should help if it doesn't you may need some bac out. i'm still sticking with traditional detergents causing more problems than they are worth, i had countless problems and tried every "diaper approved" detergent out there.
got soap nuts and had no problems plus no need for an extra rinse because there is no residue at all .
and you are right, the smaller the load the more water/detergent can get into the fabric of the diapers because it has room to move more.

[sygo]

I also think you are not using enough detergent to completely clean your dipes. If where u live is sunny and warm, dry them under the sun, which is a natural bacteria and mold killer. If not, add some oxygen type detergent additive as well. I didn't like using oxiclean but instead used the Sun brand, which I found in the Smart and Final store when I was still living in San Francisco. It is cheap and has no perfumes in it. Good luck! I hope your problems are over soon.

Oh one other thing I did with prefolds was that I did two cold prewashes, one hot wash and about 3 cold rinses. Every 2-3 months, just because I was a bit paranoid I did a Dawn wash/strip and did up to 5 rinses. Vinegar also helps get rid of the detergent aside from neutralizing the ammonia.

[ShareBear]

Well, I still don't get it...I am in the middle of washing another load. Since y'all think I'm not using enough detergent, I used a tablespoon this time. I had a good four inches of suds on top of the water during the wash cycle, and I thought, "Wow, that's going to be a joy to rinse out," and sure enough it has been. First rinse still had an inch of suds--how on earth can anyone get by with one rinse? Second rinse I could at least see the diapers through the suds, but definitely still sudsy. These are warm rinses I might add (supposed to dissolve the detergent better, right?).

Well, as an experiment, I'm going to put these in the dryer as is, and see what happens. I am 100% positive that they are quite clean--they look clean and smell clean, and I am sticking my nose clear down in these and sniffing for a good minute--no trace of anything, they are quite clean. So if they still react when peed upon, the issue is definitely detergent residue, right?

I can't dry these in the sun as we haven't had any sun. During the summer I do dry these outside when I can, though I'm technically not supposed to line dry things here. I did still have stink issues in the summer though.

I'll update later today.