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Review: Remove stains & odour with Nellie’s Oxygen Brightener

MieVee @ MummysReviews.com — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:00:44 +0000

I’m ecstatic that the Nellie’s All-Natural Oxygen Brightener has successfully removed stubborn food stains from Vee’s shirt and banished odour from his cloth diaper inserts!

Trouble #1: Many months ago, Vee stained a branded polo T-shirt with probably pumpkin soup. I rubbed, soaked and washed it with Pureen H-A-D, didn’t work. Did the same with Nellie’s Laundry Soda, the stains remained. Urgh! The shirt had to be kept away for months.
Trouble #2: When Vee was day potty-trained and using only 2 to 3 cloth diapers a day, I changed my wash routine to once every 2 days (instead of daily). (That is, 1 day for clothes, 1 day for diapers.) Bad move! After several months, the inserts started to develop an odour. Help!

I looked for Abby of Moo Moo Kow to buy a tin of Nellie’s Oxygen Brightener and she generously sponsored me one for review.

About Nellie’s All-Natural Oxygen Brightener

These are the main features of the oxygen brightener:

Ingredients stated on package: Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Percarbonate, Sodium Sulfate, Primary Linear Alcohol Ethoxylate
Size: Approximately 32 x 1 tablespoon portions
Country of origin: Made in the U.S.A.

First Impressions

After travelling all the way from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, the tin of Nellie’s Oxygen Brightener reached in good condition. A little bit of powder escaped from the tin, so it’d better to seal the tin with tape before delivery by mail.

I like that the tin states it’s colour safe, chlorine free, hypoallergenic and biodegradable. These meet the requirements for washing Vee’s clothes and cloth diaper items.

Our Detailed Review

Rating Guide: ★ Oh no! ★★ Poor ★★★ Fair ★★★★ Good ★★★★★ Excellent!

(a) Packaging: ★★★★ The tin packaging is very sturdy. It’s a little stiff to open, no big issue as long as I’m careful. Nellie chose metal packaging because “iron and steel are the world’s most recycled materials, and among the easiest materials to reprocess”.

(b) Effectiveness: ★★★★★

To tackle Trouble #1 (food stain): I added a little bit of the Oxygen Brightener to some water, rubbed the solution on the stains, and soaked the shirt for 1+ hour. (This is super kiasu instead of the recommended 1 to 5 minutes.) After soaking, I rubbed against the stains and washed the shirt. Tadaa… the stains were almost completely gone! See the pictures below:

To tackle Trouble #2 (odour on cloth diaper inserts): I used 1 teaspoon of the Oxygen Brightener plus the usual amount of detergent and ran a load of stinky inserts on a hot machine wash. The odour was gone except a little bit lingered on one stubborn piece!

For a second batch of stinky inserts, I tried something different — used 2 teaspoons of Oxygen Brightener, soaked for a few hours, rinsed, then ran the load on a hot machine wash with extra rinse. The inserts smelled clean again!

Both Vee and I have eczema and we’d no flare ups due to using Nellie’s Oxygen Brightener. Great that it’s effective yet gentle on our sensitive skin.

I’m a very satisfied Mummy and have since returned to daily laundry — wash clothes, towels and diapers together. Leaving diapers 2 days in the pail is too long for the humid environment at my place.

(c) Overall Value: ★★★ Each pack (about 32 x 1 tablespoon portions) retails at SGD33. (In Canada, the retail price is much lower at USD9.99.) After successfully tackling troubles #1 and #2, there’s still A LOT of the powder left. So 1 tin would last a long time.

Nellie’s All-Natural Oxygen Brightener effectively tackled stubborn food stains and odour, while being cloth diaper- friendly and gentle on our skin. I like it!

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What we like about it:

Effectively removed food stains and odour from cloth diaper inserts, without chlorine
Biodegradable and recyclable packaging

What can be improved:

Seal the tin with tape before delivery by mail

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Get Your Own

To get your own Nellie’s All-Natural detergent products and Moo Moo Kow cloth diapers, visit Moo Moo Kow. (Note: The discount code below doesn’t apply to the Oxygen Brightener because stocks are very limited.)

Special Treat: 20% discount on Nellie’s Laundry Soda (read review here); 10% on Moo Moo Kow cloth diapers (read review here)
Discount Code: MR20110922
Validity Period: Until 21 October 2011
How to Buy: Please email your order to info@moomookow.com and indicate the discount code above.

Live outside Singapore? You may also check the price at Amazon here: Nellie’s All-Natural Oxygen Brightener*

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Disclosure: I received a tin of Nellie’s All-Natural Oxygen Brightener for review and Moo Moo Kow is a banner ad sponsor at the time of writing.

Mummy’s Reviews™ is a review site that receives compensation if readers make purchases from affiliate links (these are marked with an *). If we receive compensation from the companies whose products we review, this would be disclosed. These compensation help to maintain and grow Mummy’s Reviews™. We test each product thoroughly and give ratings according to our experience with it. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.

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P.S. Catch up on all my articles on washing cloth diapers here.

