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I personally have heard way too many people saying "I'm using the special cloth safe detergents and my diapers stink!" I'm really starting to get to the point that I feel like these detergent manufacturers are skeezy. It's liked they've talked all the "experts" into recommending them, and sure, they do work for some people, but they've scared mamas into thinking everything else is bad. Dirty, stinky diapers are bad. Detergent that fixes those things is not bad!
I have heard of many women giving up on cloth because they just can't get rid of the stink. My heart breaks for these mamas boxing up their beautiful fluff because they've been feed this phooey story that everything else destroys diapers. I'm not saying that conventional detergents are right for everyone, but they're not evil.
I'm getting so tired of hearing "the diaper maker told me that the only stuff I can use to wash my diapers is the special unicorn poop formula and I can only expose my diapers to temperatures less than 90 degrees." The detergent manufacturers suck, but so do the diaper makers for perpetuating this boloney (in all fairness, it's not all of them). I mean, come on, one of the diaper makers says to wash diapers at 90 degrees. Hello, urine is hotter than that when it leaves the body!
im not sure who started it all. I think everyone in the business is trying to protect themselves and blame others when a customer is not happy. So the manufacturers say dont use super hot water because that can make the PUL or elastic wear faster but when it doesnt get clean they blame it on the detergent rather than the water temp. Then the detergent companies are going by what the manufacturers are blaming it on (additives, etc) and so they come out with "special" detergents because that is what the customers are all looking for because the manufacturers of the diapers said to stop using additives.
Honestly, one detergent isnt going to work well for everyone. If we all had the same exact water composition, our diapers were all made of the same material, our kids urine/poo were exactly the same and none of our kids were allergic/sensitive to anything then MAYBE we could all use the same detergent. Not going to happen. What works for some may not work for others. One of the biggest things with cloth is experiments with what works for you and your child and it includes detergent. I do think that "THE LIST" should be revised and people shouldnt use it word for word
- re: eco detergents. I think after sposies became high tech and cheap, but before the green movement became more mainstream/trendy (say 90s - early 00s) cloth diapers were the realm of hippie treehugger weirdos. I was in college in a hippie student-cooperative living house at that time, and I remember we only would buy Ecos or Ecover detergent. And wash on cold. And if you were legit, you line dried. Why? It was ecologically friendly and mainstream detergent makers were evil corporations brainwashing the masses into thinking they needed their clothes to smell like chemicals, even though it was killing the planet. We had to save energy by washing cold, etc. Were our clothes smelly and stained, despite laundering? Yes and yes. It was a badge of honor.
I think the conventional wisdom was that diapers were even MORE important to avoid "chemicals" with. Like, because bleaching processes in wood and paper processing cause environmental damage and release dangerous dioxins (true) that it must be that household bleach use is also environmentally damaging and exposes you to dioxins (FALSE). So it just became "this is what you do" and manufacturers bought into it. This is my theory anyway.
- I may be jaded, but I think manufacturers at this point MUST know better, but have realized they can wiggle out of replacing people's faulty dipes if they list RIDICULOUS washing instructions that violate common sense as warranty conditions. Why would anybody make something designed to collect human waste and be reused for years, and then use materials so delicate that they practically have to be drycleaned?
- I was so, so, so scared of bleach. And it has saved my cloth diaper routine and made it so easy. I was also scared of the sanitary cycle. Now I use it every time. My diapers are so clean now, I *love* it.
- I want to remove the "CD safe detergent list" links in the CD 101 diaper washing post, or at least add a STRONGLY WORDED caveat.
Shen7 do you use the sanitary cycle on PUL? Or do you not use PUL? I use Sanitize cycle for the inserts but I'm afraid to use it on the covers.
This is good to know as well...I always wondered why so many CD mommas used Tide when it was on the no no list. I spent money and a lot of time finding a cd safe detergent..most of them did not work..the only one that has worked is hard to come by and expensive. I only now found Country Save at my local store and I am thrilled. I hope it works for me!
- re: eco detergents. I think after sposies became high tech and cheap, but before the green movement became more mainstream/trendy (say 90s - early 00s) cloth diapers were the realm of hippie treehugger weirdos. I was in college in a hippie student-cooperative living house at that time, and I remember we only would buy Ecos or Ecover detergent. And wash on cold. And if you were legit, you line dried. Why? It was ecologically friendly and mainstream detergent makers were evil corporations brainwashing the masses into thinking they needed their clothes to smell like chemicals, even though it was killing the planet. We had to save energy by washing cold, etc. Were our clothes smelly and stained, despite laundering? Yes and yes. It was a badge of honor.
I think the conventional wisdom was that diapers were even MORE important to avoid "chemicals" with. Like, because bleaching processes in wood and paper processing cause environmental damage and release dangerous dioxins (true) that it must be that household bleach use is also environmentally damaging and exposes you to dioxins (FALSE). So it just became "this is what you do" and manufacturers bought into it. This is my theory anyway.
