Thursday, March 31, 2011

Community Comments: Laundry

Since we've been talking about laundry this week, I'd love to start a post where you all can leave a comment stating what type of laundry routine (including what machine and type of soap) that you are using and finding successful for washing your cloth diapers.

I know as a newbie to cloth diapering, the laundry routine is the most daunting part, and it was only through reading what other people did that I fully felt I knew how to work my washing machine to clean our diapers in the best way possible.

So please see the comments section to add your own personal laundry routine to help our fellow mamas out! :)

8 comments:

  1. What works for me!

    LG TROMM HE FRONT LOADING WASHING MACHINE:

    1. Place diapers in washing machine from dry pail/wet bag (bag included)

    2. Place dial on "Delicate"; water temperature on Cold/Cold; Select Rinse & Spin; Highlight 'Water Plus' - runs for 13 minutes

    3. Place dial on "Delicate"; water temperature on Warm/Cold; Select Rinse & Spin; Change spin speed to NO SPIN; Highlight 'Water Plus' - runs for 6 minutes (the reason I do this one is because it warms the cold laundry up a bit so the hot water stays hotter when it goes in. Having it not spin out also makes the load heavier and gets the washer to add more water than usual to the main wash!)

    4. ADD 1 TBSP COUNTRY SAVE POWDERED HE WASHING SOAP. Select Cotton/Towels on the dial; Water Temperature Hot/Cold; can increase 'soil' level if desired; Highlight 'Water Plus' - runs for over 1 hour and varies with weight

    5. For the final rinse, select Delicate on the dial; Water temperature Warm/Warm; Highlight 'Water Plus' - runs for about 34 minutes

    6. Every once in a while, or if I still see suds in the final rinse, I will repeat the final rinse again 1-2 times as needed to help prevent build-up.

    7. Remove stained items to lay in the sun. Dry other items in dryer with wool dyer balls or hang to dry (items with PUL/elastic) as needed.

    NOTES: On this machine, using the 'delicate' function will always add the most amount of water. You can also try adding a heavy, wet towel just before the wash phase to trick the machine to add even more water if needed.

    -Lisa

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  2. I have a Whirlpool Duet Front loader.
    1. Warm rinse, no soap. I try to catch it before it spins.
    2. Whitest whites cycle (hot water and uses the most water on my specific machine) with 1 Tablespoon of Rockin' Green Hard Rock
    3. Another hot wash
    4. Hang dry all covers and shells. Machine dry everything else.

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  3. I wash mine at home by hand, because I live in an apartment with no laundry hookups and the laundrymat is VERY expensive! I made a Facebook album of how I do this, and posted easy step-by-step instructions if anyone is interested :)

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  4. Hotpoint top loader
    1. Cold wash on regular high spin cycle, super load size for extra water. No soap.
    2. Hot wash, same cycle type and size. 1/4 cap of Sun Free liquid.
    3. Hot rinse, same cycle type and size.
    4. Hang dry covers, machine dry diapers.

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  5. Yes, Megan, could you post a link to your Facebook album (if it is public)? I'm sure many of us would love to see the ins-and-outs of this process! It would definitely help to demystify it a little :)

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  6. I have a top loading Kenmore.
    My laundry routine is:
    - Run an entire wash cycle, including 2nd rinse, using cold water, no soap.
    - Put in 2-3 tbsp Rockin Green soap, switch water to hot, and run another cycle - including 2nd rinse.
    - Switch back to cold water, run a 3rd rinse.

    I then hang the covers to dry, and put the inserts in the dryer on the lowest heat setting possible.

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  7. I have a front-loading Frigidaire and use Country Save detergent. I wrote about the details of my routine on my blog here:
    http://manager-to-mom.blogspot.com/2010/12/cloth-diaper-laundry-what-worked-for-us.html

    Hope this helps!

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  8. This is my current routine at my mom's place...

    Kenmore HE2t front loader

    1. Normal Cycle, 2nd Rinse option. Cold water
    2. Rinse/Drain and Spin, NO SPIN selected. Warm water.
    3. Normal Cycle, 2nd Rinse option. Hot water. 1 tbsp Rockin' Green.

    Hang to dry everything. I only use my dryer when I'm prepping new diapers or to freshen up the prefolds.

    When I"m at home I have an LG front loader and it's basically the same.

    1. The normal cycle. Water Plus, 2nd Rinse. Cold water.
    1. Express wash. NO SPIN. Water Plus. Warm Water.
    3. The normal cycle. Water Plus, 2nd Rinse. Hot water. 1 tbsp of Rockin Green.
    4. Hang to dry

    Both work for me. I wash my diapers every other day to keep the loads small. If I did every three days I would have to do two loads in the day. I tried every three days and only one load and ended up having to wash the load twice to get it clean smelling.

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