Learn an overview of creating a perfect cloth washing routine. It's much easier than you think!

 

First step, and arguably the most important, is figuring out what your water hardness is. This is extremely important due to the way laundry detergent works, Which I will cover in an additional post. This can be done by using at home pool test strips (I get mine on sale at the end of pool season!), by ordering hardness tests online, or even by taking a water sample straight into a local pet store that has a fish area! It is important to test your hardness either directly from your washer or at the closest faucet, as minerals may deposit from your pipes differently in other areas of the house. 

 

Now that you know your hardness, let's pick a detergent. The harder your water is, the stronger your detergent must be. A cloth approved detergent will consist of surfactants and enzymes, both of which are designed specifically to break down waste (pee and poop). For more info, please refer to a dedicated site such as cleanclothnappies.com.

 

Hard Water (150-200+ PPM):

Tide Powder, Ariel Powder, and Foca (not for HE machines) are all good options. Powder detergents tend to perform better in hard water due to the softeners they already have in their ingredient list. 

 

Medium Water (60-150 PPM):

Tide liquid, Oxiclean liquid, Arm and Hammer, and Xtra all work well. If your hardness is closer to the 150 range, you may end up needed additional softeners (borax, calgon) with these.

 

Soft Water (0-60 PPM):

Tide powder or liquid (use a MUCH smaller dose than you think you need.. like less than line 1 in both washes), Persil, Seventh Generation, Kirkland free and clear. Most plant based detergent will work as long as they have the correct surfactants and enzymes needed to wash out waste. 

 

After choosing a detergent, the rest is fairly easy. Based on your detergent and hardness, you will need to use a specific amount of detergent. Please refer to a dedicated cleaning group for proper dosing. Every load of diaper laundry will consist of two washes: a prewash and a main wash. 

 

Prewash: 

General recommendation is hot water, a quick wash or full cycle, no extra rinse, and 1/2 of your amount of detergent.

Main Wash:

Add some baby clothes, kitchen towels, underwear/socks, or anything small to the load. Peal all laundry off the sides of the drum to "fluff" it back up. Choose the longest cycle setting on your washer, your preferred temp, full amount of detergent, no extra rinse (unless you have 0PPM water. You may need to do an occasional extra rinse in that case)

Everything should come out of the wash smelling neutral. Not poopy or like ammonia, but also not heavily of detergent. 

 

After your washes are complete, you will either hang dry everything (the sun is a natural stain remover so this is amazing if you are experiencing any staining!) or move your inserts into the dryer on medium heat and hang dry anything with PUL (covers, pockets, pods, wetbags, changing mats, so on). PUL can not go in the dryer with heat as the heat can delaminate it, thus destroying the waterproofing feature.