Baking soda , vinegar and BLEACH

Here is the answer to moms that are wondering what is the purpose of baking soda and vinegar.
There are some that love to wash their cloth diapers with these and there are some that literally cursed it, and said that those 2 ingredients make their diapers smell even more.

And where do I stand? I stand in the middle. Judge your self and search online , and if you are not sure , if you can use this 2 , with your diaper, you can check with the seller or go to the product website to read about washing instruction.

From many cloth diapers site, suggesting baking soda and vinegar is the most common .
But there are some brands that does not suggest baking soda and vinegar , instead recommending BLEACH.

What ? BLEACH? And from what we know is that BLEACH is the BIG NO NO in washing CD.
Again , from the manufacturer site, the said : wash only with detergent and OCCASIONALLY ad 1/4 bleach into washing machine.
And I've personally asked to a friend and a diaper guru, she also said, occasionally adding diluted bleach into CD load is ok. We talking about PUL, or fitted and I am not sure for minkee or other materials. And I've try it my self.
Bleach will be useful if you got smelly diaper ( when baby just peed on it and the smell is very strong). This happen because of detergent residue and I think happen more often with AIO .
But it also can happen to any type of diapers.

What you can do is diluted one part of bleach to 3 parts of water and add into your washing machine. Add detergent and wash as normal.

BLEACH is a big NO , when:
You rub it directly to the diaper
Soak diaper with bleach ( this will shorten the lifespan and make the fabric weaken )

Adding a bit of Dettol to your CD load also might help.

What is my routine?
I wash with detergent that is softener free, brightener free , enzyme free. ( I cant say the brand again , can I? It will be a free advertising some might say) plus a cap full or half cap full of Dettol.
Occasionally : adding baking soda( I put this before I put detergent then I on the WM ) and I add detergent and I put vinegar in the softener compartment , specially if I found some fitted that becomes stiff after wash and used . ( vinegar is a natural fabric softener)
If I found a few particular CD that produce more smell than the other , I add diluted bleach.

This is a suggestion, and if you are not sure, ask the seller or read the washing instruction. Most brand will NOT put bleach into their washing routine. Because they are worry if you use it to SOAK the diaper or RUB in directly into the stain. That will harm the diaper.
So most brand will stay away from bleach and they will opt for saver option: baking soda and vinegar.

If you are skeptical about baking soda and vinegar, and might read some where that if we don't rinse carefully the bacteria will grow inside the diaper and cause rash. In my humble opinion, again based on my own experience and reading Cloth diaper's books , and searching over the internet: Any residue that is not rinse carefully in the diaper can cause problem. Even detergent.
So rinsing is a PART of WASHING and it shall be done properly. This is why I always over stress it to my customers who wash their CD by hand, please rinse it properly and if possible do double rinse.

So how about the baby that develop rashes when baking soda and vinegar are added?
If you use baking soda make sure you add vinegar on the rinse cycles, this is to neutralize the PH balance .

What is the purpose of baking soda in the laundering diaper?

Whiten and neutralized acidity levels in the diapers
Baking soda is a natural odor and stain fighter. It will help you to your diapers white and fresh smelling

What is the purpose of Distilled Vinegar ?
It will help to keep the colors, help to restore the pH balance in the diaper, neutralize any acid,
prevent detergent build up, helps to prevent staining, cut down on lint, and work as a fabric softener without interfering with absorption or build up.

NOTES: if you found your diaper cover smell like vinegar or your diaper start to smell like vinegar once your baby pee on it , cut down the vinegar for a while.

When I suggest something or anything in my blog or emails, I do not just simply suggest it without reading or trying it my self. I might not suggest the best way of laundering for everyone, but I try to share the MOST COMMON CD laundering tips use by many cloth diapered moms all over the world.

How about TEA TREE OIL?
I do read about it, a couple of drops ( let's say 2 drops) into full load of diapers to be wash is ok. But again it is better to check with manufacturer.

And of course the thing we all LOVE the most : SUN!
There is nothing like a freshly clean laundry , dried under the sun!

Sun light been known for ages to help disinfect our laundry. But...it is just temporary? It will only disinfect AT THE MOMENT? and then since we live in a surrounding full of bacteria , the bacteria will come back ??
Well , unless we live in a crystal ball that has been disinfect 24/7 , all year long, then unfortunately, there area bacteria everywhere.( even in our saliva and our intestine)
But bacteria needs to live on something to help it grows. Like: a not properly cleaned diapers. (contain trace of urine or feces)
If the diapers has been washed and let's say disinfect ( with dettol or bleach or just detergent or just the SUN) it has nothing to live on inside the diapers.

If the SUN or detergent just disinfect for temporary and then the bacteria keep coming back to our diaper and clothes, uhm then what is the purpose of washing it ?
Think about our undergarment . If after we wash and we dry under sun and then the bacteria supposedly will come back , then we will wear undergarment with bacteria!


