So it has been 1 week, 4 diaper loads since I decided to try cold water wash routines. I originally decided to only change the water temperature in my routine so I still stored my diapers in a dry pail, washed every other day, but after a bit of research I decided to use a detergent that was made for cold water use. I had a partial box of Tide Coldwater powder from before I quit using Tide that I figured I might as well use up. I know my son is not sensitive to Tide, and Tide has a great track record for cleaning in cold water. I know it is not the best option from an environmental point but I can't stand letting that box go to waste either.
I have a mix of pocket and fitted diapers.I rinse out my overnight diapers in warm water before storing everything in my pail liner until wash day. For the test period I will rinse out all my diapers. The cold setting on my machine is just below 10 degrees Celcius.
I started with a cold rinse, followed by a long cold wash and an additional cold rinse. I used Tide Coldwater to line 1 on the scoop and I dissolved it in a bit of warm water before adding it to the machine. Filling the scoop to line 1 worked really well in hot water when I was using Tide before. I also did a hot water strip on all my diapers before starting this to make sure there was no residue of any kind left over that could cause stink issues.
After the first wash my pockets and inserts came out clean, most of my fitteds came out clean but my overnight diapers smelled. Not like pee, but musty. I rewashed the load in warm and it was fine.
The second wash I added a soak. I still did a cold rinse but then I added my detergent and started the long cold wash cycle and raised the lid to stop the machine after a few moments of agitation. I let things sit like that for about an hour before finishing the cycle and then running another rinse. This load was almost all pockets and 2 overnight fitteds. This load came out fine. No smells at all.
I repeated the second wash process for the third wash. This load had more fitteds in it and B had a very busy day with lots of poopy diapers. The pockets came out fine but again a few of the fitteds were a bit musty smelling. No stains though.
For the final wash this week I had mostly fitteds in the load. I added 1tbsp of Funk Rock by Rockin Green to my first rinse. I was not able to let the diapers soak today so I did increase the detergent to Line 2 on the scoop. According to the box you are supposed to use to line 2 for a medium load so I was under dosing in the previous washes. This load came out clean except for the overnight diapers. The 2 Sandy's fitteds again smelled musty.
So what I learnt so far....
1. Cold water washes work fine for pockets and inserts but a bit of TLC is needed on fitteds because of all the layers.
2. If you can, letting the diapers soak an hour or so before washing helps get them cleaner.
3. Rinsing out your inserts before storing them in your pail also helps them get cleaner.
For next week I am going to stick to the same routine of rinse, long wash, rinse all on cold but I am going to see is using a wet pail on my fitteds and inserts can cut out the soak. When I go back to work I won't have the time to mess around with soaking before washing. I would love to make cold water washing work but if hot washes are more convenient then I will go back to that. So this week I am going to separate my inserts from my covers and pocket shells. The covers will go into a dry wet bag and the inserts and fitteds will soak in a wet pail with water and 1tbsp detergent. Stay tuned for the results.
My experiences with cloth diapering from a newborn to potty trainning.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Friday, 1 February 2013
You are washing your diapers with WHAT?
Well now that you have your diaper stash and it is all prepped and ready to go what about that washing thing? I mean using cloth diapers that is sort of unavoidable. The issue many run into here is that there are about as many wash routines out there as stars in the sky. So what is the right way? The right way is the way that works for you. Your diapers have to get clean, be stink free and your baby has to be rash free. But where to start. Well for starters get familiar with your water. hard water reacts different from regular or soft water and you need to know what detergent works best in your water. You can read reviews and google it until your fingers are numb from clicking but the only real way to know what will work is to actually try it out. Here are my basic recommended detergent, I will post about them later:
Country Save
Rockin Green
Bum Genius Detergent
Nature Clean
Charlie Banana Soap
Nellies
I have had good luck with all of these detergents but Country Save is my favourite by far.
A basic wash routine looks like this:
Wash every 2-3 days
Do a cold rinse to remove any pee and poop particles that may be on the diaper
Do a hot long wash with your detergent
Do an additional cold rinse to remove any left over detergent.
I have been using the above routine successfully for about 9 months. I do a warm rinse first instead of a cold one because I have found that it helps remove stains better. Bonus for me, because in Northern Canada the days are short and the light rays are not intense enough to sun well in the winter.
Now in February I have decided to take on a challenge. Lots on people only have cold water as an option. In other countries cold water washing is the only way to go, including diapers. Some diaper companies like Charlie Banana, Giggle Life, Alva and Kawaii all suggest cold or warm washes. Can cold water really work as well?
