Out with the old, in with the new!

Washer and dryer, that is! After four years of cloth diapering, we finally made the switch from our "ancient" top loaders to a new HE front loading set. Excited was an understatement the day they arrived! And then, diaper laundry day came. "Ummm where do I begin?", "Am I suppose to change what I normally do?" , "Am I going to run into smelly diapers because of these things not using as much water?" , just a few of the issues I had to figure out. Dreading it, as it took me so long to find what worked for us with the old set!


Trial and error, right? I tried every combo imaginable! Rinse, rinse, wash, rinse. Wash, rinse,rinse, rinse. Rinse, rinse, rinse, wash, rinse. But as I feared, my diapers still had an odd smell to them before I would even dry them! Hot water, cold water, warm water, homemade detergent, different diaper detergents, and nothing. Finally after about a month I figured out a new washing system to along with the new washer! Our system now is cold water rinse, hot water wash with detergent, hot water rinse, cold water rinse, cold water rinse. Phew! I do end up rinsing a bit more than I did with the my top loaders, but I don't mind! I'm thankful to have our new washing system down and perfectly smell free diapers again! Green and energy efficient!

Shay is a stay at home mom of four children, cloth diapering for four years, a foster mom, and a regular TCDW blog contributor. When she's not homeschooling, changing diapers, or snapping pictures, she spends time blogging about their journey in the foster care system, family, cloth diapering, and raising kids. You can follow along at http://www.busybudgetmom.blogspot.com