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I was doing some shopping at Zehrs, saw this detergent and was wondering if anybody has ever tried it on diapers?? There is a link for it:
<A href="http://www.shopnontoxic.com/naturecleanliving/detail.aspx?ID=79">http://www.shopnontoxic.com/naturecleanliving/detail.aspx?ID=79</A>
It says on it that it is safe for baby clothes, that is has a washing soda base and doesn't contain any brighteners, dyes, perfumes, etc...
Sounds like it would be a great detergent, but I wanted to check if anyone had experimented with it!!
TIA!!
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I used to use this detergent on my clothes all the time (before the Simple Green recipe) and it worked great. I tried it once on my diapers and after a couple of weeks I had some minor odor issues (very minor I must say). But I can't necessarily attribute that to the detergent because I was also experimenting with cold or warm water washes so that might have been the culprit.
I've been hesitant to experiment with it for two reasons. Some 'environmental' detergents are often thought to not be 'strong' enough for cloth diapers. I don't necessarily know that this is always true but I guess I just can't be bothered, especially now that I use the Simple Green recipe with so much success (plus I think it's cheaper and probably just as environmentally friendly). Another reason is that it's vegetable based (corn to be specific) and this means that it can act like a pure soap and build up on diapers.
This website has a review of tons of detergents and does talk about Nature Clean products: http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm
They say the liquid version should be avoided because it has castille soap in it. And the powder version has surfactants derived from corn which can be bad for yeast. She mentions in other places on the website that corn based surfactants can act as soap but for some reason only mentions the yeast thing for this particular detergent. She also lists it as two red stars (red means 'avoid').
Anyway, all that to say that it might be ok, but it's not something I wanted to chance, especially when I have another great alternative. It's great for clothes though...
Karen.
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Tried it (the liquid version) and poor DS got a rash that looked like a sunburn all over his bits where the pee touched him. It was terrible and took days to clear up - we switched to 'sposies and tried barrier creams and air time. It hurt him.
It was only then that I read not to use it as as per that site quoted by pp. I stripped my diapers and went back to my old detergent and we haven't had the rash again since.
I use that detergent for our clothes, though. No problems for anyone. |
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Karen,
can you, please, write the Simple Green recipe? I don't know which detergent to buy for cloth diapers and making my own sounds like good idea. That is, if you are still satisfied with this recipe...
Thanks |
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| yeah i was wondering about that simple green thing as well. i just started using tide f&c powdered on the dipes today and they come out cleaner than they did with the other stuff. i am using 1/8 cup despite my dh telling me to use the whole scoop that comes in the box. but after this is out, i want to switch to something that is way cheap and works well. something tells me that i will be getting way more than 40loads of laundry for this box of detergent. |
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I no longer use the Simple Green recipe but it's not because I was no longer satisfied with it (it always worked wonderfully to clean the diapers and never had to worry about build-up). I quit for a number of reasons, one of which was that my girls started getting a horrible diaper rash and I suspected it was because of the Simple Green. Looking back I don't still believe this was the case since they've had the same nasty rash with multiple other detergents.
There's also new information that came out later on about how Simple Green had at least one less than safe ingredient in it. Simple Green marketed themselves as non-toxic (many felt that this ingredient qualified as toxic, although it's really all about what definition you use for toxic since there's no real legal definition) so it was a bit of a controversy. Personally I question how this one less-than-perfect ingredient compares to the probably many less-than-perfect ingredients in mainstream detergents. Basically my impression is that although not perfect, Simple Green is surely no worse than any other mainstream detergent or cleaner (and probably vastly better than some).
Still, I never did go back to the recipe. Partly lingering suspicion, partly due to the rash but largely because that's when I discovered soap nuts. Figured you couldn't get more natural and safe than that...
But for those still curious it was pretty simple. Just 2-4 'squirts' of Simple Green (all-purpose cleaner concentrate) and 2-3 tablespoons of washing soda. Put both directly into wash with diapers and that's it...
Karen.
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| Thank you So, what detergent do you suggest? Something ok, but not too pricey |
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Personally I love soap nuts. No build-up, very economical (even if you have to order online and pay for shipping), works well, totally natural and very flexible (if you're so inclined you could boil them to make an all-purpose cleaning liquid to use for anything from laundry, to dishes, to your bathtub and even your hair!
That said, really any old detergent will do fine so I'd usually recomend using whatever you already use for clothing. As long as there isn't any build-in bleach, bleach alternative or fabric softener then it should be fine. Just reduce how much you use (never more than 1/4- 1/2 of the 'recomended' amount) and it should be fine.
There is a risk that it could cause build-up but as long as you reduce the quantity I think it's worth that small risk in order to keep things simple. Especially if you have a new baby plus trying something new with cloth diapers. If need be you can switch later on but most people do fine with regular detergent. You wouldn't know it to look at some online forums I know, but think of it this way, only people having issues are going to post on such forums. There are tons of others out there doing just fine that you never hear from.
That said, if you do want something else, I'd highly recomend the soap nuts. Others here have also been happy with Country Save or Charlie's Soap but I can't speak from experience there...
Karen. |
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Great! I'll be using Astra (from ALDI) then. I heard it's good (of all bad things it only contains brighteners) and it's soo cheap
Thanks! |
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I have been using Nature Clean for probably 2 years now. I use it on diapers and regular laundry. I really love it! I use the powdered detergent on diapers (tried liquid and it took a lot of rinses to get the suds out).
I do also add 1/2 the recommended amount of Amaze (by Sunlight) to the cold pre-rinse. (Motherease recommended Amaze on one of their info sheets.) With just the Amaze in the pre-rinse and the full amount of powdered Nature Clean detergent in a hot wash, I've had absolutely no problem with odours or buildup. (I use the full scoop of detergent because we have very hard water. Oh, and I also have a top loader.) I use a mix of cotton, bamboo and PUL. |
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