Monday, September 10, 2012

I Bleached My Diapers!!!!!!

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I have been cloth diapering for almost 1 year and I am lucky that I have gone nearly 10 months without having to do any crazy treatments to my diapers. For the most part, I have kept the stink to a minimum with a good wash routine and a light stripping every couple of months. But I knew the time would come...you know...where the ammonia begins to overtake the cuteness in your diapers??

The diapers smelt good and fresh out of the wash and even looked cleaner after sunning, but when a drop of urine hit the diaper....it was like a wall of Ammonia blew me over.  Oh wait did I mention that I waited too long to wash some of my diapers too? BIG MISTAKE! The smell of mold started to creep in too! You see I had been avoiding this (bleach)...and hoping that I was the only one who noticed...that was until the hubby says "Pampers don't smell this bad." That was it!! I knew it had to be done! Bring out the heavy duty guns!!!

So I ventured out into the world of bleach. I researched my specific diaper's manufacturer's instructions and recommendations carefully and decided that bleach was necessary. So here is exactly what I did:
  1. Started with clean diapers (I only bleached the inserts)
  2. Hot rinse (to prepare the diapers for the bleach)
  3. Hot, Long, Wash with 1 Tablespoon of Original Blue Dawn and 1/4 cup of Original Clorox Bleach 
  4. 2-3 Hot Rinses to ensure the Dawn and Bleach are our of the diapers
Reasons Why to Bleach Your Diapers:
  • You are having trouble getting the stink out (ammonia).
  • There is some type of infection that needs to be killed (yeast *but not the spores*, impetigo).
  • When you have tried other methods to get your diapers clean and stink-free with little success.
  • You have let your diapers sit too long in a contained bin where yucky bacteria can grow.
Things to Remember:
  • Bleach can be harsh on diapers if used too often or in too high of a quantity.
  • Check the specific manufacturer's wash and care instructions before using bleach. It could void any warranties.
  • DO NOT put the bleach directly on your diapers. Pour the liquid bleach into the "liquid bleach" compartment in your washer.
  • Be careful when handling bleach as it may stain your clothing or anything else it come into contact with. No little helpers for this one!
The Results:

It worked like a charm! My diapers smell clean and fresh even after they are peed on! I would not personally do this more than I have to, but 1 time in 10 months isn't too bad! I am pleased with the result!

I was surprised to see that some manufacturer's recommend using bleach, while others say to avoid it. Check out a couple of the statements from the specific manufacturers below:

Happy Heinys:
Cotton Babies (Bumgenius, Flip, Econobum):
Rumparooz:
Thirsties:
Have you ever used bleach on your diapers?
What does your manufacturer recommend?

26 comments:

  1. I have never actually used bleach on my diapers and just did a post yesterday on my own blog about those rare moments when one should. The vast majority of my diapers say not to do it. Fortunately, I've managed to strip out some pretty funky stuff without using bleach. But if my kids had an infection that required it, then it would have to be done.

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    1. Do you have a link to your post? I would love to read it!

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  2. What about using vinegar? It kills odors and as many germs and bacteria as bleach. I would think it would not be as abrasive as bleach.

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    1. Vinegar does not work very well in hard water (which I have). It can actually bind to the minerals in the water and make them smell even worse. For some people vinegar does work very well though! I chose bleach especially because of the mold smell. Hopefully it is gone for good! Here is a post I did about vinegar:-)

      http://www.myclothdiaperstash.com/2012/01/vinegar-and-cloth-diapers-what-you-need.html

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  3. I have used bleach once on my diapers when we were dealing with yeast. They turned out fine and actually came out smelling much cleaner and looking nicer! But I definitely wouldn't use bleach often. Great post!

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    1. Thanks:-) So the bleach worked well for yeast! That is great to hear! Thankfully I have never had to deal with that thus far but know plenty of people who have. I too don't think I would do it that often...and I feel better just doing the inserts too! I must say I am impressed with the result! I am thinking maybe 2x a year.

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  4. I've bleached the inserts a couple of times and bleached the covers once when battling yeast and they're perfectly fine. I have a moldy Thirsties AIO that I think I finally have to bleach

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    1. Have you ever bleached an AIO before? I am wondering how they would come out? Probably have to do a few more rinses?

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  5. I have yet to try bleach, blue dawn, vinegar, or anything else except detergent on my diapers. I know the day will come though. Glad to know it worked well for you.

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  6. I have desperately hard well water and when our softener broke the tiny bit of ammonia I was dealing with got out of control. I started adding Calgon to my wash routine and increased my detergent to the max recommended amount and after about 3 wash cycles the ammonia was 100% gone, even in my night time diapers. I also added RLR to the first round of washing as well. Bleach would have been next had this not worked.

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    1. Well water can be difficult! I wrote a post about Well Water and Cloth Diapers:-) http://www.myclothdiaperstash.com/2012/06/well-water-and-cloth-diapers.html

      It can be difficult with hard water!! That is great it worked for you! I have yet to try RLR...maybe next time.

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  7. I have bleached my diapers because of yeast more than once. It doesn't hurt them (although I am sure if you did it every wash it would wear them out a whole lot faster). I have bleached inserts, covers, AIO, pockets, pail liners, ect... Nothing has been ruined, it actually all works better because it doesn't have any stink or residue anymore. For AIO, covers, anything with PUL I just wash with bleach but my inserts I let soak in bleach for a few hours and then washed them. Don't know why everybody is so scared of bleach now and again.

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  8. I have desperately hard well water and when our water softened broke the little ammonia problem I was dealing with on my prefolds got out of control. I added Calgon to my wash routine and after 3 cycles the ammonia was 100% gone, even in nightime diapers. I also added a little RLR the first round and bummed up the amount of detergent I was using. Bleach would have been next had that not worked.

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  9. Thank you for the tips!! We have bleached a few times (just the inserts) and have noticed an amazing difference. I have never done my diapers though I know people who have. That just makes me to nervous

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    1. Makes me nervous too! Glad it worked out though!!

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  10. Good timing on this article. I'm about to do bleach on my entire stash to get rid of a yeast issue once and for all. Also doing sposies until it all clears up. :(

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    1. Let me know how you make out. No fun with sposies:-(

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  11. I too have reached frustration from ammonia build-up and have bleached my inserts. It was kinda scary at the time, wondering if I would ruin them, but it all turned out okay, and after 3 hot washes w/o detergent and a few rinses, we were once again stink free!
    Kimberlie

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  12. I mostly have BG 4.0s in our stash so I have bleached once or twice per their recommendations. I also bleached everything else since I was not going to do different loads. I have not noticed any damage so I might do it again if the need arises.

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  13. Yikes. Thanks so much for this - I am pregnant with my first so this is good info. :)

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  14. I have only resorted to bleach ONCE...I had some dyed prefolds bleed on my inserts. We solved our ammonia problem without it and several small adjustments to our wash and storage routine. I would be fine using bleach on my prefolds, flats and inserts. I'm weird about the PUL and colors though. I just don't think I would be able to go there.

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    1. I am too! I didn't want to chance it on PUL or my covers!

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  15. We haven't had any stink issues