Friday, September 6, 2013

Cloth Safe Laundry Detergents

Cloth Safe Laundry Detergents 

Every one that uses cloth diapers on their little ones I'm sure is aware that you can only use certain detergents on your diapers. Right? Well not always, so that's why i wanted to write a blog on what detergents ARE in fact safe and what detergents are not. 


We in our house have very very HARD water. There for we find the only thing that works well for us is a mix of Soap Nuts, Oxyclean/Oxy-Boost, and plain ole Blue Dawn. We tend to use the Oxy/or Boost and Blue Dawn together and rotate every other wash with Soap Nuts. When we start to get the stink the only thing that will strip our diapers is RLR and Blue Dawn. After many fails at bleach and destroyed diapers from bleach we have ditched the bleach all together. 

Did you know that bleach is a carcinogenic? What is a carcinogenic? It causes cancer, bleach once it's in the body it CAN NOT be detoxed. Once it's there it's always there. I know I know.... But we rinse our diapers SO many times after the bleaching that it washes off. Well I'm not so sure about that fact, because if it cant be detoxed then does it really all rinse off the diapers?.... Food for thought, I cant tell you Yes it does or No it does not because i don't really know my self. But it was enough for me to ditch the bleach. 

So what are Soap Nuts, and how do i use them?
 
What are Soap Nuts?
 
 The soap nut comes from the Soapnut Tree (Sapindus mukorossi). The trees produce the small black berry, approximately one inch (2-2.5 cm) in diameter, that are deseeded and the shell is dried prior to use. 
 
How do Soap Nuts work?

Soap Nuts act like a detergent. They contain saponin, an all-natural surfactant. Conventional detergents are manufactured, chemical surfactants. Surfactants work by breaking the surface tension of water so it can more easily penetrate into fabrics, effectively making water “wetter.” Once wet, the agitation of your washing machine (or your hands) shakes the dirt loose from your clothes. Then Soap Nuts’ saponin holds the dirt in suspension in the water (preventing it from re-depositing on your clothes) until you’ve rinsed it away.
When buying nuts never buy with the seeds in. The seeds will stain your clothes , and it takes up weight when shipping. so why pay more? 
 
How do i use soap nuts?

For laundry all you do is put about 5-7 nuts in a wash bag. Drop the washing bag of nuts in the washer with the clothes or cloth diapers. You will want to use warm water, the saponin only releases in warm water. Don't worry when you don't see suds in your laundry. They wont suds that much but trust me, they work.
 
Did you know you can also use soap nuts for many other things?
Shampoo , dishes, cleaning and many other things? I will write a blog about this later, but yes you sure can :)
 
 
 
OxyClean/ Oxy-Boost What is it?
 
  It is sodium percarbonate: a solid form of hydrogen peroxide bonded with natural soda ash. It is a white, odorless, free flowing powder. It is activated by water where it releases oxygen which prov- ides cleaning and stain removal. Unlike chlorine based bleaches, sod- ium percarbonate is non-toxic and biodegradable.

How do you use it?
I am pretty sure it depends on how hard or soft your water is. 
For us we use one whole scoop full in one diaper wash. 
My best advice is play around with it till you get it right :) The harder the water the more you want to use. The softer the water the less you want to use.

Blue Dawn 

We all know that it is mainly a dish soap, but why is it a favorite in cloth diapering? 
Well, remember those commercials where the blue dawn was cleaning the oil off the ducks from an oils spill? It is AMAZING at breaking down oils and build up! so it works the same way with cloth diapers. You can use it for every wash load or every other, like we do. Or just use it to strip your diapers, this we also do. 

How much should you use in a wash or strip?
For us what i do i full my palm up with it, i use about a TBS and i rinse till there are no more suds. You don't want your little one getting a rash because you didn't rinse good enough. Ive made this mistake before, and its no fun for the little ones. 

The above is what we use , you might need something different. So that is why i added the following link 

I hope this blog has helped you find the detergent that's right for your diapers.

Put 5 - 7 soapnut shells (or equivalent half shells) into the muslin washbag, tie bag securely. - See more at: http://www.soapnuts.co.uk/how-to-wash-laundry-with-soapnuts.html#sthash.gSvMP1Wl.dpuf
Put 5 - 7 soapnut shells (or equivalent half shells) into the muslin washbag, tie bag securely. - See more at: http://www.soapnuts.co.uk/how-to-wash-laundry-with-soapnuts.html#sthash.gSvMP1Wl.dpuf

No comments:

Post a Comment