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| Hi, my wife and I are currently teaching in Cuba and have many M.E. diapers but are limited in how much stuff we can bring back with us to where we're staying in Cuba. I've bought Nature Clean detergent to wash the diapers with but only a 2kg box as it's so heavey and luggage allowance is limited. My question is that we are there for at least 1 more year and when we run out of this Nature Ease detergent, we won't be able to get anymore down there...SO...what could we do? The only detergent available there is cheap stuff, comparible to the worst detergent you could find in Canada! Does anybody know how much detergent we'd go through with 1 baby on the way soon? Also, how long is it necessary to use this special detergent for? Up to one year old or do you always have to use it when you use M.E. detergent? Hope this makes sense! Thanks for ANY help! |
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| I think your best option is soapnuts!!! They are very light and work wonders on diapers! Enjoy Cuba!! |
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Thanks..I've just started looking at these..never heard of them before..do they actually work or is it one of those 'natural' cleaning products that don't really do as good as a job as regular detergent? Do people swear by soap nuts as a proper cleaning alternative? What about these ones...
http://www.fluffybottombabies.ca/item_94/Kaleys-Soap-Nuts.php
These are Kaleys Soap Nuts. Anyone heard if these are good?
Thanks! |
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| Not sure about these specific ones, but we were a little skeptical at first too, but we've been using them exclusively for the past few months (well, we have a front loader so I make the liquid to use in our machine) and we have had zero issues!! No more stinkies or rashes, no ammonia smell and no need for extra rinses either! We just boil 7-8 nuts in 4 cups of water for 30-45 minutes, drain, and then we use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of liquid for each load of diapers (depending on how many diapers we are washing)... We still do a cold rinse first though to get rid of the excess pee since we dry pail, then we wash on hot using the soapnut liquid as described above... works like a charm! |
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Thanks for your reply...so they actually get rid of a rinsed poopy diaper?? wow....I have to try them...Any recommendations for where to buy (in Canada...)
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| Something to consider is that cheap detergent may not be that bad. Many cloth users actually find that the cheap stuff is good for cloth because it has fewer of the additives, like optical brighteners, dyes, etc. that the premium detergents do. If you do buy local detergent, I wouldn't think you'd have to use anything different than you use with your family's clothes--most people don't, although often detergent problems show up more quickly with diapers just because they are washed so frequently and can be a little harder to rinse thoroughly because of the layers. I don't know about detergent choices in Cuba, but one thing possibly to watch for is bio(logical) vs. non-bio--detergents are labelled that way across Europe, anyway. Bio means with enzymes, which can be good for getting out stains, but are sometimes a little harsh for baby's skin. |
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| Hey also, for the first six months, or as long as baby is exclusively breastfed, baby poop is super water-soluable. It's only with solids or formula that it starts getting ickier. |
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I have to agree with aavt, there isn't really any need for any 'special' detergent when using cloth and the cheap stuff can actually be better for cloth... Cheaper detergents don't necessarily clean badly, they just often don't have all the 'fancy' stuff that more expensive brands do. And if you're worried about baby's skin, they could be better for that too since those same ingredients are also what could irritate baby's skin.
That said, some people do have to be careful which detergent they use (and especially how much of it they use) because it can build-up in diapers and cause problems like nasty odors. It's kind of counterintuitive to use less detergent on something that we see as very 'dirty' but it's true. Honestly though, I wouldn't complicate your life with that right now and just use whatever you'll be using on regular family laundry. Just make sure it doesn't have bleach or fabric softener (those are the big no-nos in cloth diaper laundry) and don't worry about the rest. I personally don't even really believe in using special detergent for baby clothing unless you actually see that he/she actually has a problem...
In fact, some eco-friendly detergents aren't recomended for cloth diapers since they're plant based cleaners (heavy in citrus or coconut oil for example) and those can build-up in diapers and cause various issues (smell or repelling for example). Nature Clean is ok (based on the diaper detergent chart here: <A href="http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm">http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm</A>). At least I'm assuming you meant Nature Clean, it's a popular eco-friendly brand and I've never heard of Nature Ease before.
All that said, if you do want to use something 'special' I would also recomend soap-nuts! Great for leaving no residue and being very gentle on skin as well as the environment. Lots of online stores carry it too so you could probably have it shipped to you in Cuba.
