I knew from the beginning that my cloth diaper laundry is the biggest hurdle I must overcome. I live in Phoenix AZ and we have super hard water. Our water is worse than anywhere I've ever experienced. While I researched cloth diapers cloth diaper care during my pregnancy I knew laundry was a challenge. From what I understand hard water does not allow the diapers to rinse properly and buildup means smelly diapers and diapers that do not absorb properly. Before David arrived I bought a bag of Rockin Green hard rock and a box of Grovia tiny bubbles. From reviews I found, these seemed to combat stinky diapers the best. Rockin Green looks like people's favorite for hard water.
My first attempt at a laundry routine
-rinse each diaper (read somewhere to let diapers see as much water as possible)
-I use a Cabrio He Washer that is top loading without an agitator I use the bulky setting on hot/extra rinse/pre soak. I put the soil level on high and the spin on medium
- I scoop of Rockin Green Hard Rock
-wash every 3 days
This attempt failed miserably. At 2 weeks old I noticed a slight odor when I changed the baby. By 3 weeks old it was worse. The back of the Rockin Green said to soak the diapers overnight if they smelled and you have hard water. Since I can't soak in the washer I filled the bathtub up with the hottest water possible 3 scoops of Rockin Green and all the diapers.
New Laundry routine
-same as above but begin with an overnight pre soak.
I hope this is not long term because using 3 scoops of Rockin Green to soak and then one more to wash twice a week could get costly.
This attempt also failed. Baby smelled horrible. As soon as his diapers had a small amount of pee he smelled like old nasty laundry. When I filled the bathtub up at night the smell could almost knock you out. The whole bathroom smelled like old urine and old laundry. I did this for 2 weeks hoping to see a difference.
Finally I read about stripping diapers and using a water softener in the wash routine. I bought water softener at the grocery store and a bottle of original Dawn.
Stripping diapers--
I used a couple squirts of Dawn in the washer. I washed everything! After 1 wash I rinsed them 3 times. I did not see any more bubbles so figured this was enough rinsing. I ran another wash cycle with 1 scoop Rockin Green and 1/2 cup water softener. I rinsed them 2 extra times to be safe and prayed.
This time it worked!! No stinky baby!
New wash routine
1 rinse on low spin cycle. (read this will help get more water in the washer)
same wash cycle-bulky items on hot wash etc..
1 scoop Hard Rock and 1/2 cup water softener.
I decided not to rinse each diaper because the water softener seemed to be the issue.
This worked for a few weeks. Baby is now 10 weeks old and I notice the stinky smell coming back. I am in the process of pulling all the microfiber out of my diapers and replacing it with hemp/bamboo/etc. type liners. These are supposed to have less issues with smell. They still stink for me. I tried using 2 scoops of Rockin Green instead of the 1. (I read sometimes you are not using enough soap.) This did not work at all. Diapers smell worse. I tried using some extra rinse cycles (I am a little worried about my water bill) No help.
Today I am stripping all my diapers with Dawn once more. I am going to give the tiny bubbles soap a try. I will use one scoop of tiny bubbles with 1/2 cup water softener. Diapers are going to get rinsed before going in the pail. Crossing my fingers tiny bubbles is going to be better than the Rockin Green.
Side note- I always line dry my diapers. Since I live in Arizona there is no reason not to. I do throw my wipes, inserts, perfolds and fitted into the dryer for a couple minutes after they dry so they get fluffy!
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