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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
Bride2bMO
member
Major CD and frontloader woes. Help?
Bride2bMO
member
I'm really about to quit after a long and happy cloth diapering experience. 
I've had a FL LG machine machine since October, and my whole stash is in terrible shape. I believe they are neither clean from waste OR detergent, so I don't know where to go from here. It would seem they need more water in the load since neither the pee or the detergent is fully rinsing out. All I know is that there is a faint ammonia odor even when they are "clean" and dry, and when my son pees, oh good God. His overnight diaper brings tears to my eyes, and his diaper area looks like it has a sunburn. That must be so unhealthy. I mean, breathing in ammonia fumes all night?!
My current routine has been the following program: prewash, sanitary cycle with "highest soil level," extra rinse, and then lately I've been running it through a second extra hot rinse. For this process to complete in full takes 2.5 - 3 hours. NOT including drying time (another hour). I've been using Nellie's natural laundry soda bc it supposedly rinses super clean.
What do I do? My search brought up past posts on the EFF board that suggested all sorts of extra steps - full extra cold wash on front and back end of the cycle, throwing sopping wet towels in the load, etc. Making this long wash routine even longer seems very unappealing. I have lots of regular laundry, too (which now also take longer than they used to), and the only reason I've been able to tolerate this 2.5 hour wash routine is by setting it on the delay when I go to bed so that it completes around 6am. But there is no way to program these full extra washes on the front and back ends, it will have to be manually set for each phase, meaning my washer is tied up for hours during the day. With a newborn coming, I will probably have to do a load every day to keep up. I don't know if I am this committed.
I'm so grateful I don't have a running cost of what I've spend on CDs since the beginning, I would probably faint at the thought of walking away from it. I just HAD to jump on the GM and Blueberry bandwagons, lol! Our biggest stash is bG 3.0, bG organic AIO, and Sposo'Easies.
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Re: Major CD and frontloader woes. Help?
Do you strip with RLR? That would be my first real suggestion.
Here is my plain-jane rental apartment front loader routine (with super hard water and a water heater that doesn't get that hot):
One full cycle with vinegar in the wash spot, on cold.
One full cycle on hot w/ extra rinse, using Tiny Bubbles right now but switching to Rockin' Green (WHICH IS AMAZING) full time as soon as that is done.
We also switched to all-hemp inserts. Microfiber is what gave me the knock-you-out urine smell.
We're in the exact same boat. I have mostly BG organic AIOs, and I've been doing a soak, sanitary cycle wash, and extra rinse... and they still stink when I take them out. We use Planet detergent, but it's not cutting it. I'm thinking about ordering some Charlie's online... supposedly that's pretty good? Some people have success with regular Tide, too.
But I'm definitely getting frustrated... I had no problems with my very, very OLD top-loader. Then we moved and got a front-loader, and haven't had clean diapers since.
Oh and what detergent are you using?
I would really suggest using a CD-specific one. Tiny Bubbles was good but Rockin' Green is even better. Crunchy Clean was "meh" but nothing else really worked for us. We have no stink issues since switching to hemp and they are very clean.
I think the vinegar in the first wash (which is really just a rinse) makes a difference too.
Sorry to be so negative, btw. I'm really frustrated and I am mad because I feel like it's becoming unhealthy for my son, which is the exact opposite reason I got into the CD game in the first place (pampers gave him rashes).
He's in a Huggies pure and natural right now and smells a heck of a lot better. Poor stinky kid.
We're using Nellie's right now, which I got from Cotton Babies, and they rate it good for cloth, but I am definitely willing to make a switch. In my googling the problem last night, I kept finding references to Rocking Green.
If I google, will I find good front loader stripping instructions for RLR? And, dumb question, but is that the brand name or does that stand for something? Thanks!
Not sure if this is helpful, but my wash routine is below. I have a top loader.
One cold wash cycle with all natural powder detergent (Moonworks) and small amount of OxiClean free & clear powder (I skip the OxiClean when I can line dry my CDs in the sun.) I sometimes let the load fill with water and soak for 15 to 20 minutes before starting the cycle.
One hot wash cycle with all natural powder detergent.
One cold rinse. I sometimes add an extra rinse if it was as messy load.
Line dry all BG and FB shells. (We have a shower curtain rod above my washer & dryer for this.) Throw inserts and wipes into the dryer. I prefer to line dry everything on the weekends during warmer months.
GL!
Which hemp inserts do you use? I need to add more to my stash.