© 2009-2012 Veezian Pte. Ltd. | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Mummy's Reviews™ subscribers. If you like this post, you may share its link: Review: Remove stains & odour with Nellie’s Oxygen Brightener. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited.

Review: Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda: For cloth diapers & sensitive skin

MieVee @ MummysReviews.com — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:00:57 +0000

Here’s my review on Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda, distributed by Moo Moo Kow. I know some of you have been waiting for this, after the article on How to Wash Cloth Diapers: Everything You Need to Know. Having used the entire packet meant for 50 loads, I like that Nellie’s is cloth diapers-friendly and suitable for sensitive skin (like mine and Vee’s). And there’s a discount code at the end for the detergent and Moo Moo Kow cloth diapers!

About Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda

These are the main features of the detergent:

Ingredients stated on package: Sodium Silicate, Coconut oil based surfactants (Find details of ingredients here)
Country of origin: Made in Canada

They’re available in 2 sizes — 50 loads packet and 100 loads tin.

First Impressions

Over the past year, many cloth diapering mums (especially in Singapore) have found it difficult to get the popular Pureen H-A-D Liquid Detergent. So when Abby from Moo Moo Kow approached me for a review, I gladly accepted, hoping to give mums an alternative option.

Cloth diapers users have very specific requirements for a suitable detergent. Generally, no fabric softeners, enzymes, chlorine bleach, essential oils, laundry soap, and artificial fragrance. For green reasons, I also prefer one without phosphate and is biodegradable. The simple ingredients in Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda seem to be up to the challenge.

Moreover, it’s also front loader and high-efficiency (HE) friendly, exactly what my washing machine needs.

Packaging: The 50 loads pack comes in a resealable plastic zipper bag, which is unique for powdered detergent.

Scoop: Initially, I couldn’t find the scoop and thought there wasn’t any. So I recycled a plastic medicine spoon to scoop the powder.

Our Detailed Review

Rating Guide: ★ Oh no! ★★ Poor ★★★ Fair ★★★★ Good ★★★★★ Excellent!

(a) Packaging: ★★★★ I like the zippered package, which keeps the powder neatly inside. The super-duper concentrated powder also takes up little space.

Powdered detergent is convenient during travels — I simply need to scoop some into an airtight container. In the past, I’ve brought liquid detergent around and faced a major leakage once. (Leaking detergent within the luggage is seriously no fun!)

However, I found the scoop only after many washes. Perhaps the scoop should be taped to the upper end of the package to prevent it from being buried deep down.

(b) Effectiveness: ★★★★★ I’ve tried Nellie’s with cold, warm and hot water; where it dissolves easily. When handwashing a few items, I used 1/2 a 5ml medicine spoonful. There was little suds and took about 4 rinses (in a small pail) to remove all the suds. This is similar to my experience with Pureen H-A-D. The laundry smells clean and of nothing artificial, which I like.

For several weeks, I used Nellie’s to machine wash full loads of clothes and cloth diapers. Initially, I experimented with a reduced amount of 1 x 5ml medicine spoonful. This was too little and the diapers didn’t smell clean. An extra rinse was needed to clean them.

Then I increased the amount to 2 x 5ml medicine spoonfuls. The clothes and diapers turned out clean and were residue-free. Even after using the entire pack, there was no need to strip wash the cloth diapers.

Both Vee and I have eczema and we’d no flare ups due to using Nellie’s. Great that it’s gentle to our sensitive skin.

(c) Overall Value: ★★ Each 50 loads pack (0.6kg) retails at SGD23 while the 100 loads tin (1.5kg) retails at SGD49. (In Canada, the retail price is much lower at USD9.99 and USD18.99 respectively.) I managed to use the pack over about 50 loads, which means SGD0.46 per load.

I did a price comparison with other cloth diaper detergents sold in Singapore. Of the below, I’ve only tried Nellie’s and have a box of GroVia Tiny Bubbles waiting to be tried.

	Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda	BumGenius Diaper Detergent	GroVia Tiny Bubbles
Weight	0.6kg	1.7kg	1.7kg
Loads	50	66	60
Price	SGD23	SGD25	SGD30
Price per load	SGD0.46	SGD0.38	SGD0.50
Tried?	Yes	No	Not yet
Seller (Singapore)	Moo Moo Kow	Milagro Trading	Mummy Knows Best

From the table above, I note that Nellie’s is most concentrated among the three, which means saving on delivery costs for online purchases.

Tip: For more savings on delivery costs, I’d buy heavy detergent at a retail store or fair.

Overall, Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda is a suitable detergent for washing cloth diapers and for a family with sensitive skin. Before getting it though, I’d wait for a good discount, perhaps 20% to make it more price competitive.

(Good news: limited time 20% discount code below!)

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What we like about it:

Washes well with minimal and natural ingredients
Suitable for washing cloth diapers (residue-free) and for sensitive skin
In powdered form — convenient for travelling
More concentrated than competitive brands (refer to table above) — save on delivery costs

What can be improved:

Tape the scoop so that it’s easier to find

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Get Your Own (with Discount!)

