Uh oh, diaper service closed down, I'm on my own!

[baileyann3]

Our reliable handy diaper service that's been open twenty years has fallen victim to the recession and gas prices.

Very unfortunate for all parties involved!

So now it's all up to me! And I'm knee deep in baby poop! Help!

We bought a bunch of diapers off them. (is a dollar a diaper a good price for used not so nice diapers?) I CANNOT get these clean! I've been just avoiding the poop ones and only washing pee ones because I'm not even coming close to getting these things half sanitary looking :

What's the secret? Start with the basics with me! To soak or not to soak? Everything, lay it on me mamas !

A note: I don't have a washer do I do laundry at my mil. So I can't do it daily or even every other day- I'd prefer once a week- is that possible? And I don't want to wreck her equiptment, like by leaving them stinky or something


Help me mamas! I'm laundry challenged!

[Michigan Mama]

my normal routine is cold rinse, hot wash with detergent (generally 1/4 of usual amount, depends on brand), then another hot rinse or hot wash with nothing. We get a few stains sometimes, depending on what ds has eaten or if he has runny poo or something.

I assume you got prefolds, is that right?

Some people use bac-out (I can find it at my local Kroger store) on natural fibers to help with stains. Hanging out in the sun after washing can help. Bleaching is an option, but many of us try to avoid the chemicals.

Rinsing well is helpful so a lot of people love love love their diaper sprayer. We, instead use fleece liners which do two things. They keep baby pretty dry, and they also make poop removal really easy! I hate trying to get poop off prefolds, especially if it's not totally solid, and with a simple fleece liner, it just sort of flakes off.

I generally wash every 2nd, or usually 3rd day. I think if you use the liners or get a diaper sprayer, washing less often might be ok.

hth.

[Juliacat]

A dollar a diaper isn't a good price, but it's not a terrible price either.

It doesn't matter if they're stained. If they smell good, they're clean no matter what they look like. Try washing them on a short wash or just a rinse on cold with no detergent. Then wash them on the hottest setting, but make ABSOLUTELY SURE all the detergent gets rinsed out, because if the detergent doesn't get rinsed out, the dirt and germs won't either. You can use a tiny bit of bleach but make sure that all gets rinsed out, too. Drying them in the sun helps with stains. Also, rinsing them before putting them in the pail (even just the pee ones) will help keep the smell at bay if you're only washing once a week.