We had issues with Nellies Nuggets and our CD's as well.
You really need to do a cold wash/rinse FIRST to get the pee and waste off. This also helps to not allow the stains/smell to really set in.
The do a hot wash, followed by a cold rinse.
Yes, it's a lot of steps, but I am still saving money over sposies.
An RLR strip is also a good suggestion.
I don't know that RLR stands for anything, but it is Cadie brand. All I do is once a month throw in a packet of RLR in with the regular wash (some do it alone as an extra step after the wash) on hot, and voila! Squeaky clean diapers!
Your routine is WAY long. Mine takes maybe an hour for wash (2 cycles) and 30 minutes dryer, done.
I use Crunchy Clean detergent, btw. I love it. We use it for our regular laundry as well.
We use BG pockets with hemp inserts and I rarely have any issues with my diapers.
ArtsyFartsyFooFoo and some like them that my mom made. Hemp is cheap to buy online.
Sorry you're having so many issues
As you may remember, we had zero issues for the first 9+ months or so and then all of a sudden, it was one thing after another (yeast rash after yeast rash and then STINK). I'll be honest, I finally switched to Tide a month or so ago. I couldn't handle the stink anymore and DD was getting a red bottom from all the ammonia AND b/c the diapers weren't fully clean. We don't have a FL though, so I can't help there 
We tried so many detergents and just had to give up and go to Tide finally. She still has a sensitive bum, so we still battle diaper rash, but it usually just takes 1 sposie (where I can lather on the cream) to get her back in cloth. I hope you figure something out and can get rid of the stink. I know how frustrating that is!
I have a couple of suggestions:
strip the diapers with dawn and bleach and then rinse until you don't see suds.
add water to your wash cycle (I do this with a pitcher once the cycle has started)
switch to stuffing with prefolds instead of microfiber
I had the same problem and it got to the point I was bleaching my inserts 1/week. I switched to stuffing with prefolds and it was instantly better. They don't hold onto smells like the BG inserts do and I was able to just wash them "normally" (rinse, wash, rinse) and have NO smell issues.
GL!
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I don't know that I can offer any help, really, since my wash routine takes forever. I do a presoak/sanitary/heavy wash (2.5 hours) with detergent, followed by a second wash cycle with detergent (another hour). Then into the dryer. We haven't had any issues this way, but it does take a long time. But, realisticaly, we only do it 1-2 times per week so it's not a big deal.
I also use Tide Free HE. It's always worked well for us.
I've been doing a cold "prewash," (and with the toploader I always did a cold wash cycle), but I guess it's not cutting it.
Don't ever get rid of that top loader, lol! I had my wash routine down pat with the top loader, then everything went to hell with my front loader.
I wish I could add water to the wash cycle. Front loaders lock and you can't open them mid-cycle.
They seriously suck!
And I know my wash routine is way long...but this is just a really slow machine, I guess? I would kill to go back in time and spring for the Electrolux (not that we could afford it) that had super short cycle times. A "normal" cycle on my LG, without any prewashes or extra rinses, is over 1 hour.
Oh, I remember her ongoing rash problems! I felt so bad for you guys, it sounded miserable. Maybe I should try Tide, too. I hear of so many people that finally come around to Tide, and I rarely hear disappointments over the decision.
I mentioned this to DH recently. He was pricing out HE washers, but I told him we might want to wait until after we're done washing CDs.
I also strip with Dawn about once every other month.
Using vingear in a rinse and spin prewash helps alot with ammonia. I also use RLR about once a month and rinse like crazy a few times after the cycle I add it to (you can get it here https://www.momsmilkboutique.com/RLR.html )
I've been using allen's naturally powder and got some samples of others to try and so far tinybubbles has been better than the allen's with stink.
It sounds like you need to strip them. We have a front loader and I try to strip our dipes ever month or two.
Our wash routine is a cold rinse, hot wash and then two cold rinses. We had to switch to All Free and Clear and I use very little soap. If you don't have a big load of diapers, throw an old towel in the washer with them.
I use Charlie's soap and have for about 3 months. I like it.
I have a front loader and my wash cycle is this:
short wash on cold with vinegar
hot wash with extra rinse with Charlie's
It's been working well so far. I would love to get rid of my microfiber inserts and replace them with more foo foo hemp, but haven't been able to yet.
Hope that helps!
My FL will let me add water, but I guess they aren't all like that. I still recommend stripping
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