How to prevent diaper Stink?
Preventing diaper stink is actually quite simple. Especially considering 99.99999% of the time the stink is related to unclean diaper. While it would be wonderfully nice if all diaper manufacturers could come together with cohesive washing instructions this has yet to happen.
So what causes Stink and How do I Prevent it? Somewhere on the internet several years ago someone posted that less detergent is needed to clean diapers. Then there were more posts to follow and suddenly people were using as little as a tablespoon of detergent.
Well this is very incorrect. When doing any laundry it is highly suggested that we use the recommended amount of detergent. Detergents are tested for their usefulness at a certain strength and if that strength is not used then it will not clean as advertised.
Further, my favorite question to pose to those who use less detergent on their diapers is, “What do you use on your clothing or your husbands or child’s? Most often there is a light that comes on and mom says you’re right, I would never expect that to get the dirty cloths clean.
The second most often cause of detergent stink is in using the wrong detergent. Many natural detergents contain oils that are used in the very early processes of manufacturing the detergent. While these oils do not need to be on the ingredient list they are there and sadly they coat your fleece products. This is very specifically why we do not recommend the use of these natural detergents. If your diapers are coated you will then need to strip the diapers which will cause undue excess use and decrease their life.
While some manufacturers may opt to recommend the use of natural diapers and then remedy the pending repelling by bleaching the diapers once a month. We do not recommend to do this. It is a double whammy when it comes to decreasing the life of your diapers. First by using the wrong detergent and second by bleaching which is not only a caustic agent but is also not recommended by our fabric manufacturers.
So how Do I Prevent diaper stink:
Very easy, use a proper detergent and use the correct amount. For me personally I really do not like to do laundry so it must be simple. I also live in a very heavily area populated by the military who are on limited incomes so the detergent must be easy and cheap for them to find. While I know some people gripe about the use of Tide I have to say that in all of our diapering years I never once had any stink or repelling issues unless I tried something else. Some may be allergic to Tide but the enzymes and brighteners will not harm your diapers, if you are allergic this is what is causing that allergy.
OK, so you want more natural, Country Save. One of my prerequisites is that the detergent must work WELL for not only diapers but clothing. Country Save is my favorite natural detergent that is made by a small company just like us.
The last is Rockin Green. For a long time I thought they were a diaper only detergent, that is until the owner Kim schooled me on how well it worked on clothing. Not being one who just goes with the flow I started using it on my clothing and you know I really like it, so it is officially our 3rd detergent choice.
FINALLY ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS USE THE RECOMMENDED AMOUNT OF DETERGENT BY THE DETERGENT MANUFACTURER.
Linda’s Pet Peeves
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