To get your own Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda and Moo Moo Kow cloth diapers, visit Moo Moo Kow.

Special Treat: 20% discount on Nellie’s detergent products; 10% on Moo Moo Kow cloth diapers (read review here)
Discount Code: MR20110623
Validity Period: Until 22 July 2011
How to Buy: Please email your order using Moo Moo Kow’s contact form and indicate the discount code above. Or visit its booth at Baby Expo 2011 (1-3 July 2011), Singapore Expo Hall 6B, Booth D3.

Live outside Singapore? You may also check the price at Amazon here: Nellie’s All Natural Laundry Soda, 50 Loads Bag*

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Disclosure: I received a Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda 50 Loads pack for review and Moo Moo Kow is a banner ad sponsor at the time of writing.

*: affiliate link to support the growth and maintenance of Mummy’s Reviews™

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P.S. Catch up on all my cloth diapering tips here.

© 2009-2012 Veezian Pte. Ltd. | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Mummy's Reviews™ subscribers. If you like this post, you may share its link: Review: Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda: For cloth diapers & sensitive skin. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited.

How to Wash Cloth Diapers: Everything You Need to Know

MieVee @ MummysReviews.com — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:30:34 +0000

Here’s all about how to wash cloth diapers, so that you’d have an easier time when transiting to using cloth on baby. Over 2 years, I’ve experimented with different wash routines. Right now, I’m confident of getting Vee’s cloth diapers clean and long-lasting enough for future babies. Since I’m trying to share ALL I know about washing diapers with you, be prepared for a long post with lots of tips.

Before we start…

Your ideal wash routine depends on many factors that would be discussed later
Washing cloth diapers can be as simple or as complex as you’d like to
Expect your preferred wash routine to change over time as your situation changes, baby grows and her output pattern changes

Areas Covered:

My Current Wash Routine
1. Who’s Baby’s Caregiver or Your Helper?
2. How Many Days Between Washes?
3. Machine Wash or Handwash?
4. Same or Different Load With Clothes?
5. Which Detergent to Use?
6. How Much Detergent to Use?
7. How to Remove Poo?
8. Need to Prewash Just Before the Real Wash?
9. What Water Temperature: Cold, Warm or Hot?
10. How to Dry Cloth Diapers?

My Current Wash Routine

How to Store Cloth Diapers & Baby’s Laundry Until Wash Day.
Remove poo from soiled diapers.
Remove inserts from pocket diapers, unsnap soakers and remove any disposable diaper liners. Ensure all velcro laundry tabs are closed properly.
Sort delicate items or those that would shed lint into different laundry nets
Detergent: Pureen H-A-D 1/4 cup for full load (or any cloth diaper-friendly detergent recommended by other mums)
Use washing machine’s Prewash function OR rinse once by hand in a pail (to dilute pee from diapers)
Water temperature: Warm (If no choice, use Cold)
Rinse 3 times (my High Efficiency washing machine automatically rinses 3 times). Otherwise, 2 rinses and check after laundry. If diapers smell of detergent or feel soapy, rinse again.
Spin dry
Line dry
Once a month: wash in Hot for better sanitisation and remove possible detergent build-up (except diapers that can withstand only up to 40°C)

With a simple and clear wash routine, the washing can be easily delegated to the family helper or hubby when needed. Generally, only 5-10 minutes are needed to spray any poo and sort the items out, before letting the washing machine do the rest, except line drying.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Washing Cloth Diapers

Now, here are the various areas to tailor-make your own wash routine:

Part 1: Before You Start Washing

1. Who’s Baby’s Caregiver or Your Helper?

Increasingly, there’re many working mums who wish to cloth diaper baby too. If you delegate laundry work to the caregiver or a helper, you’d need to take her preferences and abilities into consideration. Some tips to consider:

Use simple-to-wash cloth diapers such as All-in-Ones (AIOs) or those with inserts that agitate out during the wash. AIOs also mean no stuffing of inserts. Unless the caregiver or helper is willing to learn and keep up with the routine.
Keep the wash routine very simple and systematic so that they can follow easily without constant monitoring. A simple routine also means a new caregiver or helper can take over the laundry easily.
Write down your steps clearly on a whiteboard or piece of paper so that she can refer to it conveniently.
Draw a marker line on the detergent cap so that she knows the amount of detergent to use.

2. How Many Days Between Washes?

If you get a full load every day (especially when washing clothes and diapers together), then simply wash daily. This way, you’d need a smaller diaper stash to rotate.

With a smaller load or if you prefer to wash cloth diapers separately, then wash every alternate day. In this case, consider removing the poo off soiled diapers even on the non-laundry day. This helps to prevent poo stains from setting in.

Tip: In a humid country such as Singapore and Malaysia, the MAXIMUM is 2 days. Stretch to 3 days and you’d risk having mildew growing on the precious diapers.

3. Machine Wash or Handwash?

Personally, I’m all for using the washing machine. It’s one of the best inventions around, especially for people with hand eczema like my mum and myself.

