Is this a ridiculous wash routine?

Stef1210

I'm at the end of my leash. This is the ONLY way I can get my diapers to come out clean, but it seems so excessive! If you could take a look and critique it or offer suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.

Speed wash cold, no detergent.
Stain wash (hot), 2 tbsp. Rockin Green.
Speed wash hot, 1tbsp. Rockin Green.
Extra rinse.

Over the top, right?? I have a HE front-loading machine, and it has no pre-rinse option. Again, I would welcome any and all suggestions, because my electricity and water bills are taking a hit.

Mandmeesh

Not ridiculous. I do two washes sometimes. Not sure how good Rockin green is. I've heard not great things. Ever tried tide?

Stef1210

I used Tide in the beginning, but I thought it was more prone to build-up than Rockin Green, so I switched. Do you find it more effective than other detergents?

nanabanana06

I think your problem is the Rockin Green TBH. Most of the people I know use it at first then get ammonia or stink issues. However, your routine looks similar to mine. I do this:

• Rinse/Drain/Spin on warm/warm
• Delicate cycle on warm/warm w/no spin
• "Whitest Whites" setting w/ 2 TBS detergent and 1/2 cap of Calgon (this cycle is a heavy duty hot wash with 2 cold rinses)
• Express wash cold w/ second rinse

That is how I get my dipes clean with my HE FL. It is a lot of cycles, but it gets things clean. I do also spray the poop dipes and then spray bac out on them.

tjkdlhb

Stef1210 said:

I used Tide in the beginning, but I thought it was more prone to build-up than Rockin Green, so I switched. Do you find it more effective than other detergents?

I haven't tried RnG... and DD was allergic to tide... but the reason I haven't tried RnG is because of reviews of it causing issues with stink and ammonia.

freezorburn

Does your machine have a soak cycle? In my previous home I used the soak cycle for the initial rinse. Not knowing your machine, you want to choose a cycle that has lots of water, and speed cycle may or may not be the best choice for that.

If you have a good enough initial rinse, I don't see why you would need to do two cycles with detergent. What happens if you do only one?

nanabanana06

Yeah, try something like Nellie's or Charlie's rather than RnG. You could even do 2 parts Borax and Washing Soda and 1 part Oxy Clean Free. I use that for my dipes now and it seems to be going well.

Danie007

I would try switching detergents like pp said. If you do switch you might even be able to get ride of the second wash with detergent. Or, switch it to no cold without detergent and ditch the extra rinse at the end.

Aurora_Borealis

Stef1210 said:

I used Tide in the beginning, but I thought it was more prone to build-up than Rockin Green, so I switched. Do you find it more effective than other detergents?

OMG yes. I used to make fun of my mom when I was in high school for being such a diehard Tide fan. Fast-forward 17 years later, and yeah...she was right. It cleans like nobody's business. I am so glad no one in our household is allergic to it (which I can't say the same about Cheer).

I have an HE FL machine by Frigidaire. My wash routine is as follows:
- Quick wash on warm/warm, no detergent. I would just do a rinse & spin, but the only option for that on my machine is cold and that doesn't cut it with stinky toddler pee. (Also, it took me forever to realize I could add 'extra rinse' to the 'spin' cycle to even make this happen).
- Heavy duty wash on hot/cold with detergent and a pre-programmed extra rinse. I use just shy of the 1 line on the Tide powder scoop which is about 2 TB.

I have normal (neither hard nor soft) city water. This routine 3x per week has added pretty much nothing to our electric or water bills.

Stef1210

Aurora_Borealis said:

Stef1210 said:

I used Tide in the beginning, but I thought it was more prone to build-up than Rockin Green, so I switched. Do you find it more effective than other detergents?

OMG yes. I used to make fun of my mom when I was in high school for being such a diehard Tide fan. Fast-forward 17 years later, and yeah...she was right. It cleans like nobody's business. I am so glad no one in our household is allergic to it (which I can't say the same about Cheer).

I have an HE FL machine by Frigidaire. My wash routine is as follows:
- Quick wash on warm/warm, no detergent. I would just do a rinse & spin, but the only option for that on my machine is cold and that doesn't cut it with stinky toddler pee. (Also, it took me forever to realize I could add 'extra rinse' to the 'spin' cycle to even make this happen).
- Heavy duty wash on hot/cold with detergent and a pre-programmed extra rinse. I use just shy of the 1 line on the Tide powder scoop which is about 2 TB.

I have normal (neither hard nor soft) city water. This routine 3x per week has added pretty much nothing to our electric or water bills.

You just blew my mind. I JUST realized I can totally do this on my machine, too. Thank you!

