Disinfecting

I alluded a few posts back to an upcoming post about my new laundry routine, saying that you Charlie's Soap users would want to tune in. Well, today I have about a million things I should be doing, so it only makes sense that I have chosen to finally sit down and write about this! :o)

Really, I've been dragging my feet on blogging about this, because I was quite embarrassed that I had been a cloth diapering mom for a year and a half and never knew that I was leaving a huge step out of my system: DISINFECTING the diapers. I always thought that if they looked clean, and smelled clean, then they were clean. And that when they started to smell a little funky, it was time to strip them. End of story.

Well, I was wrong. At least twice a month, you should be doing something to disinfect your diapers. I actually called Charlie's Soap to ask them their recommendations. Would you like to know who I spoke to?

CHARLIE!!!!

Yes, Charlie himself answered the phone. He was so friendly and helpful. He said that there are several different ways you can choose to disinfect your diapers. Some people prefer to use hydrogen peroxide, but Charlie told me that the amount of hydrogen peroxide you would have to use to disinfect an entire washer full of diapers would probably bleach everything out. Some people use vinegar to disinfect, but again, the amount you would have to use to disinfect is, well, a LOT.

Honestly, a lot of folks aren't going to like this, but according to Charlie (and in accordance with my own common sense), the best way to disinfect your diapers is to use between .5 cup and 1 cup of bleach along with your regular laundering routine about twice a month.

I know, I know. You've heard bleach is bad for PUL, or elastic. Or you're worried it's going to fade the cute print fitteds you have. I was concerned about this too.

But the truth is, PUL and elastic don't have infinite lifespans anyway. And I don't care if my print diapers stay bright and brand new looking if they're riddled with funk that causes nasty rashes on my kids' bums.

You can also use an oxydizing "bleach," like Oxy-Clean Free powder laundry booster. Charlie didn't seem to think that this method was quite as effective as regular liquid bleach, but recognized it's a more acceptable option to many circles of parents.

I also asked him about using essential oils, and things like Grapefruit Seed Extract, to disinfect diapers. He admitted that he didn't know much about them, but he cautioned me that oftentimes, the people doling out advice on essential oils may not know as much as they claim to know. Additonally, you'd probably have to use a LOT of oil or extract to achieve disinfection in a washing machine full of water, and some have potential adverse side effects on very young babies, male babies, etc.

If you're using essential oils that come into contact with your children's skin, please let me encourage you to do some thorough research from unbiased sources. That is, don't glean all your information from a website that sells the stuff! And overlap your research from different places, seek out certified herbalists, and search specifically for cautions and warnings. I think many EOs are great, but when it comes to using them topically/medicinally, I treat them with as much respect and caution as I do over-the-counter drugs.

Anyway, don't be like me. Don't just think that they're clean because they look clean. Disinfect your diapers!

Troubleshooting tips

Today I got a question from a mom who was having some problems with her BG diapers and her front loading washing machine. To read her original post detailing her wash routine, click here.

Here are the tips I shared with her, but I think that there are others who might benefit from hearing them! :o)

- First, 14 diapers and their inserts is a LOT of diapers to wash at once in a FL machine, because it doesn't use as much water. You could try washing a load with fewer diapers, but still using the highest water setting.

- Let's talk about a routine wash: you should do one cold rinse first (to get the waste out); one long hot wash with a cloth diaper safe detergent; 2 cold rinses. Either line/sun dry, or tumble dry. NEVER, EVER, EVER use liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets!!

- You might also try a wet pail system for a while. That way, the diapers are never sitting soiled (and it eliminates your time-consuming task of scrubbing them in the laundry sink!). If I'm lazy one day and let diapers sit unrinsed on the bathroom floor until my kids are in bed, those diapers will invariably have stains on them! I have been safely wet-pailing my PUL pockets (including BG diapers) with no problems with wicking for at least 6 months now.

- For stains, take a clean, wet diaper, and saturate the stain with lemon juice, and then place in the sun until dry. Repeat as necessary until the stain is gone, and then launder the diaper as usual.

- As far as lingering smells, you could try stripping them, which is hard in a FL machine. Try turning your water heater up as high as it will go for one hour, and then run a long wash cycle on hot with NO detergent. (Don't forget to turn the water heater back down after the first wash cycle.)

- A quick note about vinegar: vinegar will soften and help freshen the smell of *clean* diapers. If your diapers have a lingering odor and need to be stripped, vinegar can actually make the smell worse. Remember, clean diapers (and the washing machine after cleaning them) should smell like nothing at all, except maybe wet fabric! ;o)

- For detergent, I love and recommend Charlie's Soap, and it is HE safe. You can purchase it at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, EarthFare, or mom-and-pop natural foods stores. If no stores sell it locally for you, you can always order it online. I have never used Country Save personally, but I would probably stay away from the Oxy, because it likely has enzymes in it, which leave a residue on the diapers that will bind with the urine, causing unpleasant odors when the diapers are wetted, and creating a funky skunky buildup.

