Thrifty Diaper Wash and Diaper Stink Help

I'm always looking for ways to cut costs and for a long time paper towels and detergent (both for our diapers and regular laundry) has been at the top of my list. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get the fabric for unpaper towels this weekend and a few weeks back I made my own cloth detergent.

On the advice of a friend I used this recipe. I'm going to start using Calgon Water Softener as an additive too because we have horribly hard water here. I know hard water makes detergents not as effective  and I plan to add 1/2 the recommended amount along with the 2T of detergent to the wash cycle. With my new homemade detergent I'm using 2T for my cold wash cycle and 2T for the Hot wash cycle for diapers.

I've used this as a boost for our clothes laundry and seen great results. After the first wash of our cloth the microfiber inserts were softer and felt as if the individual thread were more fluffy. I'm a few weeks in to using it and no issues s far! Fresh smelling diapers every time and my checking account is happy (I typed pocket book here as the saying goes then realized that saying probably isn't said anymore!).

Since I've been asked a lot recently about things I do for stinky diapers, I figured I'd add it to this post also. I strip my diapers every other month or so (once baby is past newborn stage) with RLR. I carry it at First Coast Fluff after having problems finding it locally. It takes 1/2 to 1 packet each time and I place my clean diapers in the bathtub with the hottest water. I soak overnight or 5-6 hours minimum. then I rinse by hand in the tub and wring the diapers out. Into the wash they go for 2-3 full cycles with NO detergent since my machine doesn't have a rinse only option.

I'm also a huge fan of Bac-out Biokleen. This stuff is amazing even if you're not doing cloth. It works great for odor removal, I've used it in stinky shoes and for carpet cleaning. For diapers, I spray a bit on horrible diapers or into the pail if it smells. I'll also then add a tablespoon or so to the cold wash cycle I do with diapers. It's amazing and all natural. I buy mine at Whole Foods and it lasts forever. It's also available online cheaply.

New wash routine

Along with moving came a few changes to our cloth routine. Nolan is getting close to being potty trained but truthfully with the move and new house full of new carpet, end of pregnancy and upcoming road trip, I haven't been working on it 100%. He has now pooped in the potty (YAY!!) and goes pee numerous times a day. We need to bite the bullet and move to undies and just be prepared to clean up accidents.

Every blog post needs a pic so here are a bunch of our diapers in action over the past 2.5yrs!

Our new house has a top loader washing machine. Tim was willing to switch out our HE front loaders for these new appliances but I was hesitant. I was pretty excited to get to try a machine that could actually soak diapers! I have to say I'm really happy. I wish it had a soak only feature which the machine doesn't or just a rinse feature but I've fine tuned our wash already. I do a lighter wash on cold first which doesn't agitate as long would be similar to our old rinse and drain. Then I do a super sized load on hot for the longest time available with an extra rinse at the end. My diapers are definitely smelling better and seem better rinsed with minimal effort. No more hand rinsing in the bathtub either! I've also stopped storing and washing inserts and covers separately since with the new machines nothing is requiring extra washing. Overall pretty happy. You can definitely cloth diaper and probably easier with the less fancy machines.