One argument in favour of hot washes is that your detergent works better in hot water. Get a cold water detergent. Country Save, Nellies and Nature Clean all dissolve well at all temperatures. Charlie Banana Soap is made to use with cold or warm washes specifically.
A second common argument is that you need hot water to sanitise the diapers. True, but you would need a minimum of 160 degree water to do so. Most homes have their hot water set to 130 so it comes out of the tap at 120 or less.
So here is my wash routine for the month of February: Same as above but using only cold water....
We will see what happens, keep checking for weekly updates.
Country Save
Rockin Green
Bum Genius Detergent
Nature Clean
Charlie Banana Soap
Nellies
I have had good luck with all of these detergents but Country Save is my favourite by far.
A basic wash routine looks like this:
Wash every 2-3 days
Do a cold rinse to remove any pee and poop particles that may be on the diaper
Do a hot long wash with your detergent
Do an additional cold rinse to remove any left over detergent.
I have been using the above routine successfully for about 9 months. I do a warm rinse first instead of a cold one because I have found that it helps remove stains better. Bonus for me, because in Northern Canada the days are short and the light rays are not intense enough to sun well in the winter.
Now in February I have decided to take on a challenge. Lots on people only have cold water as an option. In other countries cold water washing is the only way to go, including diapers. Some diaper companies like Charlie Banana, Giggle Life, Alva and Kawaii all suggest cold or warm washes. Can cold water really work as well?
One argument in favour of hot washes is that your detergent works better in hot water. Get a cold water detergent. Country Save, Nellies and Nature Clean all dissolve well at all temperatures. Charlie Banana Soap is made to use with cold or warm washes specifically.
A second common argument is that you need hot water to sanitise the diapers. True, but you would need a minimum of 160 degree water to do so. Most homes have their hot water set to 130 so it comes out of the tap at 120 or less.
So here is my wash routine for the month of February: Same as above but using only cold water....
We will see what happens, keep checking for weekly updates.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Mornings Stink
So the whole time I have been using cloth diapers I have never had stinky diaper issues except once when I was testing out a new detergent and it wasn't really cutting it. Now that my little man is sleeping about 12 hours overnight (sorry moms) his morning diapers are STINKY!
No real surprise though. He is in a diaper for 12 hours and all that pee has 12 hours to crystalize and become stinky. I figured whatever it'll wash out clean. Well it doesn't always. Especially my fitteds. It seems that they need a bit of extra TLC to get them clean and ammonia smell free. Fear not though you have options!
1. Funk Rock by Rockin Green
This is made by the folks who make Rockin Green cloth diaper detergent. It is an ammonia bouncer that can be used to soak your diapers in occasionally or added to your pre-wash step. The instructed amount to use in the prewash is 1 TBSP. This works really awesome the only issue I have is it costs about $22-24 plus shipping for a 30 load bag. So add that to the cost of your cloth detergent and OUCH!
2. BumGenius Odour Remover
This is made by cottonbabies/bumGenius. It is an all natural odour remover made with vegetable based ingredients. You are to spray all your diapers before storing them in the diaper pail to neutralize the ammonia odour. I have used this on a couple of occasions I honestly can't see it making a difference. I know some moms swear by it though.
No real surprise though. He is in a diaper for 12 hours and all that pee has 12 hours to crystalize and become stinky. I figured whatever it'll wash out clean. Well it doesn't always. Especially my fitteds. It seems that they need a bit of extra TLC to get them clean and ammonia smell free. Fear not though you have options!
1. Funk Rock by Rockin Green
2. BumGenius Odour Remover
This is made by cottonbabies/bumGenius. It is an all natural odour remover made with vegetable based ingredients. You are to spray all your diapers before storing them in the diaper pail to neutralize the ammonia odour. I have used this on a couple of occasions I honestly can't see it making a difference. I know some moms swear by it though.
3. Rinse your diapers
This is my #1 go to method. In the morning I rinse my overnight diapers in the tub with warm water before I toss it into my pail. I remove any solids if any first of course. This works like a charm. I have not had any issues with stinky overnight diapers since I started doing this. Since our diaper pail is in the bathroom I started rinsing all my diapers off with my diaper sprayer before I toss them in. I have literally no odour in my bathroom and I do not need any additives. My husband, who was at first worried that cloth diapers would smell, is now a poster boy for cloth stinks less!
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Hip Huggers Diapers
There are several styles available, a regular, one with leg gussets and a charcoal bamboo. They are all one size diapers with a snap down rise and fit from about 8 -35lbs. They all come with hip snaps and the option to cross over the waist snap so you can get a good fit on babies of all shapes and sizes. The rise on these is great for my little one who is all torso, and for me that is a BIG bonus. At 9 months he is fast approaching the rise limit on a few of his one size diapers but I can still have him on the middle rise on these. I also love the leg gussets. They really do keep messes contained and that is a huge deal, especially when you are dealing with explosive newborn breastfed poop.
