Comments on: How to Disinfect Cloth Diapers Without Bleach

By: Autumn Beck

Autumn Beck — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:42:49 +0000

I wouldn’t let diapers sit in vinegar. It can break down elastic and PUL and lead to problems if you have hard water (i.e., staining and stink). But, the rest looks good.

By: Staci

Staci — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:27:28 +0000

This is such a great site! Autumn you are awesome! All this discussion made me think of the spray we use on our veggies. Is it possible that this would be an effective spray to use on diapers as they wait in the pail to be washed or it a food-only application? Baking soda, gfse, distilled white vinegar. http://www.oprah.com/food/Sophie-Ulianos-Veggie-Cleaner-Spray

By: Autumn Beck

Autumn Beck — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:36:47 +0000

I wouldn’t be scared. The chemicals in disposables scare me. If you want to spray something on the diapers you can make a solution of vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Are you rinsing the diapers in the toilet before putting them in the pail? If you have hard water vinegar isn’t a good idea. Another solution suggestion is water and tea tree oil. Smells better too I pre-rinse every wash. I add Bac-out (an enzyme cleaner) to the pre-rinse then wash with Tide. I also do an extra cycle for rinse purposes.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:55:24 +0000

Hello, Im new at using cloth diapers. This is all new to me. After reading your column. Some of question were answer. Some advise were really helpful. Still I was confused on which to use peroxide or white vinegar? to prerinse? Can I wash with regular detergent after my prerinse? Also after a use cloth diaper. What is good to spray on it before placing it on the pail? That can kill bacteria, peroxide or vinegar until wash day. It scared me after reading that there were bacteria that can stay in the cloth diapers if not disinfected right or wash right. Scared me back to thinking of using disposible instead.

By: AMann

AMann — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:08:20 +0000

This might be a little late but my kiddos had eczema really bad also….I tried eliminating everything from food to detergents to anything you can possibly think of…really bad…kids couldn’t sleep at night they were so itchy…we finally went to a pediatric dermatologist and we switched , as recommended, to Dove sensitive soap (no residue), cerave or cetaphil extra moisturizing (bought at walmart) cream within 3 minutes of baths, bathing most if not all days a week, moisturize 2 times a day, and we did wet wraps 2 times a day for a week. We treated the area on the body with prescription strength topical steroid and non-streroid for the face. Since that week we spot treat as needed, couple times a week, moisturize 1-2 times a day, bath 5 days a week or so, luke warm water for no more than 10 minutes. Don’t use vaseline was our advise unless its in the winter for chapped skin because it doesn’t allow the skin to exfoliate properly which is why people have eczema in the first place. Hope this helps your sanity…it saved mine!!

By: Autumn Beck

Autumn Beck — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 22:05:13 +0000

Alternating detergents is probably the best. I switched to Tide and it was amazing! Now after a few weeks I need to change it up a bit with my Rockin Green because I am starting to smell a teeny bit of something.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:01:00 +0000

I’m using a dry pail system and our diapers have become smelly of ammonia since my daughter has turned six months. We bought a high efficiency top loading maytag and I thought it wasn’t washing as well as our old top loader. We’ve since switched to a front loading maytag and I now want to figure out a way to kill the smell. I’d like to try peroxide but you can’t add it to the water and let it mix before adding the diapers like suggested in an earlier post. We have motherease bamboo fiber diapers, which I believe is a mix of bamboo and rayon. I’ve read that synthetics hold on to smells unlike many natural fibers so I wonder you have experience with these types of diapers. Also, we thought our hard water may have caused our diapers to have build-up so we tried adding Calgon as a water softening agent, but that didn’t help. The detergent we use is called indisposables, which is a no residue concentrated detergent.

By: Dawn Marie

Dawn Marie — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:25:15 +0000

Becca,
I also live in Michigan and we have the same issues.
I use Cetaphil and it helps but, doesn’t take it away.
It is very mild and safe for babies. I use the pump soap
to clean and the cream lotion after baths. You can even use
Nioxin conditioner for the eczema and leave it on
the skin. It has Tea Tree in it. As for laundry soap, we
use ALL free and clear. Hope that helps, I know your frustrations
and feel your pain;/
Blessings to you & your family

By: Autumn Beck

Autumn Beck — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:04:52 +0000

@Tarina: did you do a vinegar soak and then a regular wash? my friend uses ME and using Bac-Out helped her stink problem.

By: Tarina

Tarina — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:09:10 +0000

Well there is lots of useful info on this site for sure!!! I have tried so many different types of ways to clean the dipes. Vinegar has yet to fully clean our dipes, and I notice our motherease dipes stink terribly when wet after a vinegar wash. I just tried peroxide and the dipes are al int he drier now… we shall see!!!