|
|
|
|
|
|
Costco has a new green laundry product called Ecos. I've been using it on my clothes for a couple of weeks with good results in both warm- and cold-water washes. It seems like it would work well on diapers, but I'm wondering whether anybody has tried it yet. If I don't get any feedback then I'll experiment on my own once DS arrives (any day now).
With DD, I found my way to soap nuts. I've debated ordering more of them, but the Ecos product is less than half the cost per load ($13 for 200+ loads of regular laundry in my FL). Plus, Ecos works with my cold-water laundry without making tea. Thanks in advance! |
|
|
|
I don't have personal experience with this detergent but it's listed as a detergent to avoid on this cloth diaper detergent chart:
http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm
It doesn't have any 'bad' ingredients like enzymes, optical brighteners or fabric softeners but there is a note that states that it can act like a soap and leave a residue especially in hard water.
For the soap nuts I'd look around for a better price perhaps. Because although the cheapest I've found can't beat $13 for 200 loads, it's nowhere near twice that price. I've seen $25-$27 for a 1Kg bag that will do 300+ loads (I then save the used nuts to make a liquid so it goes even further). They're getting more popular so it's worth trying to find them locally, I recently saw some at a small local health food store.
Karen. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks for the tip. I ordered a kilo of soapnuts for delivery next week, because none of the local stores carry them. Even though the price per load is much higher, I hated having build-up problems with DD's diaps. (Best price I could find for US delivery was 32 oz for $35, including shipping.)
P.S. I've got a few lingering questions about using the soapnuts, and I've posted them in a new thread.
|
|
|
|
Sounds about right for the price including shipping. It's the shipping that kills you everytime!
If you find you go through a lot (like if you start using it for regular laundry and/or making a liquid for general cleaning) or maybe if you find a friend to split the purchase with you then it might be worthwhile buying 2-3 bags at a time. You'd save a lot on shipping that way.
Saving the used nuts will also make your purchase more worthwhile. Even though they're no longer 'good' enough for using in the machine you can boil them and still get a heck of a lot of cleaning power out of them (either use the liquid in the machine instead of whole nuts or use it as a general household cleaner - lots use it to wash dishes, windows, tubs etc... One poster a while ago used it on her shower tiles and said it worked better than Tilex!
Karen. |
|
|
|
Hi econprofessor, Yes I have been using the Costco Ecos Magnolia & Lily on diapers and baby clothes since roughly last June and am still on my first jug so about 240 days/loads (I wash daily)!
I noticed that Karen's link was from 2008. This site may or may not be more current (copyright 2010 at the bottom): http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html
It shows the Ecos free and clear as being an excellent choice but at the bottom that the Magnolia and Lily is still being investigated.
I don't think my diapers have any issues. I try to run a sanitary cycle on them about 2x a month though or when I notice they are starting to smell. |
|
|
|
This is absolutly the kind of thing that only personal experience will say absolutly for certain what will or won't work. Lots (probably even the majority) of cloth users use detergents listed everywhere as no-nos and never have problems. While others will use heavily recomended detergents and hate them.
Thanks for the newer link, I'm definetly bookmarking it. Just wanted to add that I noted that their rating system is based solely on the number of 'offending' ingredients like enzymes, brighteners etc... The link I had also stated that Ecos had none of these ingredients but also said that it's formulation sometimes made it behave more like a pure soap and that this was the source of the low rating. Of course, a formulation change could also be the reason, who knows...
Karen. |
|
|
|
Hmmm, now I'm really confused. Although my link says "updated March 2008" at the top, if you read the paragraph notes at the bottom she refers to new detergents being formulated with better enzymes (that wouldn't irritate skin) "now in early 2010". She also refers to a Jan/Feb 2010 Mothering article. So I'd think she was still updating parts of the page, but either not updating the statement at the top or not updating the chart itself???? See, that's the issue I have with charts like this, unless one stays on top of things they could be completly useless!
Karen. |
|
|
|
Econprofessor, sounds like you've already ordered the soap nuts, which do sound like a good thing to use if you've already had success with them previously, but I just wanted to say that although it can be really useful to read the detergent charts, etc., I usually just figure that it's worth trying what you have, being open to change if you start to have problems with your diapers. Although it's never nice to have problems, there's really very little that you can't undo with a few hot, hot washes.
Meisu, personally, I would consider doing a sanitary cycle twice a month because of smell a probable indication that the detergent isn't perfect, either because it isn't strong enough, or, more likely, because of its soap tendencies that may be more prone to build-up. The extra-hot water of the sanitary cycle helps shift the soap deposits from previous washes.
That being said, the search for the "perfect" detergent can be an expensive, over-analyzed pain in the backside, so if doing the sanitary cycle runs allow it to work, I'd probably stick with it, too. I'm only mentioning this because Econprofessor asked about the detergent and to me that's a slight red flag (again, though, there could be all sorts of different factors, like water type, water-heater setting, etc., involved). |
|
|
|
We used to use that soap and really loved it, but started having wicking issues with our diapers. The soap has built in fabric softener which, I didn't learn until after using it on my diapers, isn't recommended because it can causing wicking issues.
We use Charlie's Soap and really love it. Soap nuts are good too, but I find them messy if the bag opens in the wash.
Good luck! |
|
|
|
| aavt - I realized that after I typed that that having to run pretty regular sanitary cycles was probably a red flag. Oh well. As you said, searching for the right detergent could take a long time considering finishing one bottle before opening another. The ME instructions mention Ivory Snow but I found it full of fragrance. I was pretty happy with just the PC/no name brand of sensitive detergent for the baby clothes but I just bought another jug of the Ecos so I'll be using that for awhile. |
|
|
|
|
