Need help with cleaning my diapers

skrussell

I'm so frustrated that I don't know what to do with my diapers stinking. A lady referred me to post on here cause she believed that the fb cloth diaper group gave me bad advise. I won't mention the name of the group just to kept he drama away. But they told me to do the homemade RLR soak and a Bleach soak which I did and my diapers were great for about a 3 weeks and now I'm back to having stinks. My wash routine after the RLR soak is Cold rinse or light wash with 1/2cup borax and then line 1 of Tide Free and Gentle powder detergent. Then I do a hot super wash with 1/2cup borax and and a full cup + half cup of Tide free and power detergent. I have hard water also. I wash about 10-13 diapers + 2 mf inserts on a med load. Maybe thats to much water I don't know? I just need help getting my diapers clean and a steady wash routine. I also don't have a lot of time to do extra stuff cause I have 2 kids and on my own right now that my hubby is overseas. Cloth diapering shouldn't be this hard and I just want it to be easy so I can spend the time I have with my kids while they are young and now worry about how to keep these suckers clean. I have 20 Rumparooz with the 2 MF inserts that come with them. Oh yeah I use the Tide Free and Gentle cause we all have sensitive skin. 

TJ1979

Why all the borax? 

What does the stinky smell, smell like?

Thanks for coming here.  It doesn't have to be hard.  We can figure this out.

Rrrrrachel

Yes way too much detergent. You want enough detergent to get your diapers clean but not so much you have a bunch of suds left in your final rinse. How much that is varies from person to person.

I am also extremely skeptical of using an additional water softener because tide already has so much. especially borax because it's a precipitating water softener.

You want enough water to cover your diapers but you don't want them floating around or anything. They need to agitate against each other to get clean.

Also microfiber is the hardest thing to wash because of how the fibers are shaped.

zaraceligon

You don't need the borax at all. It you continue using the borax, it will created build up on the fabric.

skrussell

WOW that other group told me I need lots of detergent and water softener. See now I'm confused on what to do? They kinda smell musky or maybe like a musky ammonia smell.

zaraceligon

It means, the you have build up, because of the extra soap and the borax.

TJ1979

Well, you gave their way a shot, and it didn't work.  So try our way now, and see what happens.  Then maybe report back to them, haha!

Do exactly what @AFwifelife suggested.  Several hot water washes with no detergent, then follow her suggested wash routine.  I would skip over the calgon for now, but you can add that later if you find you need it. 

skrussell

how do i get the buildup out? Why did they say I needed borax or water softener? I have hard water

Rrrrrachel

You get the build up out by just doing hot washes with no detergent until there aren't any bubbles then using an appropriate amount of detergent

I don't know why they told you that. They seem to think more is better but it isn't always.

TJ1979

The hot water washes with no detergent will help with the buildup.  Keep doing it until there are no bubbles in the water when you rinse.

Tide has built in water softener, that's why you don't actually need water softener even though you have hard water.

Who knows why people give the advice they do.

zaraceligon

I'm not an expert like all this wonderful ladies, but for me the easy and fast way to remove it. Is boiling only the inserts for a few minutes instead of doing lost of hot rinse.

TJ1979

zaraceligon said:

I'm not an expert like all this wonderful ladies, but for me the easy and fast way to remove it. Is boiling only the inserts for a few minutes instead of doing lost of hot rinse.

But don't boil anything with snaps or PUL.  Or elastic.

skrussell

They don't believe in detergent build up they think its a myth. I felt giving up cause of all the detergent I have to use. Now that I have all this build up for what you guys are saying then I"m using up lots of water to get it out. So a few HOT washes then use the recommend amount of detergents like line 3 on the cup? No borax or calgon for now?

Rrrrrachel

Use the same amount of detergent you would use for a clothing load that size. Then if they're coming out smelly or something you might need more or more agitation.

Sgriff1

Is this real?

skrussell

Oops I ment to put line 1 sorry AFwifelife

skrussell

I don't think I have an HE Machine its just a top loader. What is and HE machine anyway?

skrussell

My machine locks so I'd have to pause it to see. Its my moms new washer so I'm not sure what it is haha

skrussell

Here is mine

skrussell

Ok so if I have 20 diapers and 40 inserts would that be a medium load? Then if I was doing 10-13 it would be a small load? 

skrussell

I remember seeing all the suds before I talk to you all I guess I"m using way to much soap. 

skrussell

oh so I also put it on the rinse/spin cycle to rinse all the soap out on HOT?

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countrycotton

You gotten some great advice here. These ladies are very helpful and really want you to love cloth! Common sense rules here.

skrussell

Thanks everyone! I'm still frustrated about it all but i guess ill keep trying and maybe use a different detergent but i'm not sure which one since we all have sensitive skin, the scents and perfumes is what gets us.

YellowLily2013

Some ladies have been successful with homemade powder detergent. Maybe that is up your alley? Borax, washing soda and oxyclean.

