Hard water wash routines?

adoxyinherear

We have really, really hard water and I keep switching up our routine to no avail. We're using exclusively cotton fitteds at this point and they just stink, not like ammonia, just stinky. They smell fine coming out of the dryer. I bought RnG Hard Rock in hopes of a better detergent remedying the problem, but so far, no luck. What are your wash routines if you have very hard water?

ETA: Our current wash routine is a cold rinse, then a hot wash/cold rinse with two tablespoons of RnG. I've tried adding detergent to the first rinse and I've also tried a second cold rinse. All of our diapers were recently stripped with Calgon.

emolee84

How much detergent are you using? The harder the water the more you'll need to use to get the diapers clean. I use dropps now and use 2 packets per load rinse cycle no soap, reg wash cycle w/ soap, extra rinse. I used rockin green hard rock in the past but it got to the point where I'd have to use 34 scoops to get clean diapers.
You can also use a capful of calgon to help soften the water.
Every few months I'll use RLR to strip the mineral buildup out. I take the clean diapers and just fill the bathtub with hot water and a packet of RLR and let everything soak overnight I swish it around here and there and then do a few water only washes in the washing machine.

adoxyinherear

emolee84:

How much detergent are you using? The harder the water the more you'll need to use to get the diapers clean. I use dropps now and use 2 packets per load rinse cycle no soap, reg wash cycle w/ soap, extra rinse. I used rockin green hard rock in the past but it got to the point where I'd have to use 34 scoops to get clean diapers. You can also use a capful of calgon to help soften the water. Every few months I'll use RLR to strip the mineral buildup out. I take the clean diapers and just fill the bathtub with hot water and a packet of RLR and let everything soak overnight I swish it around here and there and then do a few water only washes in the washing machine.

I'm using 2 tablespoons of RnG, and the idea of using three or four makes me cringe. Should I resign myself to spending boat loads on the amount of detergent I'm going to need to keep my diapers clean? Calgon isn't cheap, either

Thanks for the tip about the RLR!

hispenguin

Before we switched from RnG HR we were using 3 tbsp and still getting funk issues. I refused to use 4tbsp with every load so I switched.

Our routine is:

warm express wash

hot wash with two tbsp of tiny bubbles, extra rinse

once a month I add 1/4 cup of calgon to the hot wash

We only do a warm express wash because we now wash every second day, and we have stinky toddler pee. If I was washing EOD I would still be doing a cold rinse to start.

kadokatie30

theresat858:

I solved my stink problem by using Calgon in every load (the boxed powder from Amazon)...but then my diapers smell like Calgon. Now I use less of it (maybe a quarter cup or less?). And I use 1 scoop of Tiny Bubbles detergent.  I also have to add a towel to trick my washer into adding more water.

Cold express cycle

Hot wash, 2nd rinse. 

Another rinse cycle if I still smell the calgon.

I use Calgon in every load too. Do you think that the powder lasts longer?  

freezorburn

We moved to a hard water area about 2 months ago and had some funk issues the first couple of weeks. Here's the routine that seems to be working for us:

Warm Pre-wash with Calgon

Hot wash with Calgon and 1/2 scoop Tiny Bubbles (it's a small machine), extra rinse 

sosoph

With very hard water, the normal amount of detergent acts as a softener, so then there's no detergent left to clean the diapers. So you need to use more and a softener (you can use Borax instead of Calgon). Tide is generally foolproof for very hard water.

Also, use a warm prerinse to make sure all the oils are dissolving out of the diapers.

psychgrrl

We have pretty hard water, too.  We also had stink issues - kinda like a barn yard or something.  I switched things up and here's what seems to be working:

- warm prewash (not cold, that seemed to not work as well)

- hot regular wash with cold rinse

- second cold rinse

- If it's sunny, they get dried in the sun. 

We use Rockin Green Hard Rock, but use between 2 and 3 tbsp depending on how big the load is.  When I first switched to RNG I did the soak mentioned on the back of the package with all of our diapers.  This seemed to give us a clean slate.

 I sometimes add some baking soda in the wash cycle or vinegar to the rinse cycle (I use a downy ball so I don't forget).

You might want to switch to a warm prewash/rinse and add more detergent.  This article was helpful in understanding diaper washing issues and made a lot of sense to me:  https://wazoodle.com/index.php/diapermaking/cat/diapermaking-care/post/101-washing-diapers/