Originally Posted by
cristeen
You say you *have* to use bleach... do you *have* to use it on the dipes? After the load of dipes can you wash out the drum with bleach water? Or run a load of something else with bleach (like towels or sheets)? Regular bleach use is not nice to your diapers, or baby's butt. Also, how much bleach are you using and how are you getting it into the load (i.e. pouring it on top of the dipes, diluting it in the water before adding the dipes, diluting it in water before pouring it over, built in bleach dispenser cup, etc.)?
Unfortunatly my moms rule is bleach with the dipes. The machine has a compartment on the top for bleach to go in and my mom says I have to use 1/4 of a cup but I've been using a little less than that since that seems like a ton of bleach to me. The machine distributes the bleach into the main wash I think. I like the idea of bleaching the machine afterwords, I'm going to try to be sneaky and do that but she might flip out over non bleached dipes in the dryer, lol.
Also, with hard water, you may really need to do an extra rinse at the end. You didn't say how old your LO is, or what your wash routine looks like, but I can tell you what I've discovered (and we also have hard water, though not as hard as yours).
My LO is 16 months and poops his pants twice a day and pees about four other dipes. On occasion his older sister has an accident and I'll add her undies to the dipes. Overall there are about 12 to 16 diapers per load and six doublers. This is usually one or two AIO's or pockets and then six hemp prefolds and six or more bamboo prefolds.
My little guy is over 2 now, and as he's gotten older, the diapers have needed more attention because he's drinking so much less liquid his pee is more concentrated, which can lead to build up (can also happen if the dipes sit a couple days between washings due to evaporation). I do an initial rinse/spin to get all the poop and the bulk of the pee out of the dipes. Then I do a "Heavy Duty" load with an "Auto Soak". If you don't have an auto soak on your machine, fill it, let it agitate a minute, then turn it off (open the lid) and walk away for 10-15 minutes and turn it back on to proceed. The soak helps dissolve any ammonia crystals that have developed between the layers of your dipes. And then it gets an extra rinse at the end.
The total wash time for one load is 96 minuets. There is a soak cycle, pre wash, main wash, rinse and extra rinse. The machine has compartments for the detergent and adds it at some point...
You said top loader, which is great, but have you checked to see how much water is in the machine when it's running? Are the dipes mostly covered? I found I had to cut my load size in half or add a whole bunch of water in order to get good cleaning action. If there isn't water movement through the dipes, they won't get/rinse clean.
I do not know how much water is in the machine as each time I open it it looks empty. It is a weird machine not like an ordinary top loader. It looks just like a front loader but pointed up. It is supposed to wash just like a front laoder but is top load so it's easier to put laundry inside of it.
And I know everyone says to look for suds when you're rinsing - with hard water you probably won't see any regardless of whether there's soap or not. The hard water interferes with bubble production (which you'll notice if you hand-wash dishes). Stick your fingers in the water to get them wet and then rub your fingers together - you should be able to feel if there's a soapy residue, and if there is, do another rinse.
I have been going back and doing an extra rinse and spin cycle on the machine for the past two weeks and it's not been cvutting it.
I never had good luck with TJ's detergents (laundry or dish). They did not seem to like the hard water at all. I've had decent luck with Soap Nuts, Country Save is so-so (worked well for a while and then seemed to stop), Nellie's is pretty good, and right now I'm using Charlies, which seems to be the best one I've tried so far (I've found all of these but the soap nuts locally). But I've heard that Rockin Green has a hard water formulation that might be a better choice. Or, adding a water softener like Calgon to the load can make just about any detergent work a whole lot better.
Okay it's not just me that dislikes the TJ's! I have used Country Save in the past and am going to keep my eye out for it again or Charlies, Trader Joes has to have one of them. Is Calgon okay to use with dipes? I think I can find that at the local grocery if hard water is in the area.
As for mixing the bleach with the BS/vin, I wouldn't, because what's the point. In the washing routine I laid out above, if I really HAD to use bleach ON THE DIPES, I would put the bleach in that first rinse. Then I'd put the vinegar in the last rinse (in the fabric softener dispenser, in my machine). I don't bother with BS in my laundry any more, for the most part. I never really noticed any difference.
I'm trying washing twice. Once per my moms request with bleach and detergent and pre soak, extra rinse and extra rinse cycle. Then once with no detergent and vinegar in the main wash but with an extra rinse anyways. Hopefully this will work until I am able to get to a health food store that has good detergent.
HTH
You were very helpful! I appreciate your reasoning behind your responses. Thanks