What do you put in your prewash cycle?

[HeatherB]

toh...

Our washer is a few years old (3?), and has several cycle options. It includes a Soak (fills, agitates a tiny bit, then sits there indefinitely), Prewash (4min wash and rinse), and then the "regular" washes with different options for temps and length of wash, and then 2nd Rinse. (I'm guessing with no wool I won't be using the Perm Press cycles!)

So, I've been doing a Prewash on Cold/Cold, then a fairly long wash on Hot (I think it's a cold rinse), and a second rinse. I tried doing a soak first and didn't notice much difference, and this is definitely easier.

What do you normally put in with the prewash as far as detergent/additives? Sometimes I've put in detergent, sometimes nothing... Not sure of a difference. I'm not sure if I should add baking soda, vinegar, or TTO at some point. I actually have the feeling that my last wash got things "cleaner" when I accidentally put in a bunch of detergent in the Prewash cycle - but it's hard to know what's real and what's just my perception.

Oh, I'm guessing our water is "medium hard" - not so hard everyone in town knows it, but hard enough to eventually leave buildup in various places. KWIM?

Thanks!

[JohnnysGirl]

I put like a teaspoon of detergent or two into the prewash, and then I don't do anything else--the cycle has a cold prewash, and then long hot washes and soaks, and then lots of cold rinses and takes about 3 hours. I prefer to put the detergent into the water at the beginning so I feel like it has a chance to get rinsed out. I get endless bubbles no matter what I do, even when I use no detergent and keep wash/rinsing for an entire day, so I've given up on getting totally non-sudsy water when there's really hot water (of course no bubbles in the cold rinses).

Good luck!

[wednesday]

I do a cold pre-wash with a half-cup of baking soda (I buy it in bulk at costco). Then I do a hot wash with 3/4 scoop of Allen's Naturally. I use to only use half a scoop but I started having stinky hemp issues and it seemed increasing the detergent made a difference. I didn't used to do the baking soda but once DS hit 10 months or so his morning dipes were powerfully ammonia-smelly. I read that baking soda in the pre-wash could neutralize the ammonia and help make the detergent in the wash cycle more effective. It really made a difference for us. Then I do a final extra rinse, but I like for that to be a hot rinse, and most washers don't have a setting for an additional HOT rinse, so I just turn the dial back around to pre-wash and do a hot pre-wash cycle (which is essentially the same as a rinse cycle).

So... cold pre-wash with baking soda, HOT wash with detergent, HOT pre-wash with nothing. It took a lot of tweaking but it works well for us now. I also strip once a month or so by raising the water heater temp and washing with sportwash.

[Spicey Momma]

We starting having major stink issues too because of hemp. I have finally got a wash routine down . Prewash on cold with 1/2 cup of baking soda. HOT wash with 1/2 a cap of sports wash. Then a double cold rinse, and toss in the dryer. This is the best my diapers have smelled in months! I am so happy that I finally figured it out. I think the difference is the baking soda nutralizing odors, and the prewash getting the last bits of pee and poo out. Then the diapers actually wash in clean water w/ soap. The extra rise helps rise extra detergent out.

[becca011906]

I do a prewash on cold/cold w/ about 1/4 cup of baking soda... then wash HOT with 2-3 T. of tide or 1/4 c. all free and clean ... then cold rinse twice!!!

[natesmommy126]

I do a 4 minute prewash with nothing, just to rinse them out, really. Then I do a full cold wash with detergent and rinse, then a hot wash and rinse.

[CyndyRR327]

I use almost a 1/2 cup baking soda in the cold prewash for a large load, if it's a smaller load then less of course.

[Book Addict Jen]

Nothing in the prewash.

[LaffNowCryLater]

Nothing. I use the soak/prewash to rinse the yucky stuff out. I add detergent in the actual wash only.

[Lisadeanne]

Not a thing. I just do a cold rinse first, and then one long hot wash with detergent. I then follow this by another rinse and thats it.

[sewingbarbj]

detergent in the pre wash, baking soda with detergent for the wash, vinigar in the firsy rinse

[lrmama]

I put about 1/2-1 cup of baking soda in the first wash, which is cold wash/cold rinse. The second wash (hot/cold), I add a little detergent and a canning kettle full of boiling water. I do a third complete hot wash, cold rinse, and sometimes another cold rinse if I see some bubbles. The first wash is about 9 min., second one is 15 min., and the third one is 6 min. Everything is hung on the line to dry. I sometimes add some vinegar to the rinse on the second cycle.

[ChristiansMomma]

I do 2 rinse cycles, a wash cycle and then 2 more rinses just in case.

Sometimes I'll add baking soda to my diapers in the pail to cut down the smell. I only add about 2 tablespoons of detergant to the wash cycle. I'm wanting to try some tto soon.

[iltec]

I do a rinse in cold water and then wash in hot with All Free and Clear and a rinse in cold. That's it. Used to use baking soda and vinegar when dd#1 was a baby but it was giving her a terrible diaper rash- no problems now. (We have extremely hard water in this area- but thank goodness we have a water softener)

[hnybee]

We use Bac-out in the pre rinse. But if something is especially stained we use really hot water and oxy-clean. the longer it soaks the better the stain comes out. Over night for that diaper that we found in a plastic bag under the seat of my van that had been there for God knows how long -YUCK!!

[Attached_Mom_to_7]

I use vinagar, and this tea tree oil soap I found in a store near me,it works well, esp. when the diaps where getting stinky!!!

[mom2jack]

I put a capful of TTO in my prewash, detergent and sometimes DA in a hotwash, than an extra rinse. If I have a lot of diapers in the wash, or ds has had lots of poops I'll do an extra hot wash instead of a final rinse.