A Word About Stripping

As you know I've been cloth diapering for 19 years.  A lot has changed.  Some changes are good and some are not. 

Nowadays the question of stripping diapers is a daily occurrence on CD (cloth diaper) boards.  People openly and frequently talk about how they do it, how often they've had to etc. 

Back in my day (lol) stripping was mentioned behind hands in hushed tonnes (much like the other kind of stripping lol).
- "Psst, did you hear she had to strip last week" . 
- "did she have thrush?"
- "Nope"
- "eww"

Yeah, that's how it went.  Now I realize some modern diapers are harder to clean and that is part of the problem.  The other part is bad advice.  So here is some good advice.  SUDS:
S: simple wash routine.
U: use enough detergent.
D: duration
S: skip the additives. 

Simple Wash Routine:
Rinse used diapers.  Wash every two days on a regular and full wash cycle (no promises for MF, zorb or highly synthetic diapers). You don't need to spend 3 hours checking for bubbles etc. 
Use Enough Detergent:
Detergent.  Not soap.  Not "CD safe".  Regular detergent, full amount.  You wouldn't use half detergent in your clothes, why would you on something that was peed and pooped in?.  Tide, gain and xtra are well known for their good performance
Duration:
Full cycle.  Not a tonne of extra rinses and soaks.  You want to wash but not add extra minerals in or wear out those diapers.  And not some quick wash cycle either. 
Skip The Additives:
Coconut, orange, tea tree and other oils.  These will build up oils on your diapers.  Check detergent for these too (country save liquid has coconut for example).  Skip brighteners and softeners.  Especially softeners, they cause repelling.  Skip the fragrances.
*Do add a water softener if needed.  And feel free to use vinegar if you like. 

Now should you need to strip cuz you got some 2nd hand diapers, had yeast or fell pray to crazy advice and have ammonia or "stink"  do strip with bleach and re-prep those diapers.  You do not need to add bleach to your regular wash routine.  This will wear out the fabric (just like if you bleached your favorite shirt every 2 days), nor do you need to do it monthly.  If hand washing flats or prefolds, feel free to add a wee bit.  Although it will add wear. 

If you have repelling or dingy looking diapers from hard water then use RLR.  That's what it is for: mineral removal, not stripping. 

Boiling can only be done to flats and prefolds.  It will brighten, clean and remove oils.  It won't replace stripping. 

Do not use Dawn.  Seriously, it's for dishes.  Use it on your dishes. 

Sun your diapers for great stain removal, air freshness and brightening.  Again sunning doesn't replace stripping. 

How to strip:
In a bath tub use hot water and 1/4 cup if bleach.  Mix.  Add diapers.  Soak several hours stirring with wooden spoon occasionally.  Then rinse.  Finally wash in machine, dry, wash 2-3 more times (re prep),

Midnight Diaper Laundry

I stayed up late tonight, erryone else went to bed early.  It seemed like good me time.  When i was done i went to the diaper bin to grab diapers for night time changes and there was 4 clean diapers....crap....i had prepared to do laundry earlier in the night.  But someone else was using the laundry room (we live in an apartment).  Then I just plain forgot. 

I thought briefly if I could just do it in the morning.  But that's a risk with four.  I change twice before he wakes up.  What about an unexpected poop?  And the. I remembered my 14 year old threw her school sweater in the laundry bag too.  She has a school uniform and one sweater.  She needs it in the morning by 8am. 

So I'm up even later.  Doing laundry.  I actually like doing laundry.  Its that one chore everyone notices and appreciates.  And its kinda easy. You put it in, take it out, fold it but the machine does the rest. 

Thing is laundry when I want to be in bed snuggled up to my Honey, isn't fun.  I don't really want to be awake right now. 

When not to do diaper laundry - midnight.  That's when

And....I did get to go to bed.  After I put the laundry in the dryer I posted a note on the mirror (guaranteed teen daughters will find in that location lol).  And so when I got up with Monkey the clean laundry was in the living room.

Folding Diapers With Monkey

Today Monkey "helped" me fold diapers, and other chores.  Monkey is my youngest and is now 11 months.  My oldest is 19.  I've always cleaned with the kids.  It is extra work, like two steps forward, one step back.  But if you ignore that it's kind of fun.  A mobile baby will find great joy in "helping".  And even though it is extra work it is worth it.  Very soon I will begin teaching Monkey to put a clean and folded diaper into the diaper bin, socks in the drawer etc.  When he has had enough, I'll let him play.  The diapers won't likely be folded by the time Monkey gets them in the bin.   But that's OK.  He will slowly be learning to do chores.  In our house the rule is: if one is cleaning, everyone is cleaning.  The only way out of that is if your outside playing. 