This one is one of the regulars with leg gussets. It has a microsuede inner which is great for pulling moisture away from baby so they feel dry. The only thing I don't like about microsuede is it stains more than regular fleece, but they sun out without any issues so it really isn't that big of a deal. These are also narrower in the crotch then some other diapers I have which is great because I don't like diapers with a lot of extra bulk.
This one is one of the charcoal bamboo inner ones. It also has leg gussets like the regular and it is also stay dry. I did notice that it gets pilly a bit faster than the regular microsuede.
There are a variety of inserts available including microfiber, hemp/cotton blend and charcoal bamboo. All of which are really absorbent and super trim under clothes, although the hemp/cotton seem to shrink quite a bit. All the diapers clean easily and dry really fast, even on the line. Stains can stick in the ones with white inners but like I said they sun out really well.
The best part is that these are available for under $15 for a diaper. Depending on the style they range from $9-$13. They also come in starter packs so you get an even better deal. With all the super cute prints available it is hard to pick a favourite for sure.
These are designed by a mom in British Columbia, Canada and are available on her Facebook Page "Hip Hugger Cloth Diapers".
Thursday, 24 January 2013
To Wet Pail or To Dry Pail
Two common storage methods for soiled cloth diapers are wet pails and dry pails.
Well a wet pail is exactly what it sounds like, a pail with water and then the soiled diapers. This used to be the storage method that everyone used but now days it is really not the best way to go. A huge pail of water is not only a drowning hazard with little ones crawling around, it is kind of gross. I mean you have to somehow get the dirty diapers from the wet pail to the wash machine...
Wet pails used to be the way to go and soaking your diapers in water with a tiny bit of detergent is really effective at cutting out stains but with modern cloth diapers that have elastics and PUL or TPU water resistant layers it is not the best way to go. Soaking diapers wears down the PUL/TPU and the elastics way faster.
A Dry pail is basically a pail with a liner that you throw your used diapers in, no water needed. On wash day you simply take your liner our and toss all the diapers in the wash machine along with the pail liner and wash. I find that by rinsing soiled diapers before tossing them in the pail I have few stains and non that I can't get rid of with a bit of sunning. I love that I don't have to deal with a sloshing pail of yucky diaper water.
A dry pail keeps odours down also. I was used to pail stink from when I used a diaper genie with my first and I was pleasantly shocked to find my dry pail of cloth diapers smelled way less. For one thing rinsing poopy diapers and washing every 2-3 days means there is never a week old pile of diapers in the pail. For second a dry pail allows for better air circulation so it helps cut down odours big time. Even in the heat of summer... no smell.
Some moms find that they like a combination of the 2. They store their covers, shells and AIO's in a dry pail and soak their inserts, flats and prefolds. To me that's just too much space and work so I stick to the dry pail.
Well a wet pail is exactly what it sounds like, a pail with water and then the soiled diapers. This used to be the storage method that everyone used but now days it is really not the best way to go. A huge pail of water is not only a drowning hazard with little ones crawling around, it is kind of gross. I mean you have to somehow get the dirty diapers from the wet pail to the wash machine...
Wet pails used to be the way to go and soaking your diapers in water with a tiny bit of detergent is really effective at cutting out stains but with modern cloth diapers that have elastics and PUL or TPU water resistant layers it is not the best way to go. Soaking diapers wears down the PUL/TPU and the elastics way faster.
A Dry pail is basically a pail with a liner that you throw your used diapers in, no water needed. On wash day you simply take your liner our and toss all the diapers in the wash machine along with the pail liner and wash. I find that by rinsing soiled diapers before tossing them in the pail I have few stains and non that I can't get rid of with a bit of sunning. I love that I don't have to deal with a sloshing pail of yucky diaper water.
A dry pail keeps odours down also. I was used to pail stink from when I used a diaper genie with my first and I was pleasantly shocked to find my dry pail of cloth diapers smelled way less. For one thing rinsing poopy diapers and washing every 2-3 days means there is never a week old pile of diapers in the pail. For second a dry pail allows for better air circulation so it helps cut down odours big time. Even in the heat of summer... no smell.
Some moms find that they like a combination of the 2. They store their covers, shells and AIO's in a dry pail and soak their inserts, flats and prefolds. To me that's just too much space and work so I stick to the dry pail.
