Posted by KarenC on August 22, 19103 at 07:58:15:
In Reply to: Sensi-Clean/Sportwash detergents posted by karen on August 21, 19103 at 21:25:59:
Hi Karen,
I looked in a couple places online that I thought might carry the Sensi-Clean and I couldn't find it. I also could only find it in US online stores.
A couple thoughts....
Does the detergent have to specifically be an HE detergent or could you use a minicusle quantity of regular detergent? Maybe if you're able to go to regular detergents that might open up the selection you have to try to find something your son doesn't react to.
Try adding vinegar to the rinse cycle (try to make it not the final rinse cycle as you want to make sure it's well rinsed out, just one extra rinse should be sufficient though). I've heard it not only helps reestablish the ph level in diapers but also helps rinse detergent rinse out better.
Could you actually reduce how much HE detergent you use or is that already a pretty small amount (I don't know much about HE washers)?
Could you maybe line the diapers with a disposable liner of some kind to reduce the contact your son has with the diaper? This might help with the rashes...
Have you considered the possibility that this is a yeast rash? If it goes away completly (and stays away) while you use disposables or do mega rinses then it probably isn't but if it tends to go away and come back (especially in the same spot) even if he's in disposables then it may be yeast. If it is then you need to treat your son's skin as well as the diapers. I would take him to the doctor's to get a recomendation for how to treat him and I would iron your diapers to treat them (regular hot water washes won't do it). You can also boil diapers or bleach them but both aren't good for them (the bleach will harm the fabric and the boiling will harm the plastic snaps).
If the mega rinses work (to prevent the rashes) then you might consider sticking with that. I know it appears wasteful (and it is to a certain extent) but don't assume that it's worse than disposables. Disposables use a LOT of water in the manufacturing process (to produce the paper pulp) so they're not automatically better than cloth for water use. I've researched this fairly well and from what I can determine it's unclear how the two compare for water use, the few studies that were done just weren't done properly (didn't take factors like manufacturing into account) so it's difficult to make assertions in that area.
Karen.