My oldest kids never complained and I think its cuz we all worked together.  Also they all know how to look after a house, cook a meal etc.  My 19 & 14 yrs old also know how to do grocery 

shopping, make a shopping list and pay bills.  They are competent young Women. 

I had a proud moment last month.  My 14 yrs olds math teacher was impressed that she could add up a grocery list and add the tax in her head.  He asked how she learned to do that.  She said "well I do go shopping".  The teacher told her lots of people go shopping without that skill, so she told him I taught her.  He was impressed. 

I love having fluff folded and organized a certain way.  And I've enjoyed doing that these past 11 months.  But now the time has come to let go of the particularities we moms each have over certain things and let Monkey slowly lean in a relaxed environment.

Easy Diaper Washing Routine

So if your using cloth diapers or thinking about it, you've likely learned that diaper laundry is this totally complicated thing of trial and error.  And so you saw this post.  And here we are. 

Diaper laundry can be easy or it can be all the crazy things you've heard.  If you want an easy routine you need 2 things.
1. Possibly a top load washing machine.  They clean better.  Sell the expensive HE with its gadgets, go to a second hand appliance store and buy an older washer.  But maybe with step 2, step one isn't necessary. 
2. Use natural fabric diapers, or minimal synthetics.  Don't use any MF (that includes zorb).  Skip the aio's and probably the pockets and ai2's.  Use Fitted's, prefolds, flats, wio's, and even HF's.  Buy or make diapers where layers are separated.  Cotton and hemp are your new best friends.  And use a regular laundry detergent so long as it doesn't have softeners (tide, gain, xtra). 

So how does my easy wash routine go?  Well I take the diapers out of my open diaper pail with no liner.  I throw it in the top loader with one thing of laundry detergent, some vinegar and some regular laundry to make a full load. It goes in hot on a regular cycle.  No extra rinses or anything.  Then into the dryer. 

My diapers are mostly cotton and hemp.  There is a few with poly fleece, CV, or Minky.  Such layers are minimal.  This makes them wash easy.  And so my diaper laundry routine is the exact same as my regular laundry.  This is how it should be, but it starts with your diaper choices. 

Diaper Pails

When I started cloth diapering dirty diapers were stored one way, in a diaper pail.  Everyone had the same diaper pail which came in white, blue, pink and yellow.  They had an etched animal on them, mine had a bunny.  My moms had an elephant.... Yes these pails have been around a long time.  So imagine my surprise when I couldn't find one in stores for Monkey! 

Diaper laundry is not what it was.  Modern diapers with synthetics need heavier wash routines, HE washers are apparently a pain in the poppy bum and in the age if diaper genies even the cloth diaper pail got a make over, and a liner, and accessories. 

Well it's no secret that I'm a fan off k.i.s.s (keep it simple stupid), so I wanted the same pail our family had always used.  I had a few pregnant tears over it about this time last year.  In the end I got a plastic kitchen garbage can.  Pretty simple lol. 

Then I bought my first ever  wet bag and was all pumped to dry this new idea everyone was so gaga about and found so necessary....I hated it.  Seriously if you've always used one then try an open pail for 1 week. That wet bag made everything stink of wet cloth, like a mildew smell.  Back to my pail, air flow, yep, that's what wet bags don't have is airflow and wet fabric needs that so as not to breed must and mildew. 

This is what I do.  When a diaper is wet or poppy I change it, I rinse it (yep, every single one!), wring it out, throw in my open (no lid cuz I threw out the lid) pail.  And then I wash every two (2) days.  I add regular laundry to make a full load.  Remember I've rinsed away the poop and pee so my family is chills with this ( as my teens would say).
You heard wet pails were bad?  This isn't a wet pail.  Wet pail is a pail if water and vinegar that you soak diapers in till laundry day.  Dry Paul is no sitting water.  Yes the diapers are wet...with tap water as opposed to  wet with pee.  And I wash every 2 days cuz I was taught that's important. 

So there is my suggestion: try an open pail (no lid or liner) with rinsed diapers.  Also, I rinse the pail with water and vinegar yo clean each time.  I think you'll find less dirty diaper smell awaiting laundry day.