stripping

[lindaski]

Just wondering how you all strip your diapers. I have only been CD for about a month now and have some stinky diapers! We have a frontloader and use charlie's soap (although some of the ones that smell were washed in seventh generation baby one time by accident a couple weeks ago!)

i may try just a few non detergent washes first and then maybe some sensi clean.

[Katie T]

It may just be your washer, I had a terrible time with my fl and finally got rid of it (only 2yrs old ) and got a top loader and have never stripped my diapers in just over 18 months ago.

That said I would do hot washes with no soap and check for suds. When you wash normally do you do hot rinses at the end and check for suds? I think that really helps. That is what I do (I use charlies as well) I have found with charlies it will take 1 to 3 hot washes with no soap to get to no suds but with other detergents it is 5 to 7.

Other methods of stripping you can use a T of dish soap (some swear by blue dawn) and then rinse rinse rinse on hot till no suds. This will take forever so I would only do it if just good rinsing doesn't work.

Do they smell out of the washer or when peed in? Smelling out of the washer usually means they arent getting clean enough. Smelling when peed in means they have detergent build up. (usually not always)

Good luck! Any more questions ask away! Welcome to MDC!

[poppan]

I don't know that you necessarily need to strip. Maybe you just need to use more detergent. A lot of people start out being afraid to use a reasonable amount of detergent and use only 1 tablespoon or something. Diapers are just about the dirtiest laundry you can do and if you use too little detergent they won't come clean and start to stink. I would use a good amount of detergent (1/4 cup or more, depending on your water hardness--hard water = more detergent) and do an extra wash cycle without detergent as a super rinse afterwards. Stink is due to dirty diapers and bacteria much more often than it is caused by detergent build up.

[aikigypsy]

Originally Posted by poppan

Diapers are just about the dirtiest laundry you can do...

Clearly, you haven't seen my husband's work clothes!

Seriously, though, I have never used much detergent on our diapers, no more than in a usual load and often less. I've found that the key is hotter, longer washes. Our washing machine here (a top loader) caused stink buildup almost immediately, while our European front loader worked with no problems for a year and a half. The front loader had temperature settings, and I would usually wash the diapers at 40C, but sometimes do a long wash at 60C. The "short wash" on that machine lasted an hour. The machine here does it in half that time, and I don't think it gets above 40C even on the "hot" setting.

[lindaski]

Thanks all. I did some extra long washes with hot water and made sure there were no suds left. After 3 rinses they are good to go!

[poppan]

I read some study somewhere that showed hotter temps compensated for having less detergent. IOW, if you upped the wash temps you could lower the amount of detergent and still achieve the same amount of "clean"... but I don't know if they were measuring by protein and grease stains and I'm not sure where diaper laundry falls on that spectrum I do continue to think that if you are using very little detergent and experience stink and stiffness, that is most likely due to not enough detergent to suspend the dirt particles and help them be rinsed away. Instead, they are redeposited onto the diapers which causes them to smell and be stiff.