Machine Wash

I’ve used a 10-year old antique top-loader at my mum’s place and my High-Efficiency (HE) front loader with various functions. Both are able to clean diapers well. It’s a matter of knowing your washing machine and choosing the right functions, water level, amount of detergent, etc.

A High Efficiency washing machine uses very little water, so it’s important to use only 1/4 the recommended amount of detergent (unless you’re sure), else it could be hard to rinse the diapers sufficiently. There’s more on detergent later on.

Handwash

And why would any mum want to handwash diapers? Reasons:

No washing machine at home
The washing machine is spoilt
During travel
Only a few pieces to wash
Personal preference

Handwashing traditional square nappies can work fine because they open up to allow thorough cleaning. There’s also no stay-dry microfleece or suedecloth layer prone to detergent build-up.

But, handwashing modern cloth diapers with a stay-dry layer means you’d need to rinse the diapers VERY thoroughly, to avoid build-up and leaks.

Tip: To protect your delicate hands from detergents, invest in a pair of rubber gloves when handwashing.

4. Same or Different Load With Clothes?

This is mainly a consideration when using the machine washine. I’m a cleanliness freak, and initially thought that washing diapers with clothes seems a bit gross. After baby arrived, and I saw poo and pee countless times a day, I became desensitised to the perceived grossness. Ha!

Same Load: For 1+ years, I washed Vee’s cloth diapers together with his clothes, including bibs and face cloths. Hubby’s and my home clothes and towels go into the same load too. This way, I’d a full load of laundry every day. After washing, everything smells clean. So bravo to washing all in the same load!

Different Load: Recently, Vee’a eczema patches got infected by fungal (yeast), and spread to his genitals. To kill the yeast, I washed his cloth diapers and wipes separate from everyone’s clothes in Hot for a few weeks, until the fungal infection went away. Now I’m back to washing in the same load again.

Some options:

Machine wash: Run the cloth diapers on Prewash function, then add clothes to the load after the prewash is completed. This means you’d need to watch the washing machine, or
Machine wash: Rinse the diapers by hand once, then throw diapers and clothes into the washing machine, or
Just wash them together like I usually do. They do turn out clean! The exception is during a yeast infection.

Washing diapers and clothes together or separately depends a lot on your personal preference, and your choice may change over time.

5. Which Detergent to Use?

Cloth diapering made me learn a lot more about detergent within these 2 years. With the right detergent, cloth diapering becomes so much easier.

Learn to read the ingredients stated on the detergent packaging. If nothing is stated or they sound dubious, then simply avoid it.

Also, avoid these detergent ingredients:

Fabric softener: This leads to build-up and repelling.
Enzymes: This is commonly present in the more expensive detergents. When enzymes come into contact with baby’s pee, they start to break it down and could attack baby’s skin too, leading to diaper rash.
Chlorine bleach: This is very harsh to the cloth fibres and could reduce the lifespan of the diapers. Also, they can be harsh to baby’s sensitive skin too. If you really need to use it once in a blue moon, then rinse it away very thoroughly. On the other hand, oxygen bleach is fine.
Essential oils: Over time, these could lead to build-up issues too.
Laundry soap: Well, this isn’t really an ingredient. Anyway, soap may leave a waxy residue on the diapers, so isn’t appropriate.
Artificial fragrance: Fragrance may mask any smell from the washed diapers. Avoiding it means you’d know whether the diapers are truly clean or not. Also, some babies’ skin are sensitive to fragrance.

Are you asking, “Why don’t you simply tell me what to use?” Well, here are some pointers instead:

Choose a detergent proven to work with MODERN cloth diapers. Some packaging states that the detergent is suitable for cloth diapers when it’s referring to traditional square nappies, not the modern invention.
Get recommendations from other mums living in the same region as you, where water conditions are similar. What works in Singapore may not work in New York.
Check baby’s reaction to your chosen detergent. What works for others may not work for your baby’s skin.
If you’ve a top loader, you may consider using laundry balls proven to clean modern cloth diapers. See an example here.

You’d also need to consider Water Hardness.

Water hardness refers to the amount of calcium and magnesium ions in water. The higher the mineral content, the harder the water.

In areas where water is “soft”, such as in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, it’s easy to rinse detergent off clothes and diapers. On the other hand, water in the limestone caves in Batu Caves would be really hard.

If you happen to live in an area with hard water, then you may try the following:

Add a water softener to detergent during the wash
Use a detergent designed for hard water and is proven to be cloth diaper friendly

In Singapore and Malaysia, Pureen H-A-D is a popular and value-f0r-money detergent among cloth diapering mums. I’ve also tried out Nellie’s All-Natural Laundry Soda (a review sample), which has reached Singapore shores. It works well too. The detailed review is here.

Part 2: The Actual Wash

6. How Much Detergent to Use?

To prevent detergent build-up, start with 1/4 to 1/2 of the recommended amount.

