Homemade Diaper Detergent Qs

steffaneh

ok I'm confused. I came on here about 2 months ago with questions about my cloth diapers not getting cleaned. People told me that using washing soda and borax wasn't cleaning my diapers but when I look up old discussion pages about what people have used in a homemade diaper detergent it is the same thing as what I have used (some added Calgon for hard water or oxiclean for added stain remover).I then used a detergent containing dawn dish soap and recently had people telling me that you aren't supposed to put that in your washing machine much less your cloth diapers. All I want is to make my own laundry detergent that is CD safe, affordable, and actually cleans my CDs.

Rrrrrachel

I agree. There are so many variables with washer and water differences. Home made detergent may work great for some people but that doesn't mean it will work for you, and if you're having issues it probably isn't working.

From what I understand the issue with just using washing soda/borax is there's no surfactant. Some home made detergent use soap (feels naphtha) as a surfactant, but that's not cloth diaper safe. You might want to try something like soap nuts as a cloth diaper safe surfactant. 

Or you may want to switch to a commercial detergent with a reasonable price per load. We use charlies soap because it's like 20 cents a load. 

freezorburn

Don't be discouraged! There are a few people here who do just fine with homemade detergent. They may have some ideas for you. And as we discussed on your other thread, adjusting your wash routine may do the trick.

nanabanana06

I used a detergent that was 2 parts Borax and Washing Soda and 1 part Oxy Clean Free. I also added Calgon and it worked pretty well. There is also a soap nuts powdered detergent I've been wanting to try. Right now we're using Tide since my son might be sensitive to Borax.

steffaneh

I'm hoping with the help of calgon I can use my homemade detergent again.

nanabanana06

I have to use Calgon with any detergent. I'm using Tide with Calgon. Without the Calgon I get mineral build up quickly. I also have to strip with RLR once a month. Sucks, but whatever. I really want to try the soap nuts detergent though. Also, if your detergent is only Washing Soda and Borax you will need something else to it. Washing Soda and Borax are both glorified water softeners. It needs something like Oxy Clean to make it clean. This is the soap nut recipe I'm trying soon:

https://theecofriendlyfamily.com/2013/05/diy-powdered-soap-nuts-laundry-detergent-recipe/

steffaneh

I would probably add grated Dr. Bronner's soap

nanabanana06

Yoiu cannot use castille soap with CD's. It's not CD safe.

mrshudson618

@Nana_Osaki06‌ Do you know where will you get your soap nuts? What is the price usually like for those?

Rrrrrachel

mountain rose herbs has them pretty cheap.

https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/search/search.php?utf8=✓&refine=y&keywords=soap+nuts&commit=Go

Rrrrrachel

(amazon has them, too, but the ones actually branded for laundry detergent tend to cost a lot more)

nanabanana06

I just use Eco Nuts. I order directly from them.

steffaneh

why isn't castile soap safe for CD? This website (https://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1040786) says that you can use dawn dish soap. I have in the past and didn't have any problems with it. It seems like the only thing that is suggested is to use Tide because everything else "sucks". Tide is too expensive for our family and it doesn't mix well with my sensitive skin.

zaraceligon

Usually for the Castile soap you need to use the sal sub, to help your cloths get clean. If you want to fix the problem you need to made sure you get rid of. All the soap that is on the diaper, no because the diapers are been rise multiples times mean is not soap on them. Sometime the dawn, borax, baking soda penetrates the fabric and stays in the fabric. For me was very easy to get rid of all the stink issue by boiling all my inserts. But it depend of what kid of diaper you have and for how long you will boils them, I also put lemon on the water to help with the ph of the water. May be try adding some lemon juice to your wash routing, the lemon is an bleach alternative and natural.

zaraceligon

Usually for the Castile soap you need to use the sal sub, to help your cloths get clean. If you want to fix the problem you need to made sure you get rid of. All the soap that is on the diaper, no because the diapers are been rise multiples times mean is not soap on them. Sometime the dawn, borax, baking soda penetrates the fabric and stays in the fabric. For me was very easy to get rid of all the stink issue by boiling all my inserts. But it depend of what kid of diaper you have and for how long you will boils them, I also put lemon on the water to help with the ph of the water. May be try adding some lemon juice to your wash routing, the lemon is an bleach alternative and natural.

freezorburn

Tide is popular but it's not for everyone. If you don't want to use Tide, don't use it. There are plenty of other options for hard water. Personally I prefer detergents that don't have fragrance or other additives that are difficult to rinse away. I've had good results with Country Save, Tiny Bubbles and Miocare. I don't know if any of those are in your budget. Also, the Real Diaper Association has this cool search tool for detergents

 https://detergent.realdiaperindustry.org 

I don't know much about Castile soap but my guess is that it is probably not the most clean-rinsing ingredient around. If you are designing your own detergent for CD you want the ingredients to be as clean-rinsing as possible to minimize buildup.

nanabanana06

Castille soap or any soap for that matter is bad for CD's since it can cause build up in non natural fibers. Thins like Castille, Fels Napatha, Ivory, ect. Dawn isn't good because it's bad for your washing machine and should only be used for hand scrubbing/stripping greasy non CD safe creams. There are plenty of options that I've mentioned in this thread that are CD safe, inexpensive, and not Tide.