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I have the cotton all-in-ones and have been using Nature Clean laundry detergent, along with a tablespoon of borax to wash them (for the last five months). It's not that my son is unhappy in them but they feel so rough. I have felt other people's cloth diapers (both MotherEase and other brands) and they are downy soft. Is it my laundry detergent? Is it borax (I was using about 1/4 cup)? I have also tried using vinegar, which I read on this forum is a natural softner but it didn't seem to make a difference. And I tried a "natural" fabric softner but it didn't help and made his diapers smell like ammonia.
So has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone else use Nature Clean? And if you had a similar problem, what brand laundry soap did you switch to? Or did you change something else? Note: I want to continue using an environmental detergent, which I think is better for my son's skin and the environment, even if it means a few stained diapers.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Dana |
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Do you line dry your diapers? Line drying is great to save energy and extend the life of your diapers but it does make them pretty crunchy. You can always try a combination of both to help make them softer, like by line drying about 3/4 of the way and then finishing up in the dryer. Or the opposite and drying them maybe halfway in the dryer and finishing up on the line.
If you already dry in the dryer, maybe it's just that your diapers are getting old(er)? As cotton ages it gets less and less soft (surface fibers wearing off) so it's natural that if you feel older diapers compared to new diapers they'll feel much rougher. I wouldn't expect them to get all that much rougher in just 5 months (it would be noticeable against a new diaper but not otherwise) if you bought them new but if they were used already???
Another possibility is mineral build-up if you have hard water. A water softener like Calgon can help remove the build-up and prevent it from coming back. Soaking in a strong vinegar solution could also help (like 4-5 cups or more in the washer).
I don't think it's your detergent. It's true that detergent can build-up but I don't think it would make a noticeable difference in the softness of the fabric. Stripping them couldn't hurt if you want to try it though, just give them a couple hot washes with no detergent. As hot as possible (use a sanitary cycle if you have it for example, make sure the water going into the washer is hot by running a nearby tap till it's hot) and as much water as possible. If you have an HE washer you can try tricks like doing a pre-rinse without spinning or adding a wet towel to the load (both of these add weight to fool the washer into using more water). You can even add hot water directly into an HE washer by pouring it into the detergent drawer.
If none of that helps and the crunchiness really bothers you (as you said, it's probably not bothering your son), you can try a fleece liner in the diaper. Fleece stays really soft even when line dried plus it has the added bonus of keeping skin dry, protecting against stains and making poopy diaper clean-up easier.
HTH,
Karen. |
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| I have also had my diapers about 5 months (Bamboo MEOS) and use NatureClean. I would agree that they are not as soft as when I got them, but I would in no way consider them crunchy. I dry in the dryer for 20 min and then hang to dry the rest of the way (the 20 min is so that they dry overnight. |
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Hi Karen... I use the dryer at the moment and I bought the diapers new 5 months ago. It isn't the hardness of the water either as my neighbours' diapers are much softer. I do have a sanitary cycle on my washing machine but haven't tried washing them without detergent and only with about 3/4 cups vinegar. I will try adding 4 or 5 cups of vinegar and more water to my next wash. But this is something I should only have to do occasionally right?
-- Dana Dana |
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Yes, mine aren't truly "crunchy". Just rough. Do you soak your diapers and use borax or just use a dry pail system.
-- Dana Dana |
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| No, I don't do anything fancy... I just spray of the chunks and use a dry pail. I know I'm bad, but I don't even use hot water regularly, just a regular cold wash. Once ina while (like maybe 3 times total so far) I have used a hot cycle, just for good measure. |
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Hmmm, that is puzzling. I wouldn't expect that such new diapers would be rough at all yet, no matter what the circumstances, especially that you dry in the dryer. Are they literally rough to the touch or just in comparison to your neighbour's diapers?
Maybe your neighbour uses a water softener (either Calgon or a water softening machine). Or if you're on wells, even neighbours can have not insignificant variations in hardness. I wouldn't necessarily expect it but it's not impossible. Are her diapers the same age as yours and the same fabric? If hers are bamboo and yours cotton then that can make a big difference.
I definetly would say that stripping with vinegar and hot water is something usually done only very rarely. It's definetly not part of regular 'maintenace' of cloth diapers for most people. I wouldn't expect detergent build-up to render diapers rough but that in combination with mineral build-up might and both would be helped by the vinegar. Although if it's mineral build-up from hard water the best thing would be a little Calgon to soften the water.
Karen. |
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They are rough to the touch and MUCH rougher than my neighbours', who also uses the cotton MotherEase. And I live in Toronto so my neighbours and I are all using the same water. Maybe it's the borax. I'm going to stop using it and just add a little laundry detergent to my pail instead. And do the vinegar stripping with my next load. Thanks again.
Dana |
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I wouldn't recomend adding detergent to your pail. I know Mother-Ease does (or used to, do they still??), but I don't think it's a good idea. It's not necessary and can easily lead to detergent build-up. Most of the time odors aren't bad enough to worry about adding anything at all to the pail, especially with a good fitting lid, but if they ever do become a problem you can sprinkle a little baking soda inside.
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If you want to wet pail, plain water really works fine. Or maybe a few drops of TTO? I initially added things, but the only real problem I had with build-up was when I added detergent to my wet pail.
Otherwise, I'd think about a dry pail. The switch really did improve my quality of life re. diapering, and the results are just fine. I tried it once and didn't like it, but that's because I was skimping on the pre-rinse. Once I did that, I've been dry pailing happily ever since.
I agree that diapers really shouldn't be rough to the touch. I line-dry mine, so they are a bit stiff at first, but even then they soften when warmed, and even the ones that are 5 years old are very soft and pliable on the rare occasion they go through the dryer. |
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Thanks everyone for your help. I talked to my neighbour, who uses an ordinary washing machine, scrubs stains with Sunlight and Spray and wash, washes on hot and adds a Bounce sheet to the dryer. Since I don't want to use harsh chemicals, I'm not going to go that route. Instead, I tried adding a wet towel to my last wash to trick my HE washer into using more water and added 4 cups of vinegar. Alas, it appears to have made no difference. But I am going to go to a dry pail system (my dry hands say thank-you) since maybe the prolonged soaking (especially with borax) was damaging the fibers? If so, hopefully not beyond repair and someday my little guy will know the joy of soft cotton next to his skin!
Dana |
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| The things I have noticed that make the biggest difference in our diapers' softness are vinegar in the rinse, drying on a lower temperature, and using Biokleen liquid detergent rather than powdered (the only direct detergent comparison I have made, I know that's not the kind you said you use, but, for reference.) I think I read somewhere that non-chlorine bleach can make the diapers a little rougher, so maybe that's why the different detergent formulations gave different results? Could be that the Borax does the same thing? Also, if we line dry, it helps a lot to dry 10 minutes in the dryer first. Good luck! |
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