If the diapers smell of pee after the wash, do an extra rinse and check if the smell disappears. On the next laundry day, use slightly more detergent.
If the diapers smell of detergent or feels soapy after the wash, also do extra rinses until the smell disappears and the soapy sensation disappears. In future, use slightly less detergent.

Clean diapers should smell of nothing. Within a few days, you’d be able to find the optimal amount.

7. How to Remove Poo?

Newborns (especially breastfed ones) can poo many times a day, so it’s important to master this area. Vee used to poo up to 11 times in a day. Then he’d diarrhoea due to gastric flu virus recently and I faced poopy diapers 5 times a night!

Poo belongs to the toilet and sewage system, not the garbage system. If you read the disposable diapers packaging carefully, it states that poo should be dumped into the toilet before disposing the diaper. But very, very few parents know of this, let alone practise this.

These are the options you can choose from:

Use a toilet sprayer to spray poo off the diaper and into the toilet. Do this once a day or straight after a poo, if you’ve time. Use the medium “strength”; if water shoots out too forcefully, you risk getting poo all over yourself! (Limitation: Cost of diaper sprayer)
Use a toilet hose, cover part of the opening and spray poo off the diaper. (Limitation: harder to control water power, so practice makes perfect)
Roll solids off the poopy diaper. Wet the diaper. Use an old soft toothbrush to scrub remaining poo bits off. (Limitation: takes a long time for newborn explosive poo)
Use a disposable and flushable diaper liner. Simply throw the liner with poo into the toilet. (Limitations: #1 – poo may not be confined to diaper liner only, so some spraying may still be needed. #2 – Cost of diaper liners.)
Breastfed-baby poo is water soluble, so simply throw diapers with poo into washing machine. (Limitation: Erm… not my cup of tea!)

8. Need to Prewash Just Before the Real Wash?

This is optional depending on the circumstances. Some options:

No prewash: For newborn stage and before baby starts eating solid food. Diapers were easy to clean in the early months, so I skipped prewashing.
Use Prewash function (if available): When baby starts eating solid food, poo is no longer water soluble, and total pee volume increases significantly. I recommend prewashing at this stage.
Prewash by hand: Put diapers and inserts / soakers into a pail. Fill pail with enough water to cover the items. Agitate the items by hand (I wear gloves), then pour away the water. Repeat once more if preferred. Put items into the washing machine or handwash with detergent this time round.

9. What Water Temperature: Cold, Warm or Hot?

Prewashing to remove pee and poo is done in Cold, to prevent stains from setting in.

Using the appropriate water temperature can make or break the cloth diapers, especially those made of PUL (polyurethane laminate). The PUL layer can delaminate from the diaper fabric, when the wash temperature is too high and for too many times. Delamination can lead to leakage. See an example of delaminated PUL below:

Also, PUL quality defers vastly depending on where the diaper manufacturer sources its fabric from. The most resilient ones can withstand regular hot washes. The weakest that I tried started delaminating after 3 hot washes!

Strangely, there seems to be no universal definition of what “cold”, “warm” and “hot” washes mean. It’s much clearer if the exact wash temperature is stated on the laundry label, but this isn’t widely practised.

After 2 years of trial and error, here’s my own definition:

Cold: Maximum 30°C
Warm: Maximum 40°C
Hot: Maximum 60°C (i.e. highest quality PUL)

Usually, the lowest-priced cloth diapers can only withstand cold washes because high quality PUL is expensive.

How Do I Know the Recommended Wash Temperature?

Before buying the cloth diaper, check the recommended temperature on the manufacturer’s website. If it’s not clearly stated, ask the manufacturer before buying.
If you missed the above, read the laundry label of every new cloth diaper before washing it. This prevents using a water temperature that’s too high, and voiding any warranty.

Are Hot Washes Necessary?

I’ve washed our diapers on Cold at my mum’s place for almost 2 months, and they turned out clean. Washing diapers regularly on hot tends to break them down faster. Even the highest quality PUL can delaminate after being washed in hot for hundreds of times. If you plan to use the diapers for future babies, then don’t wash on hot every time. Schedule it for once a month or so.

Also, if you plan to wash clothes together with cloth diapers, then the hot washes will damage the clothes much faster. For instance, the collars of my home clothes started tearing apart after months of hot washes.

Hot washes also use up more electricity than warm or cold wash, which will rake up the electricity bill.

The exception: When baby has a yeast infection, then wash on Hot until the yeast clears up.

Because of the occasional hot washes that may be necessary, I still prefer buying cloth diapers that can withstand hot washes. This means paying a little more while not risking damages. Again, this is a personal preference.

Part 3: After The Wash

10. How to Dry Cloth Diapers?

Finally, we’re left with drying the diapers! Some options:

Line drying under the sun
Line drying indoors, catching as much sunshine as possible
Line drying indoors, using a fan to blow at the items
Dryer

I’ve tried all 4 methods and love drying under the hot sun because this is a great way to bleach away poo stains naturally. It’s simply amazing! Usually, the diapers take 4 hours to dry on a sunny day, and 2 days to dry on rainy days. Thick inserts / soakers, fitted diapers and All-in-Ones (AIOs) take the longest to dry.