Something else to consider is maybe making your own detergent with what's available in Cuba. It's not really that complicated (although I can't speak from experience to be honest) and you'd know exactly what was in your detergent. Loads of recipes online, I'd just be careful with those that use pure soap (like Fels Naptha or bar soap) as those don't rinse well enough for cloth diaper use.
Karen. |
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Thanks for all the replies...Believe it or not Cuba is very difficult to find basic supplies so making your own detergent would be a futile scavenger hunt for ingredients! But a nice tip nonetheless..yes I meant Nature Clean as the detergent we're trying out now before we go down; however, I can't seem to find anything negative online about soap nuts and have now turned my sister onto this as well...these things sound too good to be true...2 questions about soap nuts though:
1) Does it matter the 'quality' of soap nut depending on where you buy them from? ie. which online store is better? Is one soap nut the same as any other? Are there different 'grades' etc.?
2) Do they store well? I mean, if we bring down with us 5 kg of bags of soap nuts..will they keep ok or do they go 'bad' after a while? I'm asking because its not possible for us to have things delivered to us in Cuba (the government is funny that way)so we'd have to load up our suitcases as best as we can.
Thanks! |
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As far as I know there's no difference in quality of nuts (but then I don't claim to be an expert on them so I could be wrong). There does seem to be differences in terms of some places selling pieces of soap nuts while others sell whole nuts but far as I know this doesn't change the way they work...
I believe they do store well. I've had a bag of soap nuts in my laundry room for almost two years and the nuts are still fine. A little goes a long way so they last a long time. I've just been waiting to get rid of my huge stock-up of cheap detergent before using them for everything...
I agree, soap nuts sounded too good to be true to me as well. But so far they've lived up to the hype in my experience. The only thing that makes them less than perfect (from a 'green' perspective) is the fact that they do have to be transported a very long distance which isn't exactly eco-friendly. That and we don't really know what effect growing these trees would have on the local ecosystem if they were as popular as mainstream detergents. Other than that, they seem pretty amazing!
I had a friend that lived in Cuba for several years and I was sure that she had hard to find stuff delivered to her through family/friends every so often but I could be wrong. I know they brought a HUGE amount of stuff with them in shipping crates but then they had it paid for by the government (she was working for the embassy down there).
Some homemade detergent recipes are really simple, one I used for a while was just washing soda and Simple Green. Simple Green would probably be impossible to find there but maybe washing soda would be easier since it's such a basic ingredient?? And then the Simple Green could always be substituted for a local all-purpose cleaner of some kind? Or even maybe get the washing soda (or maybe Borax) to boost the power of local laundry detergents if you find they're not enough? You could also bring along a bottle or two of tea tree oil to use as a natura disinfectant if you're concerned about cleaning/disinfecting power (either of local detergents or the soap nuts).
Another thought is that you will have one advantage living there and that's the sun! UV rays are great natural disinfectants and their stain removing power is nothing short of amazing!!
Karen.
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Thanks Karen..
Yes embassy people do get a lot more advantages then we do unfortunately...but we'll see what we can bring down with us, though baby seems to be demanding more and more luggage space! Anyway, here is an interesting article I found about the soap nuts quality etc. though the guy is obviously biased to his own company. Just out of curiosity where did you buy your soap nuts from? Is there one company better than another..or is price the main factor?
Thanks!
here's the article:
http://www.articlesbase.com/nature-articles/a-soap-nut-is-not-just-a-soap-nut-625441.html |
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Hmm, interesting article. It's worth noting that someone researched it a little and found that NaturOli had the lowest prices she could find. She was even suspicious about the legitimacy of the business because of it!!
I bought mine from a small 'natural baby' type store locally and they'd gotten them from Naturemporeum. But they don't sell them anymore... I'm waiting a bit till my stock of detergent runs out so I'm not sure where I'll buy them from. Might check out NaturOli if their shipping prices aren't too bad.
Karen. |
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| Yes..NaturOil sounds good..but I think they are in the states...for me I'm in Canada so.... |
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Yes, they're in the US. But most US stores will ship to Canada and if their prices are that cheap it might be worth it. Not sure about other Canadian stores...
Karen. |
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