Stripping Methods
Sometimes diapers just need a good strip. You can tell this when your babies diaper has leaked one to many times, or their used diapers have become just a little too fragrant. There are several ways to test clean diapers for build up. One way is to pour water on an insert or prefold and watch to see if the water beads up and runs off, or soaks in right away. Some microfibers need a little pressure to help them collect the water molecules into their fibers, but a good cotton prefold or flat should soak up moisture right away. Another way to test your diapers is to check while they are on their last rinse in the wash. Open the lid (assuming you have a top-loading washer, for a front loader you can stop a full load with the door closed) and see how long it takes for the bubbles to disappear. Agitation bubbles should dissipate rather quickly, while soap bubbles hang around. This usually means you need at least one more good warm rinse.
Here are some stripping methods you can try when desperate times call for desperate measures.
Here are some stripping methods you can try when desperate times call for desperate measures.
- Wash on HOT with no detergent. Rinse on cold until you can no longer see soap bubbles (the ones that hang around).
- Boil inserts, prefolds and flats for 15-20 minutes. This method can take a while, as most pots can only handle having 2-4 items at a time.
- Toss all of your diapers into your bath tub, fill with HOT water and a teaspoon of Dawn Dish Soap (the good-old original blue kind), use a pair of tongs to move the diapers around while they soak for 1-2 hours. Then ring them out and rinse in the washing machine on warm until the soap bubbles are gone.
- Add a packet of RLR to a HOT wash with all of your stinky diapers. Rinse the Dickens out of your diapers. RLR is safe for all fabrics, including PUL!
- OxiClean can help you strip diapers by removing residue. Toss in a scoop or two to a HOT wash and rinse, rinse, rinse.
- If you're at your wits end when it comes to stinky diapers, try bleaching your inserts, prefolds or flats and rinsing them like crazy! This is a last resort method, as it can ruin your diapers (dont use on PUL fabrics!) and cause rashes if not rinsed out enough.