During rainy days, using a fan or the dryer would help to speed things up.

Tip: Once you’re comfortable with cloth diapering, have enough diapers to rotate. This reduces the “stress level” on rainy days or when baby uses more diapers than normal.

More Tip: Covers dry faster than inserts / soakers, so have several traditional square nappies or prefolds as back-up inserts / soakers for rainy days. They’re low cost and are quite absorbent.

By now, this post should have answered almost all your queries related to washing cloth diapers. As said in the beginning, washing cloth diapers can be as simple or as complex as you’d like. Once you’ve chosen your preferred routine, washing should soon become second nature.

Any questions? Any more laundry tips? Please share them in the comments box.

P.S. Catch all my Cloth Diapering Tips HERE, including:

P.P.S. To receive more cloth diapering tips like this and more, join Mummy’s Reviews Parents Club now:

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Baby’s Laundry & Cloth Diapers: How To Store Them Until Wash Day

MieVee @ MummysReviews.com — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:01:22 +0000

When Vee was younger, he salivated like a waterfall, regurgitated milk due to mild reflux, and poo-ed up to 11 times a day! Every day, I dealt with a mountain of dirty laundry consisting of bibs, towels, clothes, cloth wipes and cloth diapers. Being an organisation-obsessed Mummy, I experimented with different systems to store the dirty laundry until wash day. Let’s explore the 4 systems I have tried:

A. 1 Wet Pail & 1 Laundry Basket

What this means: Soak laundry with poo, pee, or milk in a pail of water (called a wet pail) until wash day.

When I used this: First month (it was the confinement lady’s preference)

Advantages:

Prevents staining from poo or milk (Once set, milk stains turn yellowish and are hard to remove.)
Suitable if your washing machine has no prewash function. (Alternatively, you can simply rinse dirty laundry once before washing.)
If you do laundry once in more than 2 days, this prevents mildew problem

Disadvantages:

Drowning hazard! (That’s why I HAVE NOT used this method since the confinement lady left.)
Soaking is not suitable for PUL diapers (wears them out faster)
The pail gets really heavy and is bad for the back
Needs additional work of pouring away the water and wringing the items dry on wash day
Stagnant water may develop odour

B. 1 Dry Pail & 1 Laundry Basket

What this means: Just leave laundry with poo, pee or milk in a dry pail with lid until wash day.

When I used this: Until baby was 7 months old, before he started eating solid foods. Breastfed-baby poo smells fine.

Advantages:

Very simple and saves time!

Disadvantages:

Non-breastfed-baby poo or milk stains may set in after some time. (I do laundry every day, so this is less of an issue.)

C. 1 Wet Pail, 1 Dry Pail & 1 Laundry Basket

What this means:

For soiled cloth diapers: Roll off or spray poo into toilet and leave in a wet pail with lid (without soaking)
For items with puke mess: Rinse and rub off milk by hand, then leave them in the same wet pail (without soaking)
For wet cloth diapers: Leave them in a dry pail with lid

When I use this: After baby started eating solid foods at 6.5 months old. Why? Because his poo started to stink BIG TIME, and I prefer to spray them off once I’m free instead of waiting until the next morning. This has become my favourite and permanent system.

Advantages:

Prevents stains from setting
Convenient access to pail at 1 more place. (For example, my dry pail in the bedroom, while the wet pail in the bathroom.)

Disadvantages:

Expense of getting 1 more pail

D. 1 Pail Liner or Large Hanging Wet Bag

What this means: Just leave ALL laundry in a pail liner or large hanging wet bag until wash day.

When I use this: During travels, especially stay-overs at my Mum’s place in Singapore. My longest stayover was almost 2 months. I survived 2 months without using a pail or laundry basket! Yes, it can be done.

Advantages:

Space-saving, you’d just need a corner in the room or hang the wet bag behind the door

Disadvantages:

Non-breastfed-baby poo or milk stains may set in after some time. To overcome this, consider removing poo into the toilet and rinsing milk off before putting into the pail liner or wet bag.

Which Pail, Pail Liner and Wet Bag?

1. Dry Pail

My dry pail is a generic large plastic pail with lid bought at a local supermarket. After putting the pail liner in, the lid can’t be closed tightly. No odour escapes from the gap unless I put my nose into the pail! Vee tries to play with the lid at times, and I simply ask him to leave it alone.

2. Wet Pail

My wet pail is a plastic pail from Mothercare. I was reluctant to pay a premium price for the one printed with Winnie the Pooh. When this white pail was released at a 20% off, I grabbed it at about RM40 (USD14 or SGD17). It is quite small and takes up little space in the bathroom. However, it is sufficient only if you do laundry every 1 to 2 days, without many soiled items. In the first month, Vee went through 15 to 18 square nappies a day and quickly filled the pail to the brim.

