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I've been using MEOS since my 4 1/2-month-old was born. Just recently he started to get quite a bit of diaper rash. We used Aveeno diaper rash cream in the past and it cleared up right away, now it is not working at all. We moved recently and now have an HE machine. We use less detergent, but I noticed that this machine doesn't have a hot rinse - is that what is causing the problems? We're changing him just as regularly (quite often) and we also use plain cloth wipes with warm water. Help!
Kristen |
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Do the diapers smell at all? Is this diaper rash the same as past ones, or different?
It's possible that the new machine is part of the issue. If you're paying by the cycle it gets harder, but if it's your own washer, you have ways of playing around with things. If you don't have a hot rinse and think that might help (and it might), maybe you could run a hot quick cycle (if you have that option)? If you're using less detergent, are you using maybe 1/2 of the recommended HE amount? It seems like so little, but many people err on the side of too much. Some people find that putting the detergent into the pre-wash works better for them, because then they have the hot regular wash cycle to continue working the detergent out of the clothes.
You can't tell an HE machine to use more water, but one thing that you can do, even if you dry pail, is to wet down your diapers before putting them into the machine (or maybe easier, wet them down in the machine before you get things going). This will make them weigh more, and thus the washer will think it's a bigger load and use more water on them. |
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| Is it possible that its a yeast rash? |
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Thanks - I will try that with our machine and will use less detergent. The diapers have been smelling a teeny bit like ammonia so I also want to strip them, but I heard that when you use Country Save (which is my detergent) then you don't need to strip. How do you usually go about stripping them?
Kristen |
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If they smell like ammonia, that's often a clue that you may have some buildup. When DS#1 was 3 months old, I used detergent in my wet pail and had ammonia stink, and he got a bizarre rash that didn't really seem to respond--it was blotchy and almost like a mild burn. (On a side note, I also think that the diaper cream I was using wasn't mild enough for him, so I was exacerbating the rash issue. Once I switched to a milder cream, it was better. I don't know Aveeno, but I suspect it's pretty mild stuff, but I just thought I'd mention that, too.)
In that case, I don't think I had severe buildup issues, and one round through the washer on hot with vinegar but no detergent seemed to really help.
I, too, use Country Save, and have been pretty happy with it. After moving back to the US last summer I tried a couple of recommended detergents and ended up with horribly stinky diapers. I think it was a lot of factors between water type, washing machine, etc., but Country Save seems to be a pretty happy detergent for me, with a HE machine. It says to use half a scoop (powder) for HE, and I use 1/2 of that. Doesn't seem like it should be enough, but it has been keeping my diapers clean.
Typically stripping involves washing in the hottest water possible without detergent. Sometimes adding (or soaking in) vinegar can help to break the chemicals bonds causing the buildup. With a TL, it's easy to dump in a pot of boiling water to get the water really hot, but not so easy with a FL. If you have a sanitary cycle or something like that, you could run your diapers through that without detergent and see if it helps. Something like vinegar might help and probably isn't going to hurt, so you could try maybe pouring a whole bunch of vinegar over your diapers in the machine. They'll soak it up, so it will add to the weight, causing higher water levels, and then you'll have it swishing around with your hot water. (And if you really want to, you could heat the vinegar first and carefully tip it in, assuming the door is wide enough.) If the sanitary cycle seems to help, maybe it's something you could do once a month or so, just to stay on top of things.
I've found that I need to use the sanitary cycle on my diapers in nearly every load, but that's because I have an on-demand water heater, and it takes so long to get hot water that I am never really washing clothes in hot. So unless I involve the washer's internal heater, I don't get hot water. Likely not an issue for most. One thing you can do is run a nearby tap until the water gets hot, and then switch on your washing machine, so you are getting the hottest possible water. |
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Thanks so much for the tips! I will try all of them and see if that helps. I love CDing and want to continue so these tips are great!!
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I have a HE machine and the best tip I was ever given on this board was to use soap nuts instead of detergent. I struggled with trying to find the right detergent and the right amount and then was trying to rinse out the soap from my diapers with both of my children and now I don't have any issues whatsoever with the soap nuts. I boil them and then use the water right where you pour the detergent. I have a great routine with my diapers and have it all figured out but now son is 17 months so I wish I had it all figured out so much sooner! Not to say that I've had a lot of issues, it's just that the soap nuts make it so much better.
Lona E |
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I've read a lot of people have issues with washing and FL. Part of its cause the water levels not as high, and soap amounts are diff. Something else that could be causing the issue is maybe a buildup of cream. Aveeno is known to build up on cloth diapers according to some (I've never used it) so maybe its a build up of the cream ext (especially if your not getting a really hot wash to "melt" the remaining cream out.
For those that dont have super hot cycles I know some that take a large pot(like a canning pot) and soak their diapers in there on the stove to get the water super hot.
A lot will also depend on how hard your water is, I know when I was in Florida this past winter (I'm from Canada) I couldnt get over how hard the water was and how hard it was to get soap to rinse right even off our hands (we used disposables while we were away couldnt imagine trying to wash them while we were on holidays) |
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I ended up stripping the diapers and that completely solved our problem. Obviously it was some kind of build-up, probably detergent. I'll be doing that every few months now.
Thanks everyone for your tips!
Kristen |
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Just as a tip. One thing that can help avoid build up is using hot water to get the soap out. I find that my front loader even on hot never gets that hot, and the only cycle that the machine internally heats the water is that Sanitary one, which is very long.
So now, I use my electric tea kettle every time I wash. While my clothes are nearing the end of the prerinse I boil a kettle full of water. Then after I start the hot wash/cold rinse cycle and the machine has added the water it's going to add for the wash, I open the detergent dispenser and slowly pour in the tea kettle water.
I've found this really helps, that I can use even less detergent and my diapers seem so clean and smell great.Kathy |
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