Cloth diaper detergents

colleen4019

Hi ladies!

I followed the previous cloth diaper threads and decided to give it a try. I purchased a decent (I hope) starting setup and I'm ready to prep my diapers. I have bamboo inserts. But I am really torn on detergents. It seems like every blog I read on Pinterest mentions different detergents. I think making my own is more than I want to take on now.

It might seem lazy but I would really prefer a detergent that I can pick up locally (at the grocery store or target etc.) & not one that I have to order online or go to a specialty store to get. A few places mention Tide which would be awesome b/c for my household laundry I use either Tide free & clear or All free & clear. So to be able to use the detergent I use for everything else would be great. But some blogs say that they would never use tide. They don't say why except to not use anything with fabric softener in it (which makes sense).

Thanks in advance!!

tabitha722

I'd check the Cloth Diaper board... but many swear by the Original Tide Powder... and avoid Free & Clear detergents!

colleen4019

tabitha722 said:

I'd check the Cloth Diaper board... but many swear by the Original Tide Powder... and avoid Free & Clear detergents!

Yea I read the ingredient and they have fabric softeners so I will def avoid those.

Ardmhs83

tabitha722 said:

I'd check the Cloth Diaper board... but many swear by the Original Tide Powder... and avoid Free & Clear detergents!

This...every momma I talk to swears by Original Tide Powder.  

colleen4019

Ok thanks @ToasterCat‌!

DragonflyDreaming

I joined the one @ToasterCat‌ mentioned. Great page for getting all the info.

I will be trying Tide Ultra original (powder) based on what I see the most mentioned. They don't sell it here (they do have the liquid, though), so I will be bringing it in the baby shipment, then bringing some back every time I visit the US.

colleen4019

I just requested to join the group as well.

DM718

I picked up Tide powder this weekend based on the advice of the cloth diapering board.  One thing to know in advance - I believe all Tide powder is now labeled as "Tide Ultra".  I was furiously googling (and wandering around the store to find good reception) to find out if it would be OK.

I also bought All Free & Clear for all other household laundry.  I don't remember the reasoning, but I think All Free & Clear (and a lot of liquid detergents) are not great for diapers.

That said, if powdered Tide is good enough for your baby's nether regions, it's probably fine for the rest of the baby stuff as well.

FrecklesInside

CDs are not delicate flowers. They have MORE issues when trying specialized detergents. I use Tide Original Powder.

colleen4019

Thank goodness. Some of those detergents are crazy expensive. Add shipping in to that and it's crazy. I'm a Tide fan. I have the liquid but I'll pick up that powder. Thanks for the ultra tip @DM718‌!

tabitha722

etherhay said:

I didn't have luck with tide, and I may be one of very few who feel that way- but I have sensitive skin and DD does as well, so it just didn't work out for us. I've used Nellies and had great success with it. I decided on Nellie after looking at several local to me cloth groups, because I figured out it's important to use what works for the water type (soft/ hard) you have, and in my town, we all have city water. Hope that's helpful/ makes sense!

I also use Nellie's, but OP said she wanted to have something local/not online purchase. I can't buy Nellie's locally, so I didn't say that.

colleen4019

We def don't have sensitive skin issues (who knows about LO). If necessary I'll get a specialty one, but I'd rather not have to order online. Nice to have the vote if it becomes necessary though!

I think I'll start with tide powder and see how that works.

Thanks for all the advice ladies.

bmstee03

I used Tide original with my first and will with this one too. Rocking Green sucked as did bumgenius, home made, and any other 'crunchy' variety I tried before switching to good old Tide.

stine28

ToasterCat said:

And like PP mentioned above, if your water is even remotely hard, don't forget to add some Calgon or Borax to your routine. Mineral deposits can cause repelling and leaks and you'll have to strip everything and start over.

Damnit, really? TWO THINGS need to be put into the machine? DH will never go for this. :S

t loves r

I use tide and haven't had an issue. I think what detergents work and don't work for people can depend on their water. We have hard water with a water softener and all these "cloth safe" detergents were not strong enough to clean feces and pee out of diapers. So, I stick with what gets my diapers clean and that's Tide.

Use whatever detergent gets the job done

Eta: I don't add any extra softner to our wash even though we have extremely hard water. Tide has some softners in it though. I've never ever in 19 months of cloth diapering had any repelling or leaks.

JCWhitey

Avoid fancy "cloth diaper" detergents.  So not worth it!  I never used Tide since I was on a septic that hates powdered detergents, but found that Tide liquid worked, too.  I found a giant bottle of 7th Generation Lavender detergent onlearane for ridiculously cheap and started using that instead and had good results with that, too.  Honestly, didn't notice a difference no matter what detergent I used.  I just always ran an extra rinse cycle to get any excess out.

colleen4019

I'm so glad you're all Tide ladies. I was feeling like I wasn't gonna cut it as a cd mama! Not quite 'crunchy' enough. Thanks for all the help!!