x-posted: Thinking of emptying washing machine water into garden but....

[anomaly13]

will the vinegar and baking soda used in washing diapers do damage to my veggies?

[fruitfulmomma]

You should not dump any water with human waste onto food plants.

[xekomaya]

I agree. The organic standard is that no fresh "manure" (in this case, you're talking human) on a food garden 120 days before harvest. I'm not too squimish but I wouldn't perpetually douse veggies with diaper water.

In general, and through the winter, I imagine you may screw up your pH depending on the mix you use. Vinegar and baking soda should cancel each other out for a neutral pH, but may not depending on how you pour.

[Owen'nZoe]

I agree with the others - I would not feel comfortable with grey water going directly onto my veggie garden, and would not use water that was used to wash diapers as grey water at all.

[lunarlady]

As other's have said, human waste and food gardens don't mix. If you want to empty it into a flower garden, you can, but you will be in code violation for the disposal of human waste, which depending on where you live could be bad.

If wait until you're not doing cloth diapers anymore, I think then it would be fine. But you do need to be very careful in you choice of detergents, as many of laundry detergents have a basic pH that is not good for plants.

[JamieCatheryn]

Normal clothes washing water and well diluted soap or detergent is graywater, not too polluted for gardens and the only safety requirement is you don't let it sit in a tank or anything before getting it in the garden. Toliet water, diaper laundry, and often kitchen sink water is blackwater, and belongs in septic treatment.