Hard Water Heartache

I’ve had to put most of my original cloth diaper stash to rest. Or at least it’s temporarily retired until we figure out how to resolve our hard water issues. Stinky like sulphur and loaded with minerals and sediment that eat away at our sink and tub fixtures, I should have anticipated that our water would present some challenges with cloth diapers. We also have an HE frontloader which is wonderful at conserving water but never truly rinses our diapers clean.

Though we’ve experimented with every wash cycle and detergent imaginable and have tried various water softeners in the wash water, the ammonia stinkies keep coming back. Every time I think I’ve finally come up with THE cycle, the odor returns and my son’s diaper zone becomes red and irritated again.

So, sadly, the following diapers--that have been the biggest offenders--will be resting in peace:

• 14 Kawaii Pockets
• 3 Happy Heinys Pockets
• 3 bumGenius 4.0s (2 Snaps; 1 Hook & Loop)
• 1 Rumparooz

The common denominator is that they all have microfiber inserts and fleece or microsuede lining. We have loved using all of these diapers--especially the Kawaiis and Happy Heinys which fit our generously sized baby so well—but even the pocket linings themselves have absorbed and retained the stink.

What we’re using now:

• 5 Kawaii Bamboo Pockets w/10 Bamboo Inserts (these diapers are the only survivors from the original stash)
• 6 Swaddlebees Flats
• 6 Osocozy Unbleached Prefolds; Size 2
• 3 Econobum Prefolds
• 2 Thirsties Duo Covers; Size 2
• 3 Econobum Covers
• 10 Bummis Fleece Liners & an Assortment of Liners Cut from Old PJs

Additionally, for our older daughter we’re using a new Grovia trainer with an added Thirsties hemp insert for overnights (the final frontier!) and we’re doing pretty well with it as long as we cut down on the fluids prior to bedtime. I’ve got a second Grovia trainer on my wish list.

With the exception of the fleece liners, the common theme here is bamboo, cotton and hemp. The flats wash nice and clean. The prefolds can be boiled when all else fails. The bamboo is holding its own. The natural fibers have fared better for us though my son is very sensitive to moisture so we have to change him even more frequently. We also still make use of fleece liners to have at least a partial barrier between him and the moisture. The only natural fiber that we have found we need to steer clear of is wool since my son, sadly, has an allergic reaction to it. I’m still clinging on to the hope that it may be the type of wool used in our specific cover and may try another brand just to be sure but the cost is a little daunting.

I definitely miss the ease and stay-dry nature of my pockets. We also have yet to find the best solution/folds for my son’s build (long torso, extra chunky thighs and generous waist) with the more traditional flats and prefolds but we’re committed to working on it. The flats are most conveniently used as an insert in the bamboo pockets paired with 1 bamboo insert for overnights right now.

In the meantime, we’re having our water tested and hope to find an affordable way to address our hard water issues. Keeping our fingers crossed and our full stash waiting in the wings!

Hard Water Heartache

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Hard Water Heartache

I started cloth diapering my daughter when she was about six weeks old. My husband and I researched, and I talked to a friend of mine that I knew was using cloth diapers. We decided on BumGenius 4.0's and ordered twelve of them. After two days I knew that I loved them and ordered a ton more diapers. This time I decided to get a variety. I suddenly wanted to try every single diaper out there.

Things were going along great for about four weeks, then one day I pulled my diapers out of the drier and they smelled funny. I just thought maybe I put too many diapers in the wash. After about a week they kept getting worse. That's when I started Googling. What was going on with my diapers?

I tried a bunch of different detergents. The top of my drier looks like the laundry aisle at the grocery store. There are six different types of detergent; all half used sadly sitting there. People were talking about hard water and how that can interfere with your diapers getting clean. On top of that my brand new high efficiency washing machine probably wasn't putting enough water in the machine to get the diapers clean enough. I was on a mission to figure this laundry thing out though. I was not going back to disposables.

I called the water company and found out that I have super hard water. Hard water and not enough water were causing my diaper problem. I spent the next three weeks trying every trick I had read on the internet to get these diapers smelling good again. I stripped them and set off to get clean smelling diapers. Stacy from the DiaperShops.com Facebook page posted a great tip to trick my machine into putting more water in the wash cycle. I use the soak option on the machine and after it fills up with water, I turn the wash cycle on.

