Washing technique

HorseFeathers3 · October 2014

Alright ladies... Lay it on me! What's your tried and true washing techniques? I'll be using workhorse flats and fitteds along with thirties, RaR, Blueberry covers. As well as some AIO's by kawaii, Grovia & BG for my newborn stash. Thank you for your tips and advice

TJ1979 · October 2014

Cold rinse, no detergent.
Normal wash, original powder tide to 1 line.
Extra rinse.
Machine dry flats and fitteds, hang covers.

sarenu1 · October 2014

Warm wash and cold rinse.

Hot wash with detergent, cold rinse, extra rinse and spin.

I hang dry my covers, pockets and wetbags.

Dry my inserts.

I use 2 scoops of tide (roughly to the first line on the tide cup, but I use a Nellie's scoop to measure). I have an old fashion top loader.

Brandiewine11 · October 2014

It does not have to be complicated. Sometimes you need to tweak things, but in general you need:

- A rinse and spin (or quick wash cycle) on cold or warm with no detergent. This gets the pee and poop out.

- A hot wash cycle with detergent (use the smallest amount that gets your diapers clean)

- An extra rinse

I hang dry anything with PUL, and put other stuff in the dryer.

I use tide detergent. I started out with using up to the 1 line. That worked for the NB phase but after I started washing fewer diapers, I now only need 2 tbsp. We have very slightly hard water, but not bad.

JoieBee · October 2014

To piggyback on Horsefeather's post, I have a question regarding original Tide. I know a lot of people on this board use Tide powder but I have been looking at a lot of recommended detergent lists that seem to rate it pretty low. Any ideas about this discrepancy?

TJ1979 · October 2014

If you are talking about pinstripes and polka dots list @joiebee, their list only discusses the safety of detergents. Theoretically, tide isn't good because it does contain enzymes and brighteners. However, when you are talking about efficacy, tide works really well. Despite its potential for not being as safe as something designed for diapers, it works and anecdotally seems to be safe.
So basically, no, I don't have any real ideas, all I know is that it works. As opposed to some detergents on the list like all f&c which is deemed as safe, but flat out doesn't work.

JoieBee · October 2014

That's exactly what I was wondering, @TJ1979 -- thanks!

Kelly11235 · October 2014

I just use a hot/cold cycle with 3 tbls of powdered Tide, and an additional cold rinse.

It's worked for us for many months now.

TJ1979 · October 2014

Kelly11235 said:

I just use a hot/cold cycle with 3 tbls of powdered Tide, and an additional cold rinse.
It's worked for us for many months now.

But... you're washing in pee and poo water?

Kelly11235 · October 2014

TJ1979 said:

Kelly11235 said:

I just use a hot/cold cycle with 3 tbls of powdered Tide, and an additional cold rinse.
It's worked for us for many months now.

But... you're washing in pee and poo water?

The machine does a fill/rinse/spin before it does the wash with the soap.

HorseFeathers3 · October 2014

mamalamb10 said:
I think you've gotten some great advice so far. It also depends on your washing machine and water type. I have hard water and a TL HE machine. My routine probably wouldn't work for someone with soft water and a non-HE machine. What type of machine do you have and do you know if you have hard or soft water?

I have an HE machine and hard well water.

freezorburn · October 2014

Some things to think about re detergent choice and hard water -- some people have recommended Tide and that's because it has a few things in it that really help with cleaning, specifically (water) softeners and enzymes. Most diaper companies will recommend avoiding a detergent that has enzymes, brighteners, and fragrance. You also want to avoid fabric softener.

If you are concerned about skin sensitivities you might also want to avoid enzymes, brighteners and fragrance in your detergent. Most of the CD-safe detergents fit this description. If you choose one of these detergents, you will want to add something like Calgon to your routine as well. Depending on how hard your water is, you'll at least want to add it to your main wash and possibly also to your initial rinse. I also find it to be more effective if that initial rinse is warm rather than cold. You may need to go through some trial and error to figure out the right amounts of Calgon and detergent.

As for HE machines, as a starting point you want to find an initial rinse/quick wash cycle that has lots of water, then for your main wash choose the longest cycle available. From there you can tweak your routine if needed.

HorseFeathers3 · October 2014

@freezorburn‌ thank you for the tips! I actually just picked up some Eco-sprout to wash my diapers yesterday. I was told that it works in all types of water. Do you have any experience with that type of detergent? Also, I'm not familiar with Calvin. Does that help soften the water?

freezorburn · October 2014

Yes Calgon is a water softener. Usually you just put it in the same compartment as your detergent. Haven't personally tried Eco sprout but have heard good things about it.

HorseFeathers3 · October 2014

@freezorburn‌ perfect! Thank you!!

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