Stef1210

So to all you Tide-lovers, what type do you use? Free and Clear? Regular? Liquid? Powder?

Aurora_Borealis

Stef1210 said:

So to all you Tide-lovers, what type do you use? Free and Clear? Regular? Liquid? Powder?

Powder for sure. HE for the HE machine.

And glad to help with the 'rinse & spin.' I had my machine for over 6 years before figuring out it could do this.

Stef1210

@Aurora_Borealis sorry for all the questions, but is it original scent, or does it come in unscented?

Aurora_Borealis

No worries. I use the original scent HE. And that's pretty much because the HE powder is so hard to find near me, so I'm not picky.

If you prefer something unscented I think Tide makes a Free & Gentle HE powder, but I've never looked for it.

bumpuser5078523

I also was going to recommend doing a warm rinse and spin cycle with no spin.

I use 1/2 a tablespoon of tide.

This is my wash routine.
-Warm rinse and spin with no spin.
-Hot wash with cold rinse (my only option. I wish I could do hot/hot) with extra water selected and extra rinse selected. 1/2 a tablespoon of tide he.
-Warm/warm wash with no detergent to rinse them out.

I used to do a quick wash to rinse at the end, but I was noticing the soap wasn't rinsing out all the way. I switched it to a regular wash and decreased my tide gradually. (basically I cut way back and added a little bit over and over until there were minimal bubbles. I did this by opening my machine and adding.)

Aurora_Borealis

doeie04 said:

I also was going to recommend doing a warm rinse and spin cycle with no spin.

I would not recommend this, actually. The point of the detergent-free pre-rinse/pre-wash is to get the poo & pee off the diapers so your detergent can do its job in the regular wash. If you don't spin the water out, your diapers are sitting in pee/poo water to start the main wash (which with some HE machines can cause the main wash to add *less* water than normal because it senses the clothes are already really wet). If it's working, awesome...but if you start getting stink or cleanliness issues this is the first thing I'd switch.

Angela814

Aurora_Borealis said:

Stef1210 said:

I used Tide in the beginning, but I thought it was more prone to build-up than Rockin Green, so I switched. Do you find it more effective than other detergents?

OMG yes. I used to make fun of my mom when I was in high school for being such a diehard Tide fan. Fast-forward 17 years later, and yeah...she was right. It cleans like nobody's business. I am so glad no one in our household is allergic to it (which I can't say the same about Cheer).

I have an HE FL machine by Frigidaire. My wash routine is as follows:
- Quick wash on warm/warm, no detergent. I would just do a rinse & spin, but the only option for that on my machine is cold and that doesn't cut it with stinky toddler pee. (Also, it took me forever to realize I could add 'extra rinse' to the 'spin' cycle to even make this happen).
- Heavy duty wash on hot/cold with detergent and a pre-programmed extra rinse. I use just shy of the 1 line on the Tide powder scoop which is about 2 TB.

I have normal (neither hard nor soft) city water. This routine 3x per week has added pretty much nothing to our electric or water bills.

Ditto this exactly. My mom always used Tide, and it's the only detergent I'll use for our clothes. We also have an HE FL Frigidaire washer and have the exact same wash routine. I use about 2-2.5 tbsp Tide powder. We have soft water, so this requires additional rinses (on top of what's mentioned in this routine), so I'm trying to tweak the detergent amount right now.

bumpuser5078523

My machine drains the water out it just doesn't spin the extra water out. So when my machine puts water in for my next wash, it thinks there are more clothes to wash and adds more water. Plus with the diapers being wet already, there is more water for washing.

nanabanana06

Aurora_Borealis said:

doeie04 said:

I also was going to recommend doing a warm rinse and spin cycle with no spin.

I would not recommend this, actually. The point of the detergent-free pre-rinse/pre-wash is to get the poo & pee off the diapers so your detergent can do its job in the regular wash. If you don't spin the water out, your diapers are sitting in pee/poo water to start the main wash (which with some HE machines can cause the main wash to add *less* water than normal because it senses the clothes are already really wet). If it's working, awesome...but if you start getting stink or cleanliness issues this is the first thing I'd switch.

I do a einse/drain/spin before my delicates wash w/ no spin for this reason. Also, most machines drain between washes and rinses. So, no poop water is there if you turn the spin off. More so if you do a second rinse.

Stef1210

You guys know a heck of a lot more about washing machines than I do. I bow down to you.

Nodoubtvw

When you all say tide powder are you talking original tide? Not free and clear? I just bought some used flip inserts and stripped them. Today was the first day we've used them and they have an awful ammonia smell, but none of my previous inserts smell so I'm not sure what gives.