Finally! We Fixed the Leak

If you've been reading this blog recently, you know that we've been having some problems with leaks.  The most logical culprit was repelling on our diapers and so we decided to strip them.  We just finished the stripping process, and thankfully, we had a successful eyedropper test.  After a bunch of research, we found a process that finally worked!  Our diapers are now absorbing water.  We can finally stop racing beads of water on them. 

I think that if we had known what to do from the start, this wouldn't have turned into such an arduous process.  We've also decided to change our regular laundry routine to try to prevent any residue build up.  Hopefully, we never have to do this again (or at least if we do, we'll get down to business right away and forget about the 7 prewashes).

Here's what we did:
1.  Washed all the inserts with 1 TABLESPOON of Dawn Dish Detergent on hot with an extra rinse.
2.  Rewashed the inserts with no detergent twice.
3.  Ran a rinse and wash cycle to make sure there were no more bubbles.
4.  Air dryed the inserts
5. Tested absorbancy using the eyedropper test.

We are also going to stop using any kind of fabric softener when we wash our "adult" clothes and eliminate dryer sheets. (Thank you husband for finally agreeing to give up your beloved softener!)  To make things simpler, we are also going to use cloth diaper safe detergent for all of our clothes, not use two separate detergents.

A quick note about washing cloth diapers (actually about trying to figure out how to wash them), there is a ton of information on the internet and much of it is contradictory.  I am going to post some links to information that I found helpful.  You'll be able to evaluate the recommendations and choose your routine. 
 
LINKS
http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html
http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm
http://www.diaperpin.com/howto.asp
http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/washing-diapers.htm
http://www.abbyslane.com/faqs.php#Q4
http://www.kellyscloset.com/Cloth-Diaper-Information_ep_34-1.html#washing
http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/troubleshooting-cloth-diaper-leaks/