Comments on: What kind of detergent do you use for cloth diapers?

By: SusanP

SusanP — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:57:59 +0000

I always used Ivory Snow or Ivory Flakes, but that was 40 years ago. I’d still recommend them or the greenest one that you can find for both uses.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:56:26 +0000

We are using Charlie’s Soap for everything right now. My husband is allergic to something in Tide. I bought a small bag to try it out since I didn’t want to make a huge investment if my husband or the baby ended up having a reaction to it. Baby is due next week so we’ll see how she does with it (we’re cloth diapering as well). Husband LOVES it!! Once we have established that no one is going to have a reaction to it I plan on buying the biggest container they have.

Just wanted to mention that lots of cloth diapering mom’s I have talked to gave up on the “specialty” detergents and just wash everything in original Tide powder or make their own.

By: Mrs. Money

Mrs. Money — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:02:49 +0000

I’ve used Dr. Bronner’s on regular laundry and it’s been fine. You can get the unscented baby mild to try (they sell travel sized bottles at Target). :)

By: Brandy

Brandy — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:15:40 +0000

I remembered reading this from Trent at The Simple Dollar. He uses washing soda and Simple Green.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/06/28/reader-mailbag-impromptu-travel/

By: Donna Freedman

Donna Freedman — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:51:11 +0000

I cloth-diapered a little over 30 years ago and used original Tide. It worked fine.
Good luck! Cloth diapering isn’t as bad as some people make it out to be. Huge money-saver, in my opinion.
I’ve read articles online about making your own diapers. One clever woman made her own covers/soakers by buying 100% wool sweaters at garage sales/thrift shops, felting them, and sewing covers from the felt. They breathe but prevent all but the worst leaks — and as you know, you change cloth diapers more often than paper ones so major leak-throughs would be the exception rather than the rule.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:24:41 +0000

We love Ecos laundry detergent, I can do 100 loads for $7.99. Add a little borax to that for diapers and wash on hot. I do all our other clothes on cold. Soap nuts also work well, and both are very earth friendly and fairly priced too.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 04:52:44 +0000

We use Allen’s Naturally for all our laundry. Switched when we started cloth diapering and now that we are out of diapers, it’s still all I use. LOVE it. We buy a gallon which is about $50 but it lasts us for over a year. Our current bottle was purchased last November and I still have 1/4 of it left.

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 04:44:16 +0000

In reply to joanna.

Joanna – Have you joined Amazon Mom yet? You can probably get free shipping on Charlie’s liquid at least for a few months. And once your Prime membership runs out, you can probably get free Super Saver shipping if you order $25 worth at a time. That is, of course, if you find that All doesn’t work. I hope you’re able to use All though, because that would be so much easier.

By: joanna

joanna — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 00:00:18 +0000

The local cloth diapering company swears that All Free & Clear works just fine with diapers, and that’s what we already use- so I plan to give that a try first. We’re on a septic system, and all the specialty “cloth diapering” detergents seem to be powders, which we’re not supposed to use with the septic system. I know at least Charlie’s does come in liquid form, but I’m not about to pay shipping on a heavy bottle of detergent- so, we need to find a locally-available liquid alternative. Hopefully the Free & Clear works for us!

By: Bobbi

Bobbi — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 21:03:57 +0000

I used a product called Dreft. It was 22 years ago but it worked ok. Not sure how ‘green’ it is though. You could try it and see, they have a $2.00 off coupon on the site. :) I am not much help either I am afraid. :)