The machine drains the water out but all of the diapers are soaked and therefore much heavier. High efficiency machines sense how much laundry is in the machine by how heavy it is. The soaking wet diapers tricked it into putting more water in the machine. This helped so much.

After making this adjustment and using Tide Original with Calgon my diapers were finally coming out smelling good. Then after a few weeks the microfiber started to smell again. All of my cotton and hemp smelled fine though. More and more research led me to the microfiber issues with stink. Microfiber is more likely to have problems with detergent build-up which can lead to smelly diapers. I stripped them all again as suggested by the manufacturers, but decided that I'm not up for stripping my diapers every three weeks for the next two years. I'm replacing all of the microfiber with natural fibers like cotton, bamboo and hemp. This is going to cost me a little more, but it's going to save me time. As a working mother with two kids, time is like gold in this house.

The bottom line is that hard water can definitely trip you up while cloth diapering, but it doesn't make it impossible.

My exact wash routine is as follows:

1. Start the soak (cold water), let the machine fill with water then turn it off.
2. Start a regular wash (cold water) with a tablespoon of Tide Original and ½ cap full of Calgon.
3. I try to catch the machine before it spins and turn it off. Then start a heavy duty cycle (hot water) with Tide Original filled up to the #1 line and a ½ cap full of Calgon. If I don't catch it before the spin cycle I do step one again.
4. Two extra rinses. My machine only allows for a warm rinse or cold so I use warm.

Bio: I am a working mother of two. Aiden is two and a half and Meghan is 4 months old. I also have a wondful supportive husband named Mike. Basically, I think that I have the perfect family.

Hard Water Heartache

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Attack of The Great White Crusty

You know your water is special when Kim, from Rockin' Green, says, “Wow.”

Let me start by saying that I already suspected we had very hard water . Water hardness is a measure of the amount of calcium and magnesium in your water – that's the (usually) white crusties that collect on the side of the pot if you start the pot of water boiling for dinner but get distracted by Thing 1 pinching Thing 2 because Thing 2 looked at Thing 1, “Like this, mom, and it made me feel so mad!”. If this sounds familiar (the white ring around the dishes, not the whiny Things - I can't help you there), you probably have hard water. If you've seen The Great White Crusty in your pans, coffee pot, and on your faucets, you can rest oh-so-much better tonight knowing it's also on/in your diapers. If you're not sure if I'm being sarcastic, here's a hint. The Great White Crusty (mineralization) does not increase the absorbency of your diapers.

I called the city water department and found that while the water hardness in our city “depends on several different factors”, it's roughly 600-800ppm (parts per million). For reference, anything over 200ppm is considered very hard. I was told that if I didn't want to ruin the diapers (I had to admit this was my reason for calling before the man would give me even a ballpark number, because, you know, it “depends on several different factors.” Sigh.) and all of our appliances to boot, the city strongly recommends installing a water softener.

Water softeners are a great idea in areas like ours, as long as the softened water only goes to the major appliances (water heater, AC, dishwasher, washing machine). You don't want it hooked into your drinking water supply, though; it has been shown in multiple studies that people who live in areas with (and drink) hard water have fewer cases of cardiovascular disease. See, there's always a silver lining!

That doesn't help my diapers, though, and not just because they conspicuously lack that little “je ne sais quoi” in the way of a cardiovascular system . Many of us are 1) renting or 2) unable to afford a new water softening system. So what can we do?

I called Kim at Rockin' Green. “600 ppm? Wow.” Here are the tips she passed on to me (along with my liberal interpretation):

