Favorite Laundry Detergent

klordb

Ok everyone, I'm new to CD and a first time mom coming up in April. I've decided to go the cloth diaper route and have picked out my diapers, now I just need the detergent. I've been doing some research and found lots of conflicting advise. So what are your favorite detergents? I currently use Ecos free and clear on my clothes right now and was thinking of just using that for the diapers.

TJ1979

Tide.

There are some studies that show f&c detergent isn't good for cloth.

PipSqueak0313

I loved soap nuts when I was washing only cotton flats and covers.....but now I have added synthetic fibers back into my stash and so I have gone back to using mainstream detergent. All that to say that Tide or other mainstream detergents are a great, easy starting point. Start by using the amount you'd use for a comparable sized load and adjust from there. Natural fibers are easier to wash and as a result many detergent options are successful with them that are not successful with synthetic fibers. Water hardness also plays a role in how successful a detergent will be for you. There really is no one best detergent out there.

DanandVan

I started out with free & clear and had stink issues. After stripping and switching to Tide original powder, I haven't had any stink problems at all. I use 2 tbl per load (around 15 diapers), and the $12 box lasted me a whole year!

AnnieJar

What do people think of bumgenius detergent?

I had been using tide which worked great but I had trouble finding original tide with no extras so thought I'd try BG since my stash of dipes is like 90% BGs.

I used it for probably about 2 months and started having ammonia problems and stink issues. Did a hot water strip and switched back to tide and I *think* I've gotten a handle on things. Just wondering what the consensus is on their detergent and if anyone else has had a similar experience?

abby8279

Tide original powder.  I didn't want to use it at first b/c I didn't care for the scent and one of my LO's has very sensitive skin.  However, after trying many other brands that didn't work for us, I caved and tried Tide again.  It works soo good for us (and DD#2 doesn't have any skin issues with it).  I got used to the scent.  Now I use it on all our clothes.  FWIW the detergents that didn't work for us were: Rockin' Green, Country Save, Nellies, and a few others I can't think of right now (those may work for some people).

BoothBaby

I am currently using Bum Genius detergent and have finally found a routine that works for us. I tried Charlie's Soap and Nellie's, but had stink and rash issues with both (rash from buildup, not sensitivity to the soap).

I have also started adding a softener for our hard water (currently the Charlie's booster because I already had it, but will try Calgon when it runs out), so honestly our success might have more to do with that and less with the actual detergent.

freezorburn

You're going to get a wide variety of answers here, and that's good news because that means you can find a detergent that works for your family.

If you want a mainstream detergent that you can easily find when you are doing your food shopping, a lot of people have success with Tide.

I agree with PPs that you might want to avoid the F&C detergent. Here's what Jillian's Drawers has to say about them.

If you are concerned about skin sensitivities/allergies, many of the "CD-safe" detergents will not have the ingredients that tend to be a concern (usually fragrances, enzymes, etc). Read the ingredients lists. You can even contact the manufacturers to ask specific questions. In rare instances, a baby might not do well with the coconut-derived ingredients that are common in non-mainstream detergents, but if you need to avoid those, then there are options for that as well.

It's a good idea to know your water hardness. Check with your local authority, or if you want more accuracy, get some hard water test strips or a test kit. There are some companies that give strips out for free.

For my part I've used Country Save in soft water, and later Tiny Bubbles or MioCare in very hard water (~300ppm). We use Calgon in both our pre-wash and main wash cycles, and I've never had a problem that couldn't be solved with an adjustment to our wash routine. We have no interest in using a mainstream detergent because for DS's skin we want to avoid fragrances and enzymes. 

Rrrrrachel

Charlies.

unaveragejane

@freezorburn‌ I love your advice on this. I feel like we should add this to the FAQs.

klordb

This definitely helps, we have a personal well so we have hard water but we have a water softer and an iron curtain so the final water product isn't too hard. Good to know about the free and clear detergents too.

emmylou78

Powdered tide, I bought some Nellie's to try too since I found it at a local store

freezorburn

unaveragejane said:

@freezorburn‌ I love your advice on this. I feel like we should add this to the FAQs.

Go right ahead, if there isn't already something in there about this.

klordb

So for those of you suggesting Tide powder, do you mean the Ultra Tide Powder? That's the most basic Tide powder I can find and I was just unsure of the wording 'Ultra'.

PipSqueak0313

klordb said:

So for those of you suggesting Tide powder, do you mean the Ultra Tide Powder? That's the most basic Tide powder I can find and I was just unsure of the wording 'Ultra'.

Yep that's it.

tjkdlhb

klordb said:

Ok everyone, I'm new to CD and a first time mom coming up in April. I've decided to go the cloth diaper route and have picked out my diapers, now I just need the detergent. I've been doing some research and found lots of conflicting advise. So what are your favorite detergents? I currently use Ecos free and clear on my clothes right now and was thinking of just using that for the diapers.

Back away from the Ecos!

NO, no, no, no no!

I had terrible terrible issues with Ecos.  Very stinky diapers. Even though my regular clothes seem ok with it.


I did ok with Tiny Bubbles for several months until I ended up with buildup and ammonia issues.

I've been using Tide ultra powder for about 3.5 months and it's been awesome.

Ditto @Freezorburn   test your water for hardness

PipSqueak0313

Chickypoo2468 said:

Hey has anyone here actually used foca?

I tried it.....finally trashed half the bag. It was the first (and the worst) detergent I had tried as far as not rinsing out goes. The package directions say to use a cup (since it doesn't come with a scoop I have to assume they mean literally a measuring cup) for a certain weight of laundry. I don't have a scale so I have no idea how much laundry that is. Lets just say I will never buy or recommend Foca.

PipSqueak0313

Just for clarification, I did not use the Foca on my diapers. I noticed the not rinsing out issues when my unpaper towels started repelling to the point that my dd held one under running water like normal and handed it to me to wipe ds2's face and hands and the cloth was still better than 95% dry.