These are some other options for pails:

a large waste can such as those by Rubbermaid
any generic plastic bucket with lid

3. Pail Liner

I bought 2 beautiful Wahmies Diaper Pail Liners, which have a huge capacity to store 2 days’ of laundry. The detailed review is here.

Other brands to explore:

4. Large Hanging Wet Bag

Mine is the Wahmies Fun Prints Wet Bag (All Day), which is as good as new after 18 months. It is definitely my portable laundry bag for every trip. Read the full review is here.

Other brands to explore:

Planet Wise Hanging Wet / Dry Bag (I like my small Planet Wise wet bag, reviewed here.)
Bummis Large Fabulous Wet Bag

How To Control The Smell From Dirty Laundry?

I have a super-sensitive nose and have not experienced any odour issues with my dirty laundry consisting of poo, pee and milk.

As mentioned above, breastfed-baby poo smells fine, so no odour problem.
Pee in cloth diapers don’t really smell. If they do, you’d need to strip wash the diapers by using these steps. (In contrast, I find pee in disposable diapers very stinky!)
When baby starts eating solid food, the poo starts to stink like adults’ poo, so remove any solid as soon as you’ve time. (Poo in disposable diapers is also supposed to be flushed down the toilet for environmental reasons. It is stated clearly on every packaging, but I doubt many people know about it.)
Do laundry every 1 to 2 days. Stretch it to 3 days and risk facing mildew problems with damp clothes and cloth diapers, especially in a humid environment such as the bathroom.
Cover the pail.

Optional steps you may wish to take:

Sprinkle a little baking soda onto cloth diapers in the pail
Some pail liners and wet bags have a piece of fabric sewn into the seam (view picture below). Add a few drops of your favourite essential oil to the fabric.

Conclusion

Dirty laundry with cloth diapers and wipes can be managed very easily once you establish a laundry system and routine. The best system is the one that works for you and your baby. Have fun exploring!

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Sharing Time: How do you store your laundry until wash day? Any laundry tips to share?

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How to Strip Wash Cloth Diapers

MieVee @ MummysReviews.com — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:40:16 +0000

What has this cleanser got to do with diapers?

Your baby’s cloth diapers have been working well for a while but start leaking after 1 to 2 hours. Sounds frustrating, right? If the diapers are repelling pee due to build-up, try doing a strip wash. Causes of build up? Too much detergent, insufficient rinsing, natural oils from fabrics and diaper cream.

Strip Wash Method 1: Use Hot Water

Start with clean diapers (i.e. already washed and dried diapers)
If you have a washing machine with temperature control, choose the 60 degree Celsius wash cycle
Use NO detergent
Put the cloth diapers into the washing machine and run the cycle
Add extra rinses until no more soap bubbles are present (Soap bubbles stay around longer than agitation bubbles.)

If Method 1 can’t remove the build-up, try Method 2.

Strip Wash Method 2: Use Dishwashing Liquid Detergent

Start with clean diapers (i.e. already washed and dried diapers)
Fill a pail halfway with warm/hot water (turn the shower tap to the hottest mode). Or add warm/hot water from a flask into the pail. (Recommended water temperature: at least 40 degree Celsius)
Add a few squirts of dishwashing detergent (I use Pigeon Bottle Nipple & Vegetable Liquid Cleanser, shown in the picture above). Agitate.
Place cloth diaper with build-up issue into the pail
Wash the layer which is supposed to touch baby’s bums by rubbing fabric against fabric. Rub REALLY hard. (But DO NOT use a scrub.)
For pocket diaper: turn it inside out and rub the inner layer too.
Rinse at least 3 times until no more soap bubbles are present
Throw the handwashed diapers into the washing machine for 1 more rinse. Spin dry. Hang dry.

Try using the cloth diapers on baby. Hopefully, they start working again.

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Any more questions on cloth diapering? Just fill up the comment box.

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This is a follow-up article of How to Prevent Cloth Diapers From Leaking.

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Review: The Green Pocket Laundry Ball [Giveaway #5]

MieVee @ MummysReviews.com — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:40:03 +0000

I am very excited to share this Review-cum-Giveaway with you! For months, I have been wanting to try washing clothes with laundry balls (and with NO detergent), so when thegreenpocket.biz and baby-mel.com offered me a set for review, I jumped at the opportunity. Yes, I absolutely love eco- and pocket-friendly solutions.

First Impressions

These laundry balls can save me from buying detergent for 3 years!

Each box contains a set of laundry balls (large blue rattles that Vee would love to play with), a stain remover and a brochure with instructions. As a careful Mummy, I studied the instructions and emailed the sponsor for some clarifications. Here is what I found out:

How It Works

The Green Pocket Laundry Ball generates strong infrared rays wavelength to break the bond between molecules, enabling the individual water molecules to penetrate into the fabric. The water is also highly charged with negative ions. The dirt, which is positively charged, is attracted to the individual water molecules and is flushed out with the water during the rinse cycle.