Laundry Day

As I said before in my post about how many cloth diapers you need, I do laundry every other day. With two little ones in diapers, that adds up to quite a bit by the time I get to the laundry room! So here are my answers to laundering-related issues.

So what do you do with the dirty diapers until you wash them?
Okay, what I do with the dirty diapers has changed a lot in the past week. You really just have to play around and see what works for you. We have what is called a hanging diaper pail by Fuzzi Bunz. It just hangs on the doorknob to the linen closet right beside the toilet, so it's actually quite convenient. Some people have actual pails, but I don't have space for one. You could use a diaper champ or diaper genie with or without a plastic bag in it. You can also use a lidded trash can. However, be advised that plastic absorbs smells! If you're going to get an actual pail, I highly recommend getting a stainless steel trash can.

Now, up until about a week ago, I was just rinsing out all the diapers and dropping them in the pail until laundry day. Most of the time the pail didn't smell, but it got to where the diapers smelled kind of funky, even right after washing. Some people don't experience this problem. I would definitely advise starting out by using the dry pailing method, and if you don't have any issues, don't worry about it. If you do start having skunky diapers, then you could try this.

But, since I started having problems with smelly dipes, I have switched to a mostly wet pail system. I'm using our washing machine tub as my wet pail; I fill it up 3/4 of the way and add 1/4 cup baking soda. You can buy special diaper pails, potty pails, or lidded trash cans to use as a wet pail if you wish. But, you will need to take some serious precautions if you have a wet pail in the house! Children and pets can drown in extremely shallow water! Keep your wet pail closed with a locking lid, and keep the door closed - and locked when possible - to prevent any kids or pets from getting into the area where the wet pail is kept. That's the main reason I'm using my washing machine tub as a wet pail - our laundry room is in the carport, so it's outside of the house altogether, plus I keep the lid closed and the laundry room door closed.

So after each diaper change, I take all the elements of the diaper apart - cover off, inserts out, etc. Anything that has a PUL coating gets rinsed out in the potty and stored in the hanging diaper pail in the bathroom. All non-PUL-coated materials (prefolds, fitteds, microfiber inserts) go straight outside to the washing machine tub, no pre-rinsing necessary for wets. Poopy diapers, of course, get washed out in the potty as detailed in the diaper changing entry.

There is an on-going debate about whether or not to soak PUL materials. Some people say it will compromise the waterproofing capabilities, others say no. I'm kind of afraid to so I don't, but I know people who do it with absolutely no problems.

What about when you go out of the house?
We cloth diaper about 99% of the time, whether we're at home, running errands, going for day trips, or even traveling on vacation. As long as there's a washing machine, I use cloth. I have what is called a wet bag with a zipper to put in my diaper bag. It's actually made of the same waterproof material as the diapers, so I just stick the dirty dipes in there till I get home or to my destination. No wet stuff or stinky in the diaper bag.


What about routine washing?
I wash every other day, and as I've said before, it's quite a load by that time between the two of them! Everyone develops their own wash routine over time, and mine is constantly evolving to achieve the cleanest diapers possible. Here's my current routine:

• Carry the hanging diaper pail out to the washing machine, dump contents on top of soaking diapers and inserts. Push to submerge and soak for 20 minutes. Spin out tub and follow with another cold rinse.
• Hot wash with 1/2 the recommended amount of an enzyme-free laundry detergent, like Allen's Naturally, Planet, or Charlie's Soap. Allen's is my favorite, but no one sells it locally and the shipping is expensive since the bottles are quite heavy, so now I'm using Planet (4 tbsp per diaper load).
• Two cold rinses to make sure all the detergent rinses out.
• I hang them to dry when weather permits and I have the time, otherwise I dry them in the dryer with a few clean, dry towels to help cut down on drying time.
  

Special Occasion Cleaning

Probably about every 6 to 8 weeks I "strip" my diapers to get them really super clean. You can do this as a regimen, or wait until you start to have skunky diapers. Here's how I strip my diapers:

• Start with diapers clean, but not necessarily dry. Boil a huge stockpot of water and pour over diapers as the wash tub is filling with hot water.
• Add anywhere from 2 tsp to 1 tbsp of Dawn original dish washing detergent. This helps to cut grease build up on the diapers from your child's skin, lotions and oils, and give them a fresher scent.
• Rinse on cold rinses until you no longer see bubbles in the rinse water. This could take as many as 5 or 6 rinses! Make sure you're using cold water for your rinses.

Alternately, some people don't do this (for a wide variety of reasons), and I certainly DO NOT recommend doing it more often than I say here, but I also use 1/8 cup of regular bleach in a regular wash routine with my diapers once every 8 weeks. I kind of do it halfway in between stripping to buy myself a little more time before I have to strip them again.

If you have stains that won't seem to go anywhere, try wetting the diaper, putting lemon juice on the stain, and placing it in direct sunlight until dry. Repeat as necessary until stain is completely eradicated.

For that matter, sun drying is an extremely energy efficient and effective way to brighten the look and freshen up the smell of all diapers. I strongly advise that you sun-dry your diapers whenever possible.