Detergent Wars Homemade VS The Other Guys

There is nothing else that I have seen spark a war between cloth diapering moms than what detergent to wash your diapers with. We can calmly discuss brands of diapers, style of diapers, WAHM that we love and accessories we use but pull out the detergent we wash in and I swear we turn into a bunch of Tie Domis and the gloves come off!
One of the things that seems to come up often in the last bit is the debate over homemade laundry detergent on your cloth diapers. A basic homemade detergent contains a mix of soap ( Fels-Naptha, Sunlight, Ivory or Castile soap), borax ( often omitted from CD recipes), sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), sodium carbonate ( washing soda) and sodium percarbonate ( oxyclean).
Here is a link to a blog that has a few different homemade recipes:
http://theecofriendlyfamily.com/2009/08/cloth-diaper-detergent/

Ok so this all looks good right? Well "soaps" can cause a build up on your diaper fibres as they are not as easy to rinse out as the cleaning agents found in detergent, so it is often advised that you don't use them for diapers. Ok so you leave out the soap. Well that leaves you with a mix of boosters but no real cleaning agent right? That couldn't possibly clean diapers, you better stick with a cloth diaper safe detergent right? But wait! Have you looked at what was in your CD safe detergent?  Here is a list of the more common ones on the market.

Crunchy Clean http://www.crunchyclean.com/
Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)
Sodium Carbonate ( washing soda)
Oxy clean

Happy Green Life  http://stores.ahappygreenlife.com/

Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)
Sodium Carbonate ( washing soda)
Sodium Percarbonate ( oxy clean)

Lulu's in the Fluff  http://www.glamourwash.com/


Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)
Sodium Carbonate ( washing soda)
Sodium Percarbonate ( oxy clean)

Laundry Tarts http://www.thelaundrytarts.com/

Baking Soda
Washing Soda
Sodium percarbonate
sea salt
Rosemary extract
soap
plant extract
Essential oils
Fragrance

Are you seeing the pattern?  Most of these detergents are essentially homemade laundry detergent! I also looked at Country Save, Rockin Green, Eco Sprouts, Nellies Washing Soda and Charlie's Soap, these detergents contain surfactants in addition to the basic baking soda, washing soda, oxyclean recipes. Kind of makes you wonder...

So where does this leave you? Well you have a decision to make, just like with all things cloth diapering  You can certainly try homemade on your diapers, many families do use it successfully or you can stick to purchased detergents.  I personally have used homemade on clothes but not on diapers. I don't think that homemade packs enough of a punch to clean diapers without surfactants. The detergents that I have had the best luck with are ones that have cleaners in it in addition to the basics.

Detergent choice is just that, a choice. Each family has to make their own based on what is right for them. What works for me and what I feel good using may not work for you or you may hate the idea of company XYZ... The bottom line? Clean diapers are a must! If you like your homemade detergent stick with it, if you like your store brought green stuff... stick with it, if you like your Tide... stick with it.

Happy Fluff!