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/

New Trick for Stripping

Our attempts to strip our diapers haven't led to a successful eyedropper test yet. :( 

Luckily, another blog that I follow posted stripping tips.  Click on the title of this post and it will take you to the article to visit.  I found this extremely helpful and we plan to wash them with Dawn dish detergent.

Stripping!

No, it's not my new job, but I've been doing it to our cloth dipes for 2 days. Adelaide's diapers have been leaking an awful lot, so we decided to do some tests on our diapers. My husband took several of our inserts and ran them under the faucet. Sure enough, there was a lot of beading water with runoff. Definitely not a good feature for a diaper. This means that the diaper is not absorbing liquid as it should. This is usually because a buildup developed on the cotton, from detergents, minerals, etcetera. So, in order to get the absorbancy back, you have to get rid of the residue.

This leads to the stripping, it sounds pretty harsh, but it basically means that you have to wash, wash, wash your diapers. I did a lot of internet research on stripping diapers a few weeks ago after we had quite a bit of residue left on a few of our inserts when we did laundry in a different machine. The general consensus for stripping was hot water washes (4-6), NO detergent, and add vinegar to the rinse cycle if you want. Everything that I read says that stripping is required as regular maintenance for your diapers. I'm thinking that it's a little like getting the car's oil changed, only, I'm not sure how you tell when you hit the 3000 mile mark for diapers.

We have a front loading machine (Maytag 3000 series) and this is how I've done it.
Cycle One: Sanitary Cycle with extra rinse-no detergent, 1/4 cup vinegar (placed in the fabric softener opening)
Cycle Two: Whitest Whites Cycle with extra rinse-no detergent, no vinegar
Cycle Three: Quick Wash Cycle (hot) with extra rinse-no detergent, no vinegar
Took them out and hung to dry.

My husband retested several inserts and we still had beading and runoff, so washing more today.
Cycle Four: Quick Wash Cycle (hot) with extra rinse-no detergent, 1/4 c vinegar
Cycle Five: Quick Wash Cycle (hot) with extra rinse- no detergent, no vinegar

The diapers are currently drying, so stay tuned for news to see if this stripping strategy worked.

I think the thing to know about diapers and laundry is that it takes a little bit of experimentation to get the right routine, manageable, yet gets your diapers clean. Perhaps we need to alter our regular washing routine a bit to make sure that our diapers are getting clean.