Friday, 18 January 2013
Little Fancy Pants are something Fancy.
They are a Hybrid Fitted diaper. This means that they have a hidden layer of fleece inside the diaper that acts as a fleece diaper cover would.It pushes the moisture back into the inner part of the diaper. Many moms go coverless with these diapers all the time. I use a PUL cover like a Thirsties or a Blueberry when I go out and about but I can go without a cover at home for about 2 hours or so.
These are hand made in the USA and available on Hyena Cart on Fridays and Sundays. But you better have lightning fast fingers and super Internet because they sell out fast. She stocks at 2:30 pm EST of Fridays and by 2:31 pm all of them are sold!
These are a onesize diaper so they fit from 9-35lb ( size 2s). She also offers a Newborn size, a size 1 ( 9-25lbs) that fits slightly smaller and shorter babies than the size 2's, and a size 3 (18-40lbs) for Toddlers. The front of the diaper has fold down snaps to allow you to shorten the rise if needed. There are snaps that cross over on the wing flaps so you can get a great fit even on super thin little ones.
The inside of the diaper is a super soft cotton velour. The soaker snaps into the diaper so that you can remove it for washing which is great. The soaker is also topped with matching cotton velour but is made of a thirsty bamboo fleece. It becomes more absorbent the more you wash it. I usually can't wait to put it on the bum though, so I just wash it once.
Here is a picture of the soaker.It has 2 separate layers so it cleans thoroughly and dries quick. You can also get additional boosters if you need the added absorbency.
These are my favourite diapers in my stash!!!
Thursday, 17 January 2013
I got my Diapers.... Now What??
Well once you have your diapers you have to "prep" them. This refers to getting them ready to use. The way to prep depends on what the diaper is made of and where you got it from.
Synthetic materials like fleece and microfiber only need one good wash in hot with your detergent to get them ready to wear.
Natural fibres like cotton, bamboo and hemp need several washes to reach their max absorbency. They are coated with natural oils when made and you need to remove that oil to increase their ability to absorb liquids. You should wash them on hot about 4-5 times before use. Now you could just do 1 or 2 washes but just know that they won't be fully absorbent. If you are prepping inserts, flats or prefolds you can boil them in water on the stove for about 20 minutes and then just wash once. Any diaper with snaps, elastic or a waterproof layer should not be boiled.
This will work for all your brand new diapers. If you got your stash from swaps and are used diapers the process is a bit different. The diapers have been prepped so you don't need to prep them for the same reason. You do want to make sure they are clean though.
I put all my new to me diapers through 4 hot washed without any detergent and check for bubbles. This works out whatever detergent was used on them before hand and may still be stuck in the fibres. Your little one may be sensitive to some detergent and you really don't know how the diapers were cared for so you want to wipe the slate clean.
I then put them through a hot wash with my detergent and 1/4 cup bleach to sanitise. I also do 1 or 2 additional rinses to make sure all the bleach is out. I only recommend bleach on 2 or 3 occasions and new to you diapers is one of them. I treat all new to me diapers as if they carried the plague! You want to make sure they are clean and sanitised properly before putting on your baby.
Now you are all set to diaper baby with all those super soft and cute diapers. Happy Fluff
Synthetic materials like fleece and microfiber only need one good wash in hot with your detergent to get them ready to wear.
Natural fibres like cotton, bamboo and hemp need several washes to reach their max absorbency. They are coated with natural oils when made and you need to remove that oil to increase their ability to absorb liquids. You should wash them on hot about 4-5 times before use. Now you could just do 1 or 2 washes but just know that they won't be fully absorbent. If you are prepping inserts, flats or prefolds you can boil them in water on the stove for about 20 minutes and then just wash once. Any diaper with snaps, elastic or a waterproof layer should not be boiled.
This will work for all your brand new diapers. If you got your stash from swaps and are used diapers the process is a bit different. The diapers have been prepped so you don't need to prep them for the same reason. You do want to make sure they are clean though.
I put all my new to me diapers through 4 hot washed without any detergent and check for bubbles. This works out whatever detergent was used on them before hand and may still be stuck in the fibres. Your little one may be sensitive to some detergent and you really don't know how the diapers were cared for so you want to wipe the slate clean.
I then put them through a hot wash with my detergent and 1/4 cup bleach to sanitise. I also do 1 or 2 additional rinses to make sure all the bleach is out. I only recommend bleach on 2 or 3 occasions and new to you diapers is one of them. I treat all new to me diapers as if they carried the plague! You want to make sure they are clean and sanitised properly before putting on your baby.
Now you are all set to diaper baby with all those super soft and cute diapers. Happy Fluff
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