1. Cold rinse or wash without detergent: The more yuck you get out of diapers with that initial rinse/wash, the less work the detergent needs to do, once you add it. Less detergent = more money for more fluff.
2. Fill and soak: It takes 15 minutes for the detergent to complex (bind) with the calcium and magnesium in the water so it can work properly. If your wash cycle is right at 15 minutes or less, you aren't getting the full effect of your detergent.
3. Use more than the recommended amount of detergent: Yes, I said more. If you use the lowest recommended amount of detergent, the detergent is going to be spent on complexing/binding the calcium and magnesium, with no oomph left to actually clean your laundry. You MUST use more than the recommended amount of detergent, or use an additional water softener.
4. Use Calgon Water Softener: If you don't want to use extra detergent, you can add a full dose of Calgon. Borax and washing soda are cheaper, but they bind with calcium and magnesium to form a solid. In your wash water. When your washer goes through the spin cycle, your diapers are going to filter out these tiny, ashy, solid particles. That's eventually going to “clog up” your diapers and cause them to repel. In contrast, the complexes formed between Calgon and calcium/magnesium will stay in solution (stay dissolved). When you spin your diapers, all of that calcium and magnesium exits, stage left, along with the water, soap, and... well, all that other fun stuff you get in baby diapers.
5. Get a custom batch of detergent: How's that for customer service? If I can get enough moms together in my area, Kim is willing to make us a custom batch of Rockin Green. I'm not sure what she'd call it – Industrial Rock, maybe.
   

What finally worked for us? I wash diapers in the evening, every 2nd-3rd day.

1. Cold wash (or sometimes just a rinse) diapers using the large load size setting, NO detergent.
2. Change the load size to small, add 4 tablespoons of Rockin' Green detergent, and fill with hot water.
3. Agitate for about 5-10 minutes.
4. Soak overnight.
5. In the morning, change the load size back to large, and the temperature to warm. Finish filling the washer (don't add any more detergent) and wash as normal, adding in the automatic extra rinse.
   

No more stink (unless I don't allow for an overnight soak – a few hours just doesn't cut it), and we're completely done with repelling issues.

Is it fair that we, already under attack by The Great White Crusty, have to spend a bit more (on extra detergent) to get our diapers clean? Maybe not, but hey, all of those extra minerals in our drinking water means that we (and our babies) will have healthier cardiovascular systems at the end of it all.

Areas of the U.S. with ultra hard water include the borderlands of the Southwest US, from Texas to Los Angeles, as well as parts of Kansas and Florida (particularly areas that draw some or all of their water from local streams – something that is generally done seasonally by municipal water suppliers. Hence, your ultra hard water could be seasonal, adding yet another layer of complexity).

Since the issue of hard water can be a bit more complicated, depending on your area and the type of hardness, I highly recommend taking the guesswork out of your laundry routine. Call your city water department or local extension office for a ballpark water hardness measurement. Then call your local extension office or favorite detergent company for a custom laundry recommendation.

Call today, and tell us how hard YOUR water is! Are you surprised?

Author: Angie S. is the mother of two, Andrew (7), and Kate (8 months). She's passionate about chemistry and cloth diapers.

Attack of The Great White Crusty

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Living With Hard Water

When my family and I moved this past fall, we not only left behind our first home, but our water softener as well. The first week or so that we were living in our new place (a rental – so we can’t add a softener), I noticed my hair wasn’t getting as clean as it used to. Even after washing it, it was feeling rather greasy and not so clean. It donned on me that we must have hard water and I wasn’t using enough shampoo to get it clean. As I began to think about it, I realized if my hair wasn’t getting clean using the amount of soap I was accustomed to using, then my diapers probably weren’t getting clean either. I had noticed they were beginning to smell a bit when I put them up to my nose; but just chalked that up to needing to soak the inserts in Bac-Out overnight to kill any lingering bacteria. (NOTE: I never use Bac-Out on my pockets – only my microfiber inserts.) I knew that using Bac-Out on the inserts would solve the stinky problem at hand, but would not address the hard water problem, so I began looking for other solutions.

I knew I needed to begin using more detergent at fluff wash time, but I also needed to restore my diapers to a clean, fresh smelling state. I started using 3-4 tbs of Rockin' Green with each load of diapers, but didn’t like the idea of having to use so much detergent when I was used to using only 1 tablespoon. After doing a little research on washing diapers in hard water I noticed on the flyer from a recent Kelly’s Closet order that they recommend using Calgon water softener. I also read Calgon, when used alone (no detergent), can be used to strip diapers (just wash your diapers 3-4 times in hot water with Calgon only). I figured this was a relatively easy, fool-proof way to strip my diapers, so I headed out to the store to buy some Calgon.

