Does anyone who diapers with Bum Genius
live in Arizona?
have very hard water?
have an energy efficient machine?
and have been using the diapers for 6 months with no smells or leaks?
I am aware of what the manufacturer says for cleaning and stripping but still have stinky diapers and repelling diapers. If you have a detergent, washing routing or stripping routine that has worked for more than 6 months and your Bum Genius are still working great, please let me know your secret. Thanks so much!
(Brief background:I used to live in an apartment with a very old wash machine and use Purex Free and Clear -in 6 months I NEVER had to strip and had great results. After moving to a house and using Allen's Naturally in my energy effient washer, I have only had problems and zero success. I think it is some combination of my detergent and energy efficient machine.)
Sara L.- Checked out your link- Exactly what I was looking for. I know I don't want to use baking soda or vinegar because they aren't recommended by Bum Genius. I learned about Calgon water softener. Cannot wait to go to Walmart, Safeway, and/or Albertson's to see who carries it. I will post once I try it to see if it is successful. Thanks.
I use vinegar to get the smell out. Works on stinky workout gear, too. I personally think our diapers are fine (BG AIOs) with the occasional use of vinegar.
I used happy heiney diapers but I had a few bum genius. I didn't get a HE washer because I was told you need more water to wash cloth diapers & HE didn't fit the bill. There is a product that helped a great deal with the smell. It is an all natural cleaning product available @ Whole Foods. It's called EndBack. Every time you take off a dirty or wet diaper, give a spray. I had the BumGenius brand spray first. It did nothing for the smell. EndBack worked.
I live in AZ, use Bum Genius and have hard water. Mine are fine but I use Melaleuca's laundry detergent which is great at getting rid of smells. You can also try using baking soda in your laundry too. That's what I used to use before using Melaleuca.
I have an He machine, and harder water, but we use prefolds. However in 8 months, never a problem and I've never had to strip them. I do 2 wash cycles, on heavy soil because it adds more water to the machine, and an extra rinse cycle for BOTH cycles. First is baking soda and vinegar, no soap, second cycle is 7th gen. just because my son is allergic to EVERYTHING else on the market.
No smells, no stains, it hasn't hurt my prorap or plastic pull on covers and no leaks (unless dad doesn't put the cover all the way on, or sometimes on at all LOL)
I did not have hard water, but this website has some helpful suggestions http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/2008/12/could-you-...
The other thing I can think of is that hard water sometimes makes it more difficult to get the diapers clean and a high efficiency washer uses less water, so you may have to do an extra rinse before each load.
