Arm & Hammer Free- Tell me about your experiences

[MEcatlady17]

So we've had the stink- I've been using Tiny Bubbles and the new formula is not better for us...I've been having to do two washes with detergent and several rinses, diapers still stinky after being peed in, rashes...blah blah blah.  it is also going too quickly as I've been using it on all our laundry to avoid buildup in the machine.

In desperation in went to the grocery store to buy something, anything, to wash the diapers with to fix the problem. I ended up with Arm and Hammer powder rather than Tide because I wasn't sure the scent would be desirable or DD's sensitive skin might hate it...and went with the fragrance and dye free A&H.  From what I can tell it does have brighteners, so I am thinking that if it takes care of the stink than I may just have to rotate it with planet liquid (also picked up at the grocery store) and the occasional vinegar rinse (not going to do regularly cause I heard it isn't great for septic systems, kills all the bacteria that makes the septic work...)  I know I will need to run a warm wash cycle without detergent for a really good rinse.  I've been using natural detergents so long it felt wrong to be buying this...but I am desperate. 

Anyone use arm and hammer powder?  Thoughts? Experiences?  pinstripes and polka dots doesn't seem to have a rating for this particular kind.  I'd read that some people prefer A&H over Tide.  If worse comes to worse I'll use it for our regular laundry and go back to the drawing board for diapers. Toddler pee and poop is SO much different and I still haven't perfected our wash routine.

**Kenmore Elite HE Front Loader

Rinse, drain, no spin.  Cold.

Prewash, Kidswear/Heavy Duty/Or bulky bedding (playing to see if any differences in water level) warm wash, cold rinse.  (thinking of going back to a warm rinse).  Extra skincare rinse.

Rinse, drain, spin. Cold.

This is a lot more than I had hoped to be doing.  Before the toddler stinks I just did the one preset with Prewash, Heavy Duty (hot/cold), skincare rinse.  Just one button to push. Came out clean.  That stopped working a couple of months ago and the stinks and rashes started.  We've also had a cold virus, mild diarrhea, teething...  long winter and can't hang outside, just in the window for some minimal UV rays.

I need to get back to where the laundry was easy. And if that means giving some money to "the man" than so be it. 

[ExuberantDaffodil]

Tiny Bubbles didn't work at all for our dipes. In fact, all the "cloth diaper" detergents I tried eventually lead to stink for us. I've used A&H just fine, but not for extended periods of time. You might need to do an extra rinse once in a while. 

[dayiscoming2006]

I prefer Arm and Hammer essentials perfume and dye free. (green bottle) That one is considered fully cloth diaper safe and I never had stink issues when using that but I did manage to get horrible stink issues when I tried a free box of that Tiny Bubble stuff. It was the first time I ever had that problem and it was horrible! 

[LeighPF]

A&H essentials works well for a lot of people for natural fiber diapers. It is the best thing you can find in the conventional grocery store isle. We used it for 6 months with prefolds and only a warm wash with out problems.

For fleece lined diapers like most pockets and AIOs, it is going to cause build up and you will need to strip as often as every 6 weeks.

So for the original poster, what kind of diapers are you using?

[MEcatlady17]

I have a mixed stash- cotton prefolds, pockets, natural fiber AIOs (BG and GroVia).  I knew that the pockets with fleece and microfleece could get build up.  I wondered if rotating with another detergent would help prevent this or I would just have to separate out the pockets and wash hot without detergent periodically.  The "bad" ingredient to the arm and hammer is the brighteners.  I am wondering if the sensitive skin version that is supposed to wash out completely would be a better choice.  I am still not sold on the arm & hammer...but I have been conservative with the amount I use because I am worried about it not washing out well.

[dayiscoming2006]

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

I've used the arm and hammer essentials in the past without having any problems with both synthetics and natural material. 

Edited by dayiscoming2006 - 3/22/11 at 5:40pm