- I may be jaded, but I think manufacturers at this point MUST know better, but have realized they can wiggle out of replacing people's faulty dipes if they list RIDICULOUS washing instructions that violate common sense as warranty conditions. Why would anybody make something designed to collect human waste and be reused for years, and then use materials so delicate that they practically have to be drycleaned?
- I was so, so, so scared of bleach. And it has saved my cloth diaper routine and made it so easy. I was also scared of the sanitary cycle. Now I use it every time. My diapers are so clean now, I *love* it.
- I want to remove the "CD safe detergent list" links in the CD 101 diaper washing post, or at least add a STRONGLY WORDED caveat.
What temp is your sanitize cycle? Our fl can go up to 95c (203f)...I've always wanted to use it but have been scared to on my alva dipes because they say to wash with cold water...I figured because they're cheapos maybe they can't take the hot water as well? We usually end up washing at 60c
I do use the Sanitize cycle on PUL. Nothing has delaminated, it has been over 2 months of using Sanitize with bleach every single time. I have Bottombumpers AIOs that get it every time, my Flip covers get it whenever they get poopy, my FB wet bags get it every time, my Planetwise and MT wetbags get it often too. I don't have pockets or china brands so I don't know about that. I used to use Grovia shells, which say not to wash hot too (TPU), but M outgrew them.
I don't know exactly how hot it gets but the manual says "warm" is 86°F and Sanitize is "extra hot". It is probably at least 140°F. The manual explicitly recommends Sanitize for "heavily soiled items and diapers", thought that was interesting....
^i wash my diapers on "extra hot" because our water heater is super-hot (it's small and therefore goes up higher). I have been doing it for 2 years. I have had two diapers delaminate. The maker replaced them, since she knew she had a bad batch of PUL during that time.
I have literally 100 diapers that get washed on that high of a temp, with Tide. They are fine. Clean, non-stinky. PUL is great.
We had problems when we used "safe" detergents. I think its bull hockey. They are not going to fall apart or melt or disintegrate. Just wash them to get them clean. It's not worth the headache of stinky ammonia diapers. Even if all of mine fell apart tomorrow, they have saved us money over disposables.
This is such a interesting thread! The thought of buying detergent scared me as a newbie, but I think that is why I had so many rash and stink issues! All because I used only the safe list. I like the idea of making out own safe list and/or linking to the safe list with a note that these aren't the only types of detergent that work. If it wasn't for you all and my cding mama friend, Melissa, telling me to try different detergents, I may have given up!
I like a detailed list where I can see in one place what additives are in each detergent, not just a "these are cd safe" list. We use Country Save. I started with it, and I haven't had any problems in almost 4 years of cding. It's one of the "safest" detergents. I chose it because I needed something gentle since sensitive skin runs in my family and DH's plus DH's uniforms needed to be washed in something without optical brighteners. Country Save is pretty cheap since the boxes lasts us 6 months and we use it for everything.
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I've never been one to do what I'm told. I've always used a full amount of detergent, even when everyone was saying to only use a tablespoon. I figured if I needed a full amount for dirt, then I needed a full amount for poop. I also rotate the detergents I use. The only problem I ever had was amonia stink, but it was due to our hard water, not the detergent and since I've started using zeolite, I haven't had that problem again. I wash everything together on allergen since it uses the most water and is the hottest. Fitteds, pockets, covers, and my bag all go in the dryer on hot. I've only ever had 1 diaper delaminate and it was a batch of bad pul.
I have watched different fads come and go. Some worked for me while others didn't. It's sad that people give up on cding because they took 1 person's advice and it didn't work. There are just too many different ways to was a diaper for there to be one thing that works for everyone.
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I guess i'm lucky over here we don't really HAVE many CD safe detergents, so our choice is limited. i learned pretty quickly that the so called CD safe detergents didn't get my diapers clean, so switched to regular store brands
ive always used some sort of free and clear and had no problems at all. i am the kind of person though that is better safe then sorry, especially since just incase something did go wrong we dont have loads of money to replace all of our diapers at once.
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Yes! Thank you!! I can't tell you the number of times I've wanted to scream from frustration. If it works for you or your diapers, then it's great! If it doesn't, it's not! No matter how many people love it OxyClean works for me, so I'll use it. Washing in HOT and occasionally adding pots of boiling water works for me and has never delaminated a PUL diaper. Other people get great results with a different detergent washing on cold, so they should keep doing that. If your routine isn't working, try something new! It's a lot harder to hurt a CD than a lot of the manufacturers would have us believe.
so funny to me considering i've always laundered with Tide. But yes i've increased the amount and added bleach over time. i see crazy threads pop up on DS all the time. And the people are too scared to accept the advice given to them.
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Who started the whole "CD safe" detergent thing?
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2/11 6wks
we don't really HAVE many CD safe detergents, so our choice is limited. i learned pretty quickly that the so called CD safe detergents didn't get my diapers clean, so switched to regular store brands
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