Probably the #1 thing that keeps parents from cloth diapering is being uninformed about how to care for them! Hopefully, this blog will show how simple it can be but also provide troubleshooting tips IF they are needed at any point in your cloth diapering journey. Please keep in mind, these are our base line recommendations. Every situation is different and can lead us to make other recommendations. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you’re still having troubles!!
Our ultimate recommendation for a typical wash routine consists of 2 wash cycles: first one is for cleaning off any waste/soil, second one will actually clean your cloth diapers.
Fill 1/3-1/2 the drum full with soiled diapers (if you can’t meet at least 1/3 full, run the first wash cycle then bulk the load with smaller baby items, wash rags, or socks)
First wash: whites/heavy duty cycle (hot, heavy soil and high spin)
Second wash: whites/heavy duty cycle (hot, heavy soil and high spin), extra rinse
Dry: Dry everything on low or line dry! We like to dry once on a low cycle, take out any PUL products (pockets, covers, etc) and items with elastics (hang dry anything that hasn’t finished drying) and dry the rest on medium or high.
This is the very basic, base wash routine! Your whites cycle will give the best agitation so we recommend this one in front loading machines and top loaders with no agitator. If your machine doesn’t have the whites option or you do have a center agitator in your top loader, we recommend using your heavy duty cycle. For those top loaders with an agitator, they normally already provide a great amount of agitation so we don’t recommend the whites cycle UNLESS your diapers are not coming clean.
What about detergent!?
Truth be told, detergent amounts will vary BUT one thing remains the same, LESS IS MORE!!! Both liquid and powder are fine and really more of a preference, just avoid options that contain fabric softener or fragrance. These tend to coat fibers and cause issues of repelling liquid instead of absorbing. We also recommend you use a detergent that is sufficient and can properly remove human waste. These detergents should contain surfactants and enzymes.
If you have generally soft water (normally would have a water softening system if you live in USA to have soft water), start with 0.5tsp-1tsp per wash cycle. If you need additional rinses, you can add them OR go back on the detergent a little bit to ensure it all rinses clear. If your diapers are not coming clean (smell poopy/barnyard-like or visible remaining waste), try adding 1/4tsp in future wash cycles until you get to the balance that is clean but not leaving behind detergent. This should end up no more than 2.5tsp for soft water! Still stinky or can’t find that balance? Scroll to the poopy/barnyard-like stink troubleshooting section for more information! If you’re experiencing a strong ammonia smell when “clean,” DO NOT add more detergent. Scroll to the troubleshooting section for ammonia issues!
If you have generally hard water (white/yellow residue around faucets), start with 2tbsp per wash cycle. Avoid additional rinses if possible, since hard water can deposit minerals onto your cloth diapers and cause stinky diapers as well. If they do not come clean (smell poopy/barnyard-like or visible remaining waste), try adding 1/4tbsp in future wash cycles until you get to where it is cleaning the diapers but not leaving detergent behind. This should end up no more than about 4-5tbsp or no more than line 1 on either liquid or powder detergent cups/scoops. Still stinky or can’t find that balance? Scroll to the poopy/barnyard-like stink troubleshooting section for more information! If you’re experiencing a strong ammonia smell when “clean,” DO NOT add more detergent. Scroll to the troubleshooting section for ammonia issues!
If you have VERY hard water (400-450ppm), we recommend starting with 1tbsp of detergent AND 1/4c water softener (or follow the product’s recommendation per water hardness/load of laundry). Using water softener is going to bring your water into the soft/moderate water range so that is why we suggest starting with less detergent. Same steps for “generally hard water” applies to this section, except that you have the water softener in each cycle. Our favorite water softener is washing soda.
PREPARING TO USE YOUR NEW CLOTH DIAPERS
Woohoo! You made the switch to cloth diapers!! Now what?
Let’s get them washed and ready to use!
