I’ve been cloth diapering Cora since she was about 2 months old. The first few months she was so tiny she was in preemie diapers and wore disposables. I have to say it is much easier than I ever expected and I am glad I spent the money on cloth diapers even if she is our 7th baby!
I just got an email announcing a big sale at my favorite online cloth diaper store. For a limited time Fuzzi Bunz perfect size diapers are on sale for only $14.95! This is a great price for new cloth diapers! All orders over $75 ship free for additional savings. You can view all the sale priced FuzziBunz diapers here.
I have purchased all my supplies from Nurtured Family. They ship quickly, have great customer service, an awesome selection, as well as competitive prices. We are very low on laundry detergent so I hopped on the Nurtured Family site to order some more when I noticed a banner on their sidebar. If you sign up for the Nurtured Family newsletter you receive a 10% off coupon in your email.
This coupon is good for most items in the store, and currently they have some Fuzzi Bunz on clearance. I believe they have girl colors left, but you never know once cloth diapers go on sale!
Finally, a cloth diaper question. Does anyone else have issues with cloth diapers and their HE machine? I love my HE, but I think it does a terrible job on the diapers! Anyone have suggestions for me?
Have you checked out the blog Mama’s Laundry talk? I hate laundry but she loves it and uses cloth, too I believe.
Actually I have! Lauren is a good friend of mine!
We have an HE washer and here’s my system…
rinse & spin, sniff test–possibly another rinse and spin, towel cycle with extra rinse. I use 1 tbsp Country Save and a glug of white vinegar. Five minutes in the dryer and hang on the line. (the dryer ensures SOFTNESS, I can’t imagine wearing a stiff diaper)
I do have to strip my inserts with OxyClean and white vinegar every nine months or so. The microfiber inserts just get stinky otherwise.
I have a bunch of different types of cloth diapers that I use an HE machine on. I agree that it can do a terrible job!
I do the speed wash on cold with no detergent. Then I do a hot/cold wash with 3 tbs. of Rock N Green Detergent for hard water. Then I do an extra cold rinse.
Every so often I add in a cold soak with Bac Out in the laundry tub or turn the machine off when it has filled with the hot water to soak them.
I felt the same about our HE until I tried Rock N Green. We use bumgenius dipes, and they would always have an ammonia smell after my daughter peed in them. Now we have no problems! I do a cold cycle, then a hot with 2 scoops of Rock N Green hard rock detergent. Kim at Rock N Green is extremely helpful with laundering questions, too. I tweeted her some of my issues, and she was quick to respond with answers that worked. I use Rock N Green for all our wash now… especially after it managed to get red wine out of my khaki pants with no pre-treatment… just a scoop of Rock N Green and a little bit of Oxi-Clean!
I have an HE and use cloth, and run into issues every once in a while. Sometimes I use bac out, sometimes oxygen bleach, and even regular bleach if things get really stinky. I also use the sanitary cycle every once in a while or just do a bunch of washes without detergent. Or I will wash every day for a week using one of the above methods. My normal wash routine (when I had 1 in cloth, now I have 2 so I do wash every day) is wash every other day: Cold/Cold with extra rinse no detergent, Hot/Cold with extra rinse 2 TBS rockin Green. Dry in dryer on Regular heat.
All my extreme stink measures I have read to be No No’s at some point but once I started using them and they worked I realized that clean diapers that wear out faster are better than dirty diapers that smell and give a rash because of buildup
I have an HE and also use cloth diapers (Fuzzi Bunz). My normal routine now that I’ve switched to using Vaska detergent (the Fuzzi Bunz recommended detergent) is soak in cold water (high soil, which takes 99 minutes), then wash on the whitest whites cycle (hot) also at the high soil level. I then dry them in the dryer on low, which gets the diapers themselves all the way dry, and then I pull those out and run another dryer cycle on medium heat for just the inserts.
Before I switched to Vaska, I was starting to have a stinky problem, but once I switched and used the Vaska to strip the diapers, I haven’t had a problem since.
As long as the question is out there, I have one too and no site has solved it. But my problem lends to the strong odor of ammonia at every diaper change…and no, it’s not concentrated urine or sitting for too long. She drinks plenty through the day and is changed every two hours. Because of this it gives her blistering on her bum after a day or two of being back in the cloth. I love my cloth and want to use them…HELP!?
Here’s my routine, tell me if there is something I’m missing: I have a HE (top-load – first mistake!) washer. I rinse in warm (or cold) one rinse cyle and then wash in warm/cold and extra rinse. I use Charlie’s soap and have bum genius pockets. I’ve stripped these in any method imaginable and tried regular “free” detergents too, just in case. Hanging on the line in the middle-summer sun didn’t help either. I’ve also tried a new setting cycle to allow for a greater water level for more water flow through the diaper. Nope, that wasn’t it either.
What is the problem? Can it be fixed? Has anyone else had this problem?!
It’s so sad to have spent the money to love them to not use them.
This website has a lot of posts on laundry. http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/
I think they must get a kick back from Rockin’ Green detergent, because they recommended it a lot. But the post are very informative.
She might have a suedecloth sensitivity. Some babies do better with fleece instead. Others just can’t handle anything other than natural fibers next to the bum. You can buy some fleece at the fabric store (check the remnant section) then cut rectangles and try lining the diapers with them. If it helps with the redness, I would guess its a sensitivity to the fabric lining.
You need to use HOT WASH and cold rinse.
Pre-soak on cold, use extra water.
Hot wash with 2 tbsp. Rockin’ Green
Cold rinse
Extra rinse
I use only Bottombumpers and Fussibunz, and the Bottombumpers are all cotton. They sell cotton liners, as well.