Detergent/Machine/Prepping Questions

smushi

Hi Ladies, I'm a soon to be FTM from the April board.  I'm just delving into the world of CD'ing.  I have a good friend who CD's her LO.  I've watched tons of youtube videos, read online info, and of course stalked here some (many thanks for your wisdom!), but I have some super newb questions about detergent, prepping, and my machines.

Yesterday I attended a cloth diaper workshop at our local CD friendly store.  They pretty much only carry Charlie's Soap detergent, and in the workshop, they mentioned that once you start CD'ing, you can only use CD friendly detergent in your washer, and no fabric softener in your dryer, as that can cause buildup on the diapers.  That makes sense, but in my 'researching' I thought I'd read things that were contrary to that.  Maybe that was me holding out hope, because DH lives for his dryer sheet smell.

So... I bought my first 'diaper' swag as a little jumpstart - 10 prefolds (we also got a Thirsties cover and prefold for attending), a box of Baby Bits, some wool balls for the dryer, a 1/4lb of Charlie's Soap for prepping, and some liners for later on.

My questions (since they got me thinking about machine residue and detergent):

1.  Should I prep my washer/dryer units somehow to reduce residue before I prep my CD's?  Like with vinegar/bleach, or anything like that?  I have an older top loader washing machine and older front loading dryer - nothing fancy.

2.  Should I really prepare my DH to never use 'normal' detergent again?  No more beloved dryer sheets?  I want to keep these CD's in good working condition.  Or, is it safe to use my Tide for his clothes/my clothes, and then CD detergent for baby's clothes/diapers?  

3.  I've read you can use detergents like Dreft or All Free & Clear, but the gal teaching the CD workshop made clear that was like sudden death for CDs.  Is this true?  If so, would you recommend your CD friendly soap and why it works well for you?

TJ1979

I agree with above re dreft. And I also use tide for everything. And guess what? I use dryer sheets on my non-diaper laundry. Have been for a year and a half with no issues.
I will say we get a lot of people saying they use all f&c and have stink issues, so I wouldn't recommend that one. Most importantly, avoid liquid detergents.
And come back if you have any issues and we can try to troubleshoot. Or heck, stick around. We're pretty fun when certain people aren't being all snarky.

freezorburn

Can't comment on the dryer sheets and softener, since we stopped using them years ago because a) DH is allergic and b) we decided we didn't need all those chemicals potentially harming our health and the environment. Yeah, I do kind of miss a Bounce-freshened load of dry clothes, but miraculously I have survived without it. For years. I mean, my blankie used to smell like Bounce, so I get it. It's one of the most wonderful smells in the world. But I'm a big girl now.

When we lived in the states we used Country Save for regular laundry and for CDs. Where we live now, CD-safe detergent is pretty expensive, so I use a different detergent for our regular laundry. The regular laundry detergent I use is lower than some other local brands as far as perfume, brighteners, etc., since our family tends to have sensitive skin.

I will also mention that when we travel with CD we don't necessarily know whether there is residue in the machines we have used to wash our CDs. In fact, MIL uses softener like it's going out of style, so I'm pretty sure it is all over her machines. Didn't seem to ruin our CDs though.

Kelly11235

I use fabric softener on our clothes, though I do water it down a bit because I find the scent too strong at full strength and because it tends to clog up in the dispenser.

I use tide powder for the diapers and have had no problems with it.  In fact I'm currently using the "CD friendly" detergent for our regular clothes because it didn't clean the diapers well enough, but I'm too cheap to throw it away.  Once that's gone, we'll switch to powder tide for everything.

I don't use dryer sheets, because I've heard bad things about them leaving flammable residue in the dryer vent.

You don't need to "prep" your washer, unless it's really yucky & stinky.

Also, if you're using prefolds those are fairly foolproof.  Microfiber tends to be more picky about how you wash it, but prefolds are pretty easy to get clean.  Just try & stay away from anything with softener built in, or detergents that have optical brighteners in them.

I have found that powdered detergent seems to work better for my diapers than liquid detergent does.

My guess is the lady from the CD store may just have been trying to get you to buy detergent at their store.  I'd suggest starting with Tide powder, it's relatively cheap and it seems to work well for most people.  If it doesn't work for you, you can always try something else

Using and washing cloth diapers can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it.

smushi

Thanks, ladies!

@afwifelife and @tj1979 what formula of Tide do you use?

Danie007

Take a deep breath. CDing really isn't that difficult. I clean my washer once a month with vinegar, but I did that before I used cloth too. Otherwise, everybody gave you good advice.

emmylou78

I use powdered Original Tide.  I consider it a "normal" detergent.  And I switch between the powder and some other generic liquid for my clothes.  Haven't had a problem.  I rarely ever used dryer sheets or liquid softener anyway so it was nbd for me.  I like the smell of Tide better.  Probably once this liquid runs out, I'll do tide only.

Can you find some nice smelling Febreeze fabric refresher stuff and spritz his clothes?  I don't know.  Is it the smell or the softness?  I use dryer balls in my dryer. 

mrshudson618

You can certainly use different detergent for your clothes and diapers. I use non CD safe (liquid f&c) on my clothes and either tide powder or homemade on my diapers.

knittinlins

Can someone share why powder is considered better than liquid? We are on septic and are advised against using powder, so I want to be fully informed before I actually get in to washing used cd.

Still waiting for our little one, so I have been using a highly rated (not cd specific) liquid for prepping diapers and washing baby clothes. I am not heavily invested in any detergent so I am curious about the powder/liquid thing.

Unknown

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TJ1979

@knittinlins what is this mystery liquid detergent you vaguely refer to?

knittinlins

@tj1979 It is an ECOS brand that was on some cd safe / not safe rating list. It is free of all the fragrances/dyes/brightners but is liquid and was second to highest rating. They had it at my local market. I figured if it ultimately wouldn't work with cloth, it would be great for baby clothes and our standard laundry since I typically do scent/dye free stuff.

Thanks @secretagentkate My next question is if anyone has had septic issues with powder - I will use the google for that one

Aurora_Borealis

SecretAgentKate said:

it has to do with the chemicals they use to keep the liquids mixed (i forget the real term).  they tend to cause a lot of build up/stink issues

Binding agents. They are the compounds that keep liquid detergent 'liquid.' In mainstream liquids, the binding agents are petroleum based and can bind to petroleum based synthetic diapering fabrics (microfiber, microfleece, suedecloth...all of these are essentially polyester, which is a petroleum based fabric). If you have a stash of prefolds and covers or other natural fiber diapers, this is not going to be an issue.

@knittinlins Ecover is a plant-based liquid so all the petroleum stuff doesn't apply. But depending on your water it might not have the cleaning power. It's definitely worth trying, but if you end up with stink, that would be the first thing to change.

nanabanana06

We still use Tide pods, liquid softener, AND dryer sheets on all our regular laundry. My dipes get special detergents and stuff. Hasn't hurt our dipes yet. Sure, diapers should use a more natural/clean rinsing detergent. If you have septic try Soap Nuts! It's super cheap and all natural.

The rest is really NBD. I never prepped the washer or dryer either.

bumpuser10179393

We have a conventional septic and use powdered detergent and haven't had any problems that I know of. Let me know what you find.

knittinlins

Thanks ladies! I may end up just going straight to powder based on what I have read.