If you’ve purchased from TBS, any of our PUL (waterproofing) products only need one initial wash, even with a load of clothes is fine. Just don’t use fabric softener or scent beads!
Our inserts you’ll want to wash 2-3 times before use to increase their absorbency. The heat from the water is what will help you here! Use either warm or hot water for this. While 2-3 times gives you a great start with your inserts, expect the absorbency to increase between the next 5-10 washes since natural fiber inserts increase absorbency with these initial washes.
PREPARING YOUR PRELOVED/USED CLOTH DIAPERS
Sweet! You found a killer deal on some preloved cloth diapers!! Let’s get them sanitized and ready to use.
Start by washing them with one cycle of the recommended routine in the earlier section of this post. Next, we will sanitize.
Our favorite option for sanitizing is hydrogen peroxide. This is because hydrogen peroxide is known to kill microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeasts and spores. It also is great for whitening and an odor remover. We recommend using at least 3% strength (this is the typical strength), grab a new bottle/very recently opened bottle and use 1 cup in the washing cycle OR you can opt for a soaking option but you will want dilute with water to avoid any color discoloration on natural fibers (preflats, hand dyed items, etc). Fill your bathtub with cold water and add in hydrogen peroxide (4 cups) and borax (1 cup) (or you can add 1 cup to your wash cycle instead of using bathtub) and allow soak for 30 minutes but no longer than 45 minutes.
Aside from hydrogen peroxide, you can use bleach (5.25% sodium hypochlorite or higher, follow instructions on bottle), also a new bottle of bleach is best and less than 6 months from manufacturer date (bleach is a fairly unstable chemical and degrades after 6 months) if that is your preference!
TROUBLESHOOTING
You’ve been cloth diapering now for a month or two and you just can’t get this stink to go away… Let’s fix it!
AMMONIA SMELL
When you smell your freshly cleaned diapers and they smell of pee/ammonia OR if you smell pee/ammonia strongly on your baby’s first pee in a clean diaper, you could potentially have detergent build up or urine protein build up.
Freshly cleaned diapers smelling of ammonia will usually be from your diapers not getting cleaned well enough. This could be an issue of not enough agitation, too large or too small of a load size or too little detergent (or if you have hard water, not using water softener can contribute to this!). To fix this, we are going to adjust our wash routine and wash them again. If adjusting the wash routine doesn’t fix this smell, you will need to “strip” your diapers to fully dissolved this build up of urine protein.
When baby has their first pee in a clean diaper and it smells strongly of ammonia, you might have detergent build up. If you also are noticing your diapers are leaking more frequently or can tell they are repelling, this is likely your issue. To check, you can grab a bowl of water and a clean insert or diaper (we recommend testing a few since this can affect individual diapers or your whole stash!). Swish and squeeze your insert or diaper in the bowl of water. If you notice suds, foam or a rainbow film on the water, you have detergent build up. This can be caused by either overusing detergent, not enough agitation or not enough rinsing. To fix this, you will need to adjust you routine (usually decreasing the amount of detergent is best place to start) and run a wash cycle, NO DETERGENT, and add a couple of “dirty” hand towels, wash rags, etc. This will help to “use up” the excess detergent. You can also try adding some vinegar since vinegar actually helps to dissolve detergent build up! You’ll want to rinse until you can swish those inserts or diapers in a bowl of water and it be free of suds/film. DO NOT strip your diapers if you think you have detergent build up. This is ineffective on detergent build up.
BARNYARD/POOPY SMELL
Your diapers still smell like straight up poop coming out of the washer/dryer? Or maybe it’s just a faint smell at the moment? We definitely want to fix that!
This smell is due to cloth diapers just not being cleaned thoroughly. This could be an issue of poor agitation, too large or too small of a load size, or incorrect detergent amount (or for hard water friends, lack of water softener can contribute too!). To fix this, you will adjust your wash routine first. If the smell doesn’t go away, you will need to strip your diapers to give a clean slate.
What should you change first?
