Going into this knowing I have hard water

TugboatSheila

I've seen a lot of hard water questions and it got me thinking. I already know I have hard water and will be  CDing. Do you think I should arm myself with BAC OUT or RLR/Calgon right away or should I wait to see if there is a problem.

Judging by what our dishes and faucets look like from the hard water I'm fairly confident that it will cause a problem with our CDs but since this will be my first CD experience once LO gets here I'm not sure if I should just wait and see.

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Rrrrrachel

I would add something cheap like washing soda right off the bat to every wash and have rlr on hand for a strip when/if you need it. What are you going to use for detergent?

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Rrrrrachel

It depends who you ask. They're certainly similar but some people say rlr is washing soda plus other stuff.

TugboatSheila

Rrrrrachel said:

I would add something cheap like washing soda right off the bat to every wash and have rlr on hand for a strip when/if you need it. What are you going to use for detergent?

I'll be using Nellie's detergent until it runs out. Then if I like it we'll continue with that, if not we'll switch detergents. 

So you guys add Calgon to every wash? 

unaveragejane

I use Tiny Bubbles or Nellies, and I add Calgon to every wash now. I should probably back down to 2x a month, but then I forget which diapers got treated and when.  I split it between the bleach tray and the softener tray b/c it is supposed to keep the minerals from depositing on your diapers, so in my head it made sense to make sure it is in there for the main wash and rinse portion of the show. I have read that washing soda breaks down the minerals but doesn't keep them from re-depositing on the diapers, so I use it for stripping rather than as part of my regular wash cycle. I tried finding that article for you, but it's not popping up right now.

freezorburn

Natural fibers are way more forgiving than synthetic. To illustrate: I have one Kawaii pocket which I'm still using the original MF insert for. Everything else is natural or a blend. The other day when DS was wearing it, he started complaining -- squirming like he was really uncomfortable and anxiously saying, "diaper! diaper!" He had maybe had it on for 30-40 minutes at that point, so it wasn't very wet, but when I got it off of him he had the beginnings of a nice ammonia burn cooking in there. Which tells me that the same wash routine that gets all my natural fibers clean isn't working on this one insert.

sarenu1

I have hard water, but it's not that bad as some.

I've used Tiny Bubbles and now Nellies.  I switched to all natural fibers (cotton and bamboo).  I don't have any stink or build up issues.  But I use BacOut at least once a week on my toddler's diapers.  

It can't hurt to have a bottle on hand.  Especially if you have really hard water.

TugboatSheila

Thanks Guys. I think I'm going to get some BAC-OUT and Calgon just in case. I mean our glasses look like we just leave soap scum on them from the hard water, Even though they are actually clean. 

We have a wide mix of synthetic and natural fibers (I'd say its about a 60/40 ratio right now of Natural Vs Synthetic) so I want to make sure what I do works on all the dipes. 

PipSqueak0313

I was playing around on the internet last night and read the info on thinking-about-cloth-diapers regarding laundry. It appears to have good info, but I'd love to hear others opinions on the info too.