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Frustrated and ready to give up cloth diapering

821 Views 11 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Jenlaana, 
W
I started cloth diapering a month ago. I purchased the BG's 2.0 pocket diapers. I've been trying to strip the diapers but can't seem to figure it out. Please help before I throw in the towel and go back to 'sposies.

My normal washing ritual includes a cold rinse then a hot wash using 2 teaspoons of Allen's Detergent.

I've tried stripping the diapers because they weren't absorbing and got some buildup. Well, I followed everyone's advice and turned my water heater up to super hot 140 degrees and ran them through 3 cycles of hot hot washes and rinses. I took them out today thinking that they were "stripped".

I stuffed a diaper and squirted water on it using a dropper and it all just balled up and didn't absorb. What am I doing wrong?
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W
I wish I had some advice. These are the bulk of my stash, and I have been using them daily for almost 3 months, and have never had to strip them, never had them wick, never had them smell or stain. I wish I had some advice for you here...have you contacted the company? Maybe there was a defect or you just got a bad batch? Did they ever work for you, or were you having problems from day one?

I wash with All Free & Clear, a cold wash with a tiny bit of detergent, and then the hot wash with no detergent.

Good luck getting things sorted out...I wish I had some advice. Don't quit--maybe you should just try another diaper?
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MissMommyNiceNice
Hubby or MIL didn't use softener w/o you knowing did they? This was going on in my house for a while until I caught on and put a stop to it. Just a thought.

Everyone else I read said to use the diswasher on the top rack xtra hot water...
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H
Have you tried vinegar in the rinse? That can help with soap build-up if your water is hard. Also, I second the pp's advice about making sure nobody's using softener...
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B
Just putting water on a pocket diaper doesn't really test whether it's absorbent. Sometimes the microfleece inner needs to be "compressed" by the baby's butt to get the water to go through it, does that make sense? So if you just drop some water on top of it while the baby's not wearing it, the water just won't go through the microfleece. Have you tried letting the baby wear the diaper since stripping?

Your wash routine actually is just like mine and I've never had problems so I don't know. Unless you have hard or soft water? Because mine is just "regular" not hard or soft.
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E
2
Quote:

Originally Posted by Benji'sMom View Post
Just putting water on a pocket diaper doesn't really test whether it's absorbent. Sometimes the microfleece inner needs to be "compressed" by the baby's butt to get the water to go through it, does that make sense? So if you just drop some water on top of it while the baby's not wearing it, the water just won't go through the microfleece. Have you tried letting the baby wear the diaper since stripping?
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De-lovely
3
Quote:

Originally Posted by Benji'sMom View Post
Just putting water on a pocket diaper doesn't really test whether it's absorbent. Sometimes the microfleece inner needs to be "compressed" by the baby's butt to get the water to go through it, does that make sense? So if you just drop some water on top of it while the baby's not wearing it, the water just won't go through the microfleece. Have you tried letting the baby wear the diaper since stripping?

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L
well, it's been mentioned about the water trick may be misleading. Also if you purchased your BG brand new the inserts may need to be a little more worked in. That's really the only thing I can think of that is the problem because it seems unlikely that new diapers would need to be stripped unless there was a big laundry mishap.
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W
Ok, so what is a good test. Hmmm... maybe they are fine after this last wash on hot water.

However, some things I've done wrong, They did get dried accidentally with a dryer sheet leftover from some clothes taken out of the dryer beforehand. Not sure if one dryer sheet caused much damage. The other thing is I use vinegar in the rinse and I went to Bumgenius.com and in their instructions they say do NOT use vinegar or baking soda, anyone know why this would be?

I also add borax to my wash because my water is SUPER hard. Is this ok or will it cause problems.

Thanks so much.
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F
I had the same issue with BGs 2.0s. After calling customer service, I got some helpful answers. Here's what worked for me (and now they work perfectly!). I've copied and pasted an old post of mine:

If your diapers are new or newish, you might be experiencing what I experienced with my 2.0s- leftover residue from production process.

I used ultra dawn and scrubbed the microsuede of each dipe with the dawn and a toothbrush, then a hot wash followed by lots of cold washes until no suds.
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W
3
Thanks everyone for your replies. I talked to cotton babies and determined that my diapers are actually fine and there is no build up.


I asked why they said not to use vinegar or baking soda and they said they have found over time that the use of these two additives breaks down the elastic and causes leakage.

I guess I'm making this harder than it should be. I'm going to stick to my routine of cold rinse hot wash with Allen's and not worry about buildup until I have clear evidence that their is an issue. The rep said that if the diapers are leaking and the inserts are dry then that means there is buildup.

I forgot to ask her if borax is okay to add to my water since it is hard. Does anyone know?

Thanks
You gals are great!
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J
I'm pretty sure Borax is fine. The guy from Charlies soap reccomended using it on diapers as an additive when I was getting stains on my HH pockets.
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