Many people have also ditched microfiber inserts for natural fibers like cotton or hemp. Cotton Flour Sack Towels are super cheap and wash really easily. You can pick them up for $1 at Walmart, target, bbb. Those can be stuffed into your pocket.

skrussell

How many FST can you put in the pockets one or two?

freezorburn

Hopefully if the Tide F&G works for your clothes it will also work for your diapers. I seem to remember there was someone else here asking about it not too long ago. 

 The thing to remember about mainstream detergents is that some of their ingredients are designed to stick to fabric, particularly perfumes and brighteners. These are usually what we attribute repelling and some smell problems to. Also, there are enzymes. Great for getting things clean, but anecdotally they may contribute to skin irritation. It's not necessarily possible to pinpoint the cause of a rash, sometimes all you can do is just try something different and see if it works. I don't know whether Tide F&G has enzymes and whether or not they are a contributing factor to your problems. But I would say to stick with it for now, and give it a try after you get all that residue out of your diapers. 

If you change too many things at once, you won't be sure what it is that you did that fixed things. You might not need to switch detergent. But there are good alternatives for sensitive skin, if you decide you need to make a change.

YellowLily2013

skrussell said:

How many FST can you put in the pockets one or two?

I think 1 or 2... Honestly I don't use pockets. Maybe someone else can chime in? But I love flats! You can fold them and snappi them or even just pad fold and place into a cover. And I know using them with a cover 1 is enough for daytime, and 2 is enough for naps. We have another ON routine, so I've never tried them ON. But two may work!

skrussell

What are flats? Sorry I don't know about all these types of diapers. I just have Rumparooz I guess those are pockets then.

Kelly11235

skrussell said:

WOW that other group told me I need lots of detergent and water softener. See now I'm confused on what to do? They kinda smell musky or maybe like a musky ammonia smell.

Listen to these ladies here.

Clearly the facebook group people were either messing with you, or were seriously misinformed. Cleaning cloth diapers is supposed to be relatively simple.  We've been using most of the same diapers for over a year now, and we've never had to strip them or do anything other than washing & rinsing them (and drying obviously).

Even if you don't believe what this board is telling you, you already know that what the FB folks told you doesn't work, at least not long term.  So really, at this point, what do you have to lose?

If you still have a hard time with microfiber stink, you may want to consider stuffing your pocket diapers with either flats or prefolds.  Either option would be *much* easier to get clean.  You can find them cheaply too, just don't use the gerber prefolds, those aren't really diapers.

Kelly11235

skrussell said:

Here is mine

Random, but I used to have that same washer.

Definitely not high efficiency lol, but it did a great job until the motor died.

countrycotton

I think one thing that will help you a lot is to watch the cloth 101 series on YouTube. There is a link for it in the FAQ,s at the top of the page. It will help you get an idea of all the different types of cloth diapers out there, how they work, a little about laundry and just some general lingo. I really hope we can help you learn to love cloth as much as we do. I know the other group was a little overbearing in their ways, we don't want to be like that, we just really want you to be happy when you wrap that sweet baby's bum up in cloth! And maybe, we might, sort of, end up trying to convince you to love them so much you will want to buy.all.the.diapers!

skrussell

So since I did strip my diapers once I didn't ruin them did I? Now that I know I don't need gobs of detergent and I can get rid of the MF inserts cause I think thats been giving me the issue. What are flats or prefolds? Where do I get them can you give me some websites? I was also looking into hemp or bamboo inserts but I see some of them have MF in the centers and don't want those if they have MF. Today I used a FST and it seems to be working and the diaper on my son looks so much better it doesn't have all that bulk. I like them not being so bulky its like he can't move in them if they are so bulky and thats what the 2 MF inserts I have made them bulky. I appreciate everyone Thank you!

Rrrrrachel

You didn't ruin them. They're actually pretty hard to ruin. Get yourself some flats. Bamboo ones are slightly more absorbent than birdseye but both are good. https://www.nickisdiapers.com/flat-diapers.html

countrycotton

Amazon is a good place to find insets, I've gotten bamboo applecheeks, and thirsties hemp from there. I lot of people here like green mountain diapers.com I'm happy st see things are starting to look up for you. You didn't ruin your diapers, a strip is sometimes called for but just not the methods that had previously been given to you.

Kelly11235

Stripping is sometimes required, but if anyone asks for a lap dance.....just walk away.

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skrussell

Thank you ladies, you all are great! I'll be looking into different inserts or flats! Yay to cloth!

skrussell

which is better hemp or bamboo, which one absorbs the most?

YellowLily2013

I'm confused, why not just use the FSTs? Is that not enough absorbency? Did you try folding two and putting that in a pocket?

My rational is money, hemp and bamboo are pricey!! I wouldn't go there unless you really needed it. Or maybe something special for overnight.