Even the most seasoned cloth diapering parent will run into a washing issue with their cloth diapers at some point. Often, either due to what many call the “stinkies” or as a result of leaking caused by build-up on their diapers.
Both the stinkies and repelling (build-up of soap/creams or oils that cause leaking) are good candidates for stripping.
Stripping cloth diapers isn’t as fun as it sounds, but it can be simple if you let it. While an Internet search will yield thousands of remedies, many telling you to put your diaper through a rigorous routine that normally involves ingredients that sounds like they belong in a Hogwarts lesson- it can be simple.
Just “Rock a Soak.”
For the many Rockin’ Green Detergent users this involves soaking your diapers in 3 scoops of RnG overnight.
It should be noted that your soak routine could differ slightly depending on what your problem is.
If your diapers have “barnyard” stinkies you probably aren’t getting them clean enough. To remedy the smell and start “fresh” you can simply pre-rinse your diapers, wash them, rinse again, then follow the Soaking instructions.
Once your diapers are done soaking, rinse them once or twice then dry them. You might be surprised at how dirty your water looks after the soak!
If your diapers are suffering from the strong, nose hair burning smell of ammonia,
You can also rock a soak. Once you have washed and soaked your diapers, I would also prescribe a 30-60 minute soak in Funk Rock: the ammonia buster. I have done this myself to rid my diapers of strong ammonia stink caused by my toddler and it worked! As a bonus, my diapers and inserts looked brand new! After your Funk Rock treatment give them another wash or just a hot wash with no detergent, then let dry.
Repelling…. This is something that unfortunately happens to the best of us and can cause quite the headache! To get rid of the build-up on your diapers in a safe and easy way, rock a soak as directed above. Instead of rinsing once or twice, end the soak by doing a few hot washes with no detergent. At minimum I would do three. If you have a top loader just stop the washer before the requisite cold rinse since it is the hot water you want. You can even crank your hot water heater up for the occasion.
It should be noted that you can also rock a soak in your bathtub, a large utility sink, or even a wash tub if you have one!
Even though this process is time consuming (8-10 hours overnight, plus 2-6 hours the next day depending on how many washes/rinses you need) it is not labor intensive. The Rockin’ Green is doing all of the work for you!
Have you rocked a soak? What were the results?
Try Cloth Diapers Risk Free
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
I actually just finished doing this! I did my soak in 4 batches of 6 diapers each so they had maximum room to move around in the washer. A cold rinse, then a hot soak for an hour or so and OMG the junk that appeared in my water! I did another hot rinse and a cold rinse and checked the water after - crystal clear!
I may actually start doing a quick soak before each wash - just rinse them, fill up with hot and some RnG and let them hang for a bit before starting the cycle...
Thank you! I have done the internet search & found it overwhelming. This is a great handy reference I can bookmark. We've encountered both kinds of stinkies before.
I want to do the ammonia soak but I'm in singapore. is there anyone over here who sells it?
I was so happy when I tried Rockin Green, and the Funk Rock was awesome! I'd had to give up bleaching my inserts as it was not kind to my septic system, and Bac Out would clean my diapers but irritate baby bottoms. After 3 years of struggling to make my top-loading machine clean diapers properly, Rockin Green out-performed all the other diaper detergents I'd tried. So easy and so effective!!
Will this work with other detergents? I use Charlie's Soap powder (not opposed to RnG, but a friend gave me a big tub of Charlie's for my baby shower so that's what I've got currently).
I just did a soak today in the sink. since we have a front loader. I'm patiently waiting now for the final rinse to finish before the smell test!! ;-)
we had stinkies - with our first daughter. that was when we were using detergent. the detergent causes the stinkies. now, with our son, we just quit using detergent. we use a small amount of white vinegar and a hot water wash. that's it. my diapers are bright white and - even using the same one-size diapers for over ten months . . . no stinkies.
you just have to get it out of your head that you need detergent. we don't even use detergent on our clothes anymore. just white vinegar. (and the vinegar smell does not linger in the clothing).
we save a LOT of money this way. you also don't need fabric softener if you use white vinegar. it has a softening effect. we live in the arid desert and have no static issues.
Thanks so much for posting this... I have a feeling this is going to come in hand for me in the future!
Yes this really does work. I soak them with 3 scoops of rockin green in the bathtub overnight, rinse with hot water, and then launder them as usual in our top loader. Good as new!
To boost the cleanliness of EXTRA stinky ones, I will rock a second soak and add about a cup or so of bleach and about half the amount of rockin green. I don't do this modified soak overnight, just a few hours. You can tell by looking at them when they're done... the bleach works wonders. (Be careful not to overdo it on bleach though because it puts a little wear and tear on your inserts.) Now that my son is a toddler and his poops are the real deal, sometimes this is necessary though.
Also, letting them hang out in the washing machine (hot soak) with a scoop of rockin green is a really good pre treatment (as others have mentioned)
Good luck cloth diapering mommas, and keep up the good work!
Post a Comment