Do you notice extra staining or physical poop particles left over after your wash cycles? You can likely adjust first by your load size and agitation amount. Ensure you’re only filling about 1/3-1/2 full (ex. if filling 1/3, change to 1/2. If filling 1/2, cut back to 1/3) and using the whites cycle. You can also add jumbo plastic toy blocks to help with agitation. If you bulk your loads, do not put any large towels or clothing items in with this as it hinders the agitation abilities.
No staining or visible particles, but still stinks?
We would still recommend making sure agitation is the best it can be (whites cycle, proper load size, toy blocks), then we can play around with detergent. If you have soft/moderate water, add more detergent in increments of 1/2tsp. If you have moderate/hard water, add more detergent in increments of 1/2tbsp. Keep in mind, this might not be fixed with one wash day! It can take a couple wash days to finalize a wash routine since you need actually dirty diapers to adjust properly. As long as you are not having any rashes, it is totally fine to continue using and fix as wash days come up!
STRIPPING YOUR DIAPERS
There are two methods we’d recommend for stripping your diapers. One is with RLR laundry treatment packets (found on Amazon) or a homemade option.
RLR STRIP
You can use your washing machine and follow to directions on the packet or you can use 3 packets of RLR laundry treatment in the bathtub with hot water. There is no perfect amount of diapers to water ratio, just make sure you can still move everything easily and it isn’t compact. You’ll want these to soak for 4-6 hours. Try to stir every hour or so. After the time length, rinse them and wash everything in the washer with NO DETERGENT and just on a normal wash cycle is fine.
HOMEMADE STRIP
Use 3tbsp borax, 3tbsp washing soda, 3tbsp calgon and 1/4c of detergent
Fill bathtub with hot water and diapers/inserts (no need to strip covers). There is not a set amount of water to diapers ratio, just make sure you can still move everything easily and it isn’t compact. Allow to soak for 4-6 hours, stirring about every hour. After the time length, rinse them and wash everything in the washer with NO DETERGENT and just on a normal wash cycle is fine.
After your chosen strip method, wash your diapers with your new wash routine 1-2 more times (with detergent and water softener as needed) to ensure no strip solution remains.
SMALL SCALE STRIP/SANITIZE
Sometimes when you buy preloved diapers, you might find you need to strip and sanitize a small amount of diapers and a full bathtub would be a waste of water and product. Here’s a small scale option:
RLR STRIP
Use 1 packet RLR for up to 5 gallons (follow directions on packet) then follow same steps as large scale.
HOMEMADE STRIP
1tsp borax, 1tsp washing soda, 1tsp calgon and 1tsp of detergent (per gallon)
Follow instructions of large scale strip.
SANITIZE
Per gallon of water, you’ll use 4tbsp hydrogen peroxide and 1tbsp borax or 1tbsp disinfecting bleach
RASH JUST WILL NOT GO AWAY
You have adjusted your routine, have no stinks and no sudsy film for a swish test… but your baby still has a stubborn rash??
When a rash doesn’t go away after fixing these things properly, it is always recommended to seek a medical professionals advice since a stubborn rash fairly often is actually a yeast rash. Your medical provider will need to recommend an antifungal cream (and sometimes hydrocortisone or similar for healing) that can either be OTC or potentially prescription. IF YOUR MEDICAL PROVIDER CONFIRMS IT IS YEAST, you will need to sanitize your cloth diapers! You can either do one big soak or you can add in the hydrogen peroxide or bleach to each wash cycle for the next few wash days (please see the sanitizing section above!!). We recommend adding the sanitizing agent to your wash cycle for the entire length of treating yeast on baby and at least 1-2 wash days after treatment/yeast has completely resolved.
STILL CONFUSED, LOST, DEALING WITH STINKS?
Email us :) We would love to troubleshoot and help walk you through each step. We will help you navigate issues and set a new wash routine. This will be continuous support until any and all issues have resolved!
admin@basicstitchco.com