I searched high and low for the Calgon water softener in the laundry aisle, and it wasn’t until my second trip to the store a week later that I finally found it. I picked up a bottle and got to work stripping my diapers a few days later. I have a rather large stash of diapers, so I broke it down into three smaller more manageable loads. I wanted to make sure my washing machine wasn’t overloaded, and drying too many diapers at once just takes too long. Since I wasn’t sure if I needed to dry the diapers between loads I just washed the diapers at the same time as other laundry so I could alternate the washer and dryer without feeling like I was wasting time. I used a capful of Calgon with an extra large hot wash, followed by an additional cold rinse, dried the diapers on medium heat and repeated the process three times. (If it hadn’t been raining, I probably would have put them on the line to dry and get some sun for the final drying.) I was pleasantly surprised when my diapers came out of the dryer for the last time smelling fresh.

It’s been a week since I stripped my diaper stash and I’ve finally got things back under control (hopefully). I am now washing my diapers every 2-3 days; I start with a cold water wash without detergent, followed by a hot water wash using 1 cap full of Calgon and 2 tbs of Rockin’ Green, and 1 additional rinse. Although I think I’ve got this hard water fluff wash under control, I can’t wait to get a water softener again once we buy a house here. Why would anyone want to live with hard water when you don’t have to?!?

By Katrina W.

Living With Hard Water

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Could you have hard water?

Most moms I talk to are oftentimes discouraged from even considering cloth diapers because they are intimidated and overwhelmed by the mere thought of having to wash “dirty” diapers. My husband, too, shot down my initial suggestion of cloth diapering when I was pregnant with our first darling daughter because of his concerns with washing them.

My initial thoughts when it came to laundering cloth diapers were, “What’s the big deal? I’m already doing laundry; what’s an extra load or two a week. It can’t possibly be too vexing; after all the machine is doing most of the work.” I personally LOVE doing laundry. However, in my early cloth diaper days I discovered a few challenges that almost had me throwing in the proverbial towel.

I read many comments online about not having to rinse soiled diapers of exclusively breastfed (EBF) babies. Just throw the soiled diaper in the pail and it will all come out in the wash. How simple! Now imagine my dismay after the first load of diapers came out looking nearly the same way they went in. YUCK!

I quickly figured out that I wouldn’t be able to get away with not rinsing the diapers before putting them in the pail. Thankfully I purchased the bumGenius Shop and Go Pak from Kelly’s Closet which included the nifty diaper sprayer making rinsing a cinch! This step along drastically improved the cleanliness of my dipes after laundering them.

Unfortunately, I still had issues with the vibrant orange poo juice stains. After a bit of online detective work I discovered the culprit: hard water. But not just ordinary hard water; I’m talking water so hard if measured and ranked on Mohs Hardness Scale it would be as hard as a diamond.

Simply put, hard water has a lot of minerals in it, namely calcium and magnesium. Detergents don’t work as well in hard water because they often work at softening the water instead of cleaning the clothes – so a separate water softener is strongly recommended. After adding a water softener to my detergent I finally achieved the oh-so-clean diapers I had been longing for!

Some common (and not so common) water softeners are Borax (sodium borate), pH UP (sodium carbonate), and Calgon (polycarboxylates). Most pocket diaper manufacturers will recommend/approve the use of Calgon for combating hard water while laundering their products. The aforementioned additives also do wonders for softening hard water which is why you will find both of these elements in many of the “cloth diaper friendly” detergents such as Allen’s Naturally, Country Save, Planet, etc… However, it’s important to keep in mind these elements have been carefully formulated/measured to be effective but not harmful to your clothes and diapers.

If you find that you are having difficulties with your cloth diapers not coming out completely clean - hard water may be the problem! The easiest way to detect hard water is if you notice soap scum in your bathtub or on your shower tiles, and/or calcified deposits (white buildup) on plumbing fixtures (sink/bath faucets) and/or inside your coffee maker or tea kettle.

Here is a photo of the United States with a visual breakdown of concentration of water hardness... I figured this would help you guys visually to pinpoint your area and have an idea on the level of water hardness you may be dealing with:

- By Serena

Could you have hard water?

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