Tips

The laundry ball works more effectively in a top-loading washing machine. (Reason: The laundry ball needs soaking to carry out its function.)
When using the laundry ball for hand-washing clothes, you would need to shake it and rinse it often. You would also need to dry it more often.
It can used for washing cloth diapers and would not affect the absorbency. Rinse the diapers clean before washing them with the laundry ball.

The Tests

I have a front-loading washing machine while my mother has a top-loading type, so I brought the laundry balls to her place for my “experiments”. We followed these simple steps — soak the laundry for one hour, wash without detergent, spin-dry, and line-dry under sun. Ta-da…. the clothes turned out clean and smelled clean too!!! This was repeated throughout the entire week and we still got clean clothes, without using any detergent.

Eco-friendly stain remover

The next test was for the stain remover (made of natural ingredients such as coconut oil), which is meant to remove all types of dirt. An old T-shirt was dabbed with patches of soy sauce, chilli sauce, and mud (from the surface of lotus roots). After creating the stains, a layer of the stain remover was applied and left on for five minutes. It seemed like doing a facial mask for the stains. The T-shirt was then rinsed with water and the stains disappeared! With a toddler who loves self-feeding and making a mess during craftwork time, the stain remover would certainly come in useful.

Conclusion

Overall, we are very pleased with the cleaning effectiveness of The Green Pocket Laundry Ball and the stain remover. My mum is so pleased that she has kept the laundry balls for her own use! Now, I wish I were eligible to participate in the Giveaway…

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What we like about them:

Easy to use
Clean clothes well
Save time, effort and money on buying heavy bottles of detergent
Especially suitable for people with sensitive skin (like Vee and myself)
Stain remover does its job very well

What can be improved:

Wish they could be as effective in front-loading washing machines (If the machine has a soak function, I think they may work.)

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Get Your Own (with Discount!)

Visit thegreenpocket.biz and baby-mel.com for their wide range of eco-friendly and organic products for baby, Mummy and the family.

Details:

Special Treat (on Laundry Balls): RM20 discount + free shipping throughout Malaysia
Special Treat (storewide): 10% discount + free shipping for order above RM80
Extra Special Treat: RM10 voucher off for all BUDS baby skin care range with purchase above RM50.00
Discount Code: MMR2010003
Validity Period: 15 March to 15 June 2010

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Win Your Own

ONE (1) lucky subscriber will win a set of The Green Pocket Laundry Balls worth RM169! And save on buying detergent too! This is how to participate:

Subscribe to Mummy’s Reviews in a reader or via email (existing subscribers counted)

Send an email to me with the following information:
- Your name
- Facebook nickname, if any
- Visit here and tell me one reason why you would like to win The Green Pocket Laundry Ball
- If you are a new reader, mention how you got to know of this Giveaway
- Blog / Website URL, if any

To get EXTRA entries:
- 1 extra entry: First 3 participants (Hurry!)
- 1 extra entry: Become Mummy’s Reviews fan on Facebook (existing fans counted)
- 1 extra entry (unlimited total): For each participant referred by you (e.g. through sharing the Giveaway on Facebook)
- 3 extra entries: Share this Giveaway on your blog / website

Other Information

This Giveaway is open to subscribers with a mailing address in Singapore or West Malaysia.
It will run until 18 April 2010.
The usual Giveaway Terms apply.

Send in your entries now and good luck!

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Disclosure: I received a set of laundry balls (including stain remover) for review.

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Review: Pureen H-A-D Liquid Detergent

MieVee @ MummysReviews.com — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:47:00 +0000

After reading up on cloth diapering, I realised that the choice of detergent is important to protect the performance of cloth diapers. Most importantly, the detergent should not contain whitening enzymes, fabric softener and chlorine bleach.

Pureen H-A-D Liquid Detergent meets the requirements needed to wash cloth diapers; it is also specially formulated for babies’ sensitive skin. For the past 6 months, I have laundered Baby V’s clothes and diapers using the detergent. It is very foamy; 1/4 cup or less is sufficient to clean Baby V’s daily laundry load.

It leaves his clothes clean and smelling fresh (no artificial fragrances). Although I stripwash his cloth diapers only once in every 1-2 months, I have not had an issue with detergent build-up (that could cause diapers to repel liquid and lead to leakage).

Price could vary significant at different retailers, ranging from RM16+ to RM18+. I have found the detergent at Village Grocer at Bangsar Village and BabyJaya and do hope that they still carry it.

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Update on 30 August 2010:

Village Grocer (Bangar Village, KL) does not seem to carry it anymore. I found it at Parkson, Pavilion, KL.

At a recent baby fair, a Pureen staff told me that they are still importing Pureen H-A-D.

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Pros:

Cleans cloth diapers well and does not affect their performance
1/4 cup or less is sufficient to clean a full-load of baby clothes and diapers (Baby V’s clothes/diapers are washed daily and each 1-litre bottle can last about 3 months.)
Gentle on baby’s skin (no artificial fragrances)

Cons:

Only available in 1-litre bottle (I would prefer 2-litre bottles for cost-savings and environmental-friendliness.)
Few places retail it

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