repelling pocket diapers caused by washer?

[haleyelianasmom]

I am so frustrated by our pocket diaper issue.  They have been repelling no matter how many times I wash them.  First I thought it was because I was putting a small amount of diaper area balm on her bottom, so I stopped that.  I'm using rockin green, rinsing multiple times and I even stripped them with the blue Dawn, scrub with a stiff brush, and rinsed 6 times in the washer (and I've done this more than once).

Anyone who knows about washers... could it be that there's some sort of oily build-up in our washer?  I tried cleaning our empty washer through with bleach (I know, I was desperate) and a few times let it soak for a couple days with vinegar and scrubbed it with a brush.  Here's how I know it has to be the washer...

1) I washed one that was repelling by hand with blue dawn and now it does not repel at all, meaning it isn't our water, the soap, nor the diapers.

2) I just got our size medium fuzzi bunz back from my friend and they were not repelling at all when I got them back from her.  I used only diaper friendly detergent, no balms or lotions on baby, and rinsed way too many times until all bubbles were totally gone and now they do repel.

3)  I took one that was repelling, rinsed it again by hand to be sure it wasn't a soapy build-up, and it is still repelling

So the only thing we can think of is swapping it for the front load washer that's in our garage, but it's really annoying.  How could it be our washer?  Any ideas of something else I could try (before swappping)?

Edit:  the current washer is a very old top loader that came with the house.  It's about 24 years old.

[Galatea]

Are you using fabric softener (liquid or sheets) on your other laundry?

[MayasMama88]

I would have to ask the same thing as PP asked about fabric softeners being used in the wash. Also, what is your regular wash routine?

[MaryElizabeth]

I was having this problem and this residue from the fabric softner I used with other laundry loads was causing problems. I did the whole Dawn stripping routine and finally just started using a washing machine "cleaner" that seems to work pretty well. Still have some slight problems if I dont keep up on keeping the residue out, but it kind of fixed the problem : /

[haleyelianasmom]

What is a washing machine cleaner?  the only fabric softener that enters our washer is whatever is  in the ecos detergent.  I believe it does have some sort of soy based fabric softener.  Maybe we need to use a diaper-safe detergent for everything...

[Galatea]

Natural liquid detergents, esp. Ecos with its softener, cause a lot of buildup on everything, esp. in anything less-than-soft water.  I have had much better results using a powdered detergent (We like BioKleen for our clothes and RnG for our diapers.)