WHY YOU SHOULDN'T STRESS ABOUT DIAPER LAUNDRY

I'm writing this post for my April Mommy friends and anyone else who might find this helpful.  Yes another laundry post but this is about reassurence and explanations. Hope it helps.

First of all stop stressing. You all have being doing your own laundry for years with nice clean clothes as a result.  Cloth diapers are the same thing with just a few differences.

First a diaper load tends to be smaller then a regular laundry load so you need less water and less detergent.  I'm not saying to skimp on detergent just make it and the water match the laundry load.  Also if you have access to a top loader use that, they clean laundry better, all laundry.

Next difference. This is laundry that has been pee'd and pooped in; Rinse it and wash often.  If your kid pee'd their pants your first step would be to rinse right?  Same thing.  If you wash every 2 days then a lightly pee'd in diaper is fine but a heavily pee'd in diaper needs rinsing and so does a poo diaper, even ebf poop. diapera 6-8 layers thick? Rinse every single diaper.  The thicker the diaper the harder to get clean. If you use diapers with synthetic fabric rinse every single diaper.  Many synthetic fabrics dont wash as clean and microfiber was designed by the cleaning industry to trap germs.  So rinse right away.  Personally I won't use most of them especially microfiber. 

Another difference, the biggest difference is that diapers are washed every 2 days on average.  To break that down it's like this: If your baby wears an OS and potty trains at 2 years old then your diapers have gone through 365 washes.  The average piece of clothing will have been washed weekly.  That's 104 washes (significantly less washes).  So unless you wear your favorite shirt every other day no other laundry item goes through this.  The effect is fabrics wear out.  That's a reality of all fabrics.  Wash your favorite shirt every 2 days and it will wear out. 

Bleach:  for all the of above reasons bleaching your diapers is a bad idea.  Imagine bleaching a shirt every month.  It's not gonna last.  You have the laundry knowledge to know this. The only time I recommend bleach is 1. If you get ammonia.  2. If baby has a yeast infection. 3. Before using second hand diapers unless it was bleached prior to sale. 

Sunning.  Ever hung laundry to dry outside?  Then it smells all great and looks bright and clean?  Yeah that's the sun.  Those UV rays kill bacteria and bleach out strains.  Wanna bleach?  Sun instead. 

Detergent: You don't need extra detergent.  That will lead to build up.  You don't need less detergent cuz then your diapers won't get clean.  You don't need specialty detergent.  Regular stuff has been cleaning diapers since before you were born.  Except nowadays they have all kinds of new crap in the detergent.  But most brands have 3-4 variations so buy the variation without softeners,  brighteners etc cuz they will make your diapers repel instead of adorb.  And you sure as Hell don't need dawn dish soap or any other weird ideas.  On this note skip bounce sheets for the same reason and buy a dryer ball. 

Speaking of things you don't need.  You don't need advice from someone who became an expert in 3 months and you really don't need advice from someone who is am expert at stripping landry cuz that's someone who dose not clean their diapers well,  Unless they work for a diaper based charity and strip second hand diapers to give them away. 

Know your fabrics: This your mother taught you when she taught you to do laundry, so not a difference, just a reminder. Some things don't handle high temperatures such as elastic and PUL.

Vinegar: vinegar is awesome.  Its been used in laundry for a long time.  Some even use it in their hair to get rid of shampoo residue so they don't get build up.  So guess what? You can use it to rinse at the end of a wash cycle to get rid of detergent residue to prevent build up.  I use after hand washing.And when machine washing I vinegar soak prior.  I also use it to clean out my diaper pail. 

Ironing: like hanging diapers to dry in the sun but dislike the stiffness?  There are two options. 1. Iron afterwards.  2. Throw in the machine dryer for 5-10 min with a damp cloth and a dryer ball or tennis ball, both will bring the fluffyness back to your fluff. 

Hope this takes the stress away so you can relax and enjoy laundry time. 

Why Some Cloth Diaper Companies Recommend Bleach

Nope, I am not recommending bleach but I will explain why some companies do.  Some of these same companies say don't use vinegar or baking soda.  There is no good reason for this.  I will explain all three things in this post. 

Also this post isn't putting down these companies or their products. They provide a good CD option. but like all diapers they have their pros amf their cons. Understanding the cons allows you to better care for these diapers so you can enjoy all the pros they offer. Also I would say these are quality companies. The instructions they give are to simply make sure the products they make will work for you and they have conveyed that advice in as simple and basic a format as possible by creating their own basic care instructions.

Why some companies recommend bleach:  What is known as the modern cloth diaper are diapers with synthetic materials such as microfiber, suede cloth,  minky, binky (bamboo minky), fleece etc.  The construction and shape of the fiber is different then natural fibers.  In fact when microfiber was designed (by the cleaning industry)  it was designed this way on purpose to pick up and trap dirt, bacteria etc.  At the end of this post are some pics from a microfiber industry site - check it out. Since its designed to trap these things, they are harder to wash out.  The result is that these fabrics are more prone to ammonia (which some people refer to as stink), which makes your diapers smell bad and will cause a rash on babies bum, in bad cases it will cause ammonia burn.  If your using a "modern diaper" which also has thick layers then your increasing the difficulty in washing the diaper because there are more layers to wash through.   This is also why its important to remove inserts from pocket diapers.  Washing inserts that have been seperated from the diaper allows you to wash through less layers resulting in a cleaner diaper.  The solution is that some of these companies will suggest a monthly bleaching, to combat the problem.   Am I saying people shouldn't use thick "modern" diapers?  No.  These diapers have qualities Moms like.   And if for you their pros outweigh the cons then use them.  Just be mindful of the drawbacks.  Change the diaper even though the fabric leaves it feeling dry.  Remove all poop before placing in your diaper pail or wet bag (should be done with all diapers).  Rinse out overnight diapers (should be done with all overnight diapers). Wash often (again as with all diapers).  And make sure you have a very thorough wash and rinse routine.  It will need to be more intense then with flats, prefolds and basic fitted's made of natural materials.  Keep a sharp eye on the diaper for signs of ammonia or build up.  Extra detergent or water will not clean better. An extra washing, boosters (some if which are hard on fabrics), vinegar presoak or rinse should help.  In the end you might need to follow the company advice of monthly bleachings.  If this is the case absolutely do a vinegar rinse at the end of multiple post bleach rinses.  And do not expect all these diapers to last forever.   In the end the bleach and washings will cause wear, it just happens.  If the only way to keep ammonia at bay is a monthly bleaching then that's because they could not be completely rid of ammonia.  I would suggested not reselling or donating a diaper with this issue because it's just not right to be passing an ammonia problem on. In addition I recommend looking a cloth diaper blogs.  Find one by an experienced CD mom.  Experienced as in over a year, at least, multiple children is even better and doesn't have repeated ammonia or leak issues (which build up creates).  And lastly one that uses the same or a similar diaper.  A mom using the same or similar diaper and successfully keeps the diaper free of its potential issues will be a good resource.   I can only advise so far.  I understand fabric and sewing very well.  I've always been good at science and research.  And I've been cloth diapering longer then most but my hands on experience is keeping basic fitted's and prefolds made of cotton clean. 

* If you are using a diaper made of natural fabrics but 8+ layers thick, you also will need a more thorough wash and rinse routine in order to wash through all the layers.   This means you might need to follow much of the same advice. 

Why white vinegar is safe:
White vinegar is also called distilled.   Technically speaking,  its not.  What it is, is 5% to 8% acetic acid (that's vinegar) in water.  With a pH of 2.2-3.  This makes it too weak to breakdown fabric fibers.  It will however breakdown detergent and uric acid.  So what's their problem with it?  Well it is possible that striping with vinegar might not be strong enough on synthetic fabrics to strip them.  So what you could do instead is use white vinegar in a presoak before washing or add to the rinse cycle after washing.    Do that with each wash to help hard to clean synthetics. 

Why baking soda is safe: Baking soda (and washing soda) have been used in laundry and cleaning for over 100 years.  They are safe and they are gentle.  They do not have the ability to harm fabric (they are not strong enough to do so).   They also clean nicely.  Washing soda cleans better then baking soda however.  And if all you have is baking soda you can bake it and it will turn into washing soda.   So why do some companies say not to use them?  Same issue as vinegar, these are safe gentle cleaning products which may not be strong enough to clean synthetic materials in a diaper. 

The pics below come from a microfiber industry site. The top diagram shows why and how they do their job of picking up and trapping dirt and bacteria. The second picture is a photo of a cross section of the fiber under a microscope. It is also why they work as stay dry fabrics instead if absorbing fabrics. The fiber design does not allow the fiber to swell up with retained water.

Can You CD Without Ammonia? - I believe so

Can Ammonia Be Avoided?
I believe it can.  I have cloth diapered 5 babies in the last 18 yrs and about to CD baby #6.  I have never had ammonia.  Either I'm lucky or it is avoidable.   I dont tend to be lucky except in cards and board games (to my family's dismay lol). 

3 Rules to avoid ammonia :
1. I only use natural fabrics.  No micro fiber, no minky, Velour or fleece (except on the outside and seperate as a cover).  Cotton is natural and its know to have less ammonia issues.  Hemp is generally natural also.  Bamboo is chemically processed and after learning this im interested in what happens to the few prototypes I made with a bamboo core before learning this.  I'll update for sure.  I suspect it wont have the issues of micro fiber and others. 

2. Regular Laundry!  And I mean that in ever sense of the word.  Wash often!  And fill your machine as you would any load if laundry (as in dont over or under fill).  Why not underfill?  More room to agitate?  Sure, but it also means a less concentrated wash.  It just doesn't work.  Dont skimp on detergent.  Washing often 2-3 days means your diapers are not sitting in urine longer then needed.  Keep your diaper pail clean and dry.  If its holding water, review your system. 

3. Change that diaper!! I can't stress this enough.  Babies are not supposed to be sitting in their own piss no matter how dry that diaper feels.  If baby pees, change baby!  Its just hygienic.   This keeps ammonia from building up at the very first step.

What about overnight?
Ok so I get you wont be waking a sleeping baby to change them.  But I do change an overnight sleeper part way through.  Also I soak and rinse that night time diaper first thing.  Then I wring it out and hang it over the shower rod.  Why?  Cuz I dont want a soaking wet diaper in my dry pail. 

I hope this helps.  I dont have expert stripping advice (obviously), but I can help you prevent future issues.  I dont promise my change and wash routine to help all diapers cuz if they aren't natural I think thaye part of the problem.  Good Luck all!!