Detergent for several brands of diapers....

[organicmom3]

I decided to try various brands/styles rather than settling on just one cd. I'd rather do that than pick a brand/style just to change my mind after spending a lot of money....so my question is detergents. Some diaper brands seem to reccommend certain brands while others recommend something else.... I seem to recall a link put up at one time here that compared A LOT of different brands of detergents...I wonder if anyone remembers it? I'd love to see that again, or have anyone make a suggestion. We already use non-chemical detergents (Ecover, Sun and Earth, and Ecos) and biokleen for stains, but some of these have enzymes which I understand to NOT be good for cds?
Suggestions or Links anyone???

Thank you!

[jewelsJZ]

I don't have a link for that but I remember seeing it. Did you look in the stickies for this forum?
I use several kinds of cloth diapers but just one detergent: Rockin' Green. Seems fine for all of them.

[organicmom3]

Rockin Green? Hmm..never heard of that one. Stickies??? Sorry, I'm still kind of new here and haven't navigated the whole site...I 'll try to figure it out....

[Juliacat]

I use Sportwash for everything. I think you'll be okay as long as you avoid optical brighteners, which are bad for PUL (covers, pockets, AIO's).

[jewelsJZ]

try this thread:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1113518

[fruitfulmomma]

I use biokleen and Ecos both with no problems. I know biokleen is supposed to be a no-no but we have major allergen issues and those two are about the only ones we can use.

[leavemealone]

I just use Charlie's for all the diapers I have and haven't had a problem with it yet. I really only use FB, but I will occasionally use a few Gro Baby diapers. I think supposedly Happy Heiney's doesn't recommend it, but when I use the one HH I have, I just throw it in with the rest. I don't care about the warranty on one diaper.

The detergent chart that I know about is on Pinstripes and Polka Dots http://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm

[Katie T]

I perfer charlies soap as well. Stickies is the term for the threads that have a perm. spot at the top of the list of threads hope that made sense its late lol

[thebigfam]

Originally Posted by sandcastle

I just use Charlie's for all the diapers I have and haven't had a problem with it yet. I really only use FB, but I will occasionally use a few Gro Baby diapers. I think supposedly Happy Heiney's doesn't recommend it, but when I use the one HH I have, I just throw it in with the rest. I don't care about the warranty on one diaper.

The detergent chart that I know about is on Pinstripes and Polka Dots http://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm

Thanks for that link! I use Charlies but I think I wanna try a few new ones I have never heard of from that list!

[cristeen]

I use Bio Kleen sensitive, Country Save or Soap Nuts when I can find them. My stash is mixed also, and I haven't had any problems so far.

[junipervt]

I hear Ecos is fine as long as you don't have hard water.

we have all kinds of diapers & use Allens

[organicmom3]

This might sound dumb but how do I know if I have hard water??? We just moved into a new house and have well water....so far I haven't found any 'problems' with it...clothes seem clean as do dishes...would it be obvious if I did have hard water? I guess I should research this....

[mambera]

http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html

[AlwaysByMySide]

I've used Sun (my favorite; now I can't find it without a scent), All F&C, and plain Tide, on a variety of diapers/fabrics, and never had a problem.

[Ifluffedthree]

I am an associate member here.

There is an excellent page of information collected and presented here:

http://realdiaperindustry.org/guide-...-cloth-diapers

[Mi_LuBelle]

I wouldn't suggest Ecos at ALL! It leaves a lovely film on everything and gave our girl a rash instantly. I ended up having to strip our entire stash. Switched to Charlies, but I think we are going to stay with Country Save as Amazon has it and if you set up a subscription (delivery every x number of months) they offer a discount + free shipping.

[Galatea]

After much experimenting, I have discovered that the detergent doesn't matter as much as just using a little bleach every couple of weeks. No, seriously - my only tip is to stay away from oily soaps and fabric softeners and just use 1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach every 2 weeks. I have experimented with all the popular detergents, and none of them ever kept stink away forever without some bleach.

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by organicmom3

This might sound dumb but how do I know if I have hard water??? We just moved into a new house and have well water....so far I haven't found any 'problems' with it...clothes seem clean as do dishes...would it be obvious if I did have hard water? I guess I should research this....

Don't research too much or your brain will hurt.

Hard water leaves chalky deposits on your tub. Your skin and hair feel "squeaky" clean when you rinse the soap out. Hard water can require more detergent to get stuff clean, but if you're not having problems, don't worry about it. Some natural detergents with plant oils will react with hard water to make a waxy residue, esp. on synthetics. This will be obvious to you - when it happened to me with a natural liquid detergent that the HFS people loved, all my clothes looked dingy and felt waxy.

Enzymes are in some detergents like 7th Gen, Tide and others. They do a good job of cleaning clothes and diapers, but some children will get a bad rash. YMMV. My dd got a rash from enzymes when she was 9 months but now they don't seem to bother her. If you use an enzyme detergent, rinse a lot, preferably in hot water.

[organicmom3]

Wow! Thanks so much everyone. These posts have been very helpful! I LOVE the llinks! Two of them were the ones I was originally looking for!
Thanks for all the input! I just love this forum!