So laundering diapers, is not as complicated as you think. As long you follow the guidelines, avoid what you need to avoid, choose the correct detergent ( I am not against any of brand of detergent as long as it is save on diapers) and excepting new ideas and HAVE FUN to try it... you will find your cloth diapering experience like no other!

Well...I think this also apply to our attitude towards life isn't it?

Follow your own good guidelines
Avoid all the bad things/habit in life
Choose the correct positive attitudes
excepting a good positive new ideas
and HAVE FUN in life....

Christmas is just around the corner....for all Christians friends have a Blessed ,Peaceful and Merry Christmas!
And for non Christian , enjoy this holiday , and enjoy the Christmas sale too! What SALE?
wink wink......

And of course to everyone : May we all have a great NEW YEAR a head!

Warm Greetings from our family to yours

Sandra

Lanolize!

For you who are interested to try wool covers or already are a wool user or just want to know how or what is lanolized is, you can see how do I do . This is not the only "correct" way to do it.This is just my way to do, and I follow the instruction from sheepish grins , the maker of one of the best seller of lanolin products in USA.

Wool covers is something new in cloth diapering world in Malaysia. Before this, me and 2 other moms that I know have try to use wool for months , as you know they are Sharine and Christine. We often chat, and share and give each other tips about wool cover and soakers. Finally less than a month ago I bring in some wool covers to my e-store.

Some other moms might think that wool needs more care than other diaper. And when they heard about lanolizing, they said WHAT? uhmmm no thanks, too complicated.

So I just want to share how do I do it. Again this is just "my way" if you got other way or if you read at some other blogs or website or articles they way they do is slightly different , just follow which one you think suits you better.

To read more about lanolizing and wool cover, you can refer to my previous blog about wool cover.

To make it simple, lanolin comes in 3 different way: Solid, liquid and spray.

The solid one is the most affordable and it can be use for nipple cream, to moisturized chapped or dry skin . If you want to use for other cream rather than only to lanolized your wool, you will need to buy the solid lanolin unscented. Or if you have a left over 100% lanolin base nipple cream that can be use as well.

Here is what you need :
1. Solid lanolin and wool wash or gentle baby shampoo
2. a cup of boiling water ( i boiled it in the microwave )
3. warm tap water
4. small bucket or sink
5. baby wash liquid
6. Clean towel

Since you will need to lanolized less often that you wash your wool cover, it will be nice if you wash your wool cover before you lanolized it.
so here is the steps
1.First wash your wool in luke warm water using Sheepish Grins Wool Soap or Sheepish Grins Foaming Wool Soap. This soap is gentle for your wool but still has all the cleaning power that you need. ( woolite is not recommended to wash your wool cover).See below on how to wash your wool cover.
2.Drain the water
3.Then prepare 1 teaspoon of Sheepish Grins Solid Lanolin mixed with boiling water and a teaspoon of baby wash.

Mix to smooth out any clumps, then add to warm/tepid water.
if you add cool tap water, it might form clumps and this happened to me before.
Make sure the water is not to hot before you put in your wool cover.
4. Add your wool soaker to water and swirl it around. Allow it to soak in the water for a minimum of 15 minutes and as long as 24 hours.

5.Then take a towel, and put the cover in between the towel layers and squeeze out any water excess, and hang dry.

This is imse vimse bumpy wool cover.

Note: if you use knitted or crocheted wools soaker, it must be line dry.
some of wool cover ( like swaddlebees and imse vimse bumpy cover) it can be machine washed in cool. Please read the washing instruction carefully)

If you use liquid lanolin just follow the same steps like the solid lanolin but you don't need to add liquid baby wash.

With creamy spray lanolin:
This is the easiest way to lanolize your wool. After you wash your wool you just spray your soaker inside and out with Sheepish Grins Lanolin Spray. Massage gently into the fibers and allow to dry as usual. No clumps of lanolin anywhere and you can control how much or how little you add to your soaker.

How to wash:
You can wash your wool cover every week or two , or when it is soiled. You can use gentle baby shampoo , but if you use lanolin rich soap it will help to lanolized with each wash you you will need to lanolized left often. I will show you how to use the wool bar soap and the foaming wool foam wash.
With the foam wash , it is easy. Just wet your cover and spray the foamy wool wash in to the wool and rub it gently inside and outside.
With the wool bar soap ( I use the small sample size of wool wash bar) , you need to rub the soap bar to make it lather then you just rub in into the wool cover


or you can also rub the bar directly and gently to to wet wool cover.

Then just rinse with warm water, dry with towel and line/flat dry .

That's about it! And during my recent travel, I found bringing 2 wool covers with me really did help. Since I didn't need to wash it . (lazy mom)

Whatever your choice is : remember , wool or not wool , it is up to you. I just want to show another great way of Cloth diapering. It is all about options , not about trends to follow.

Another bonus from me: want to see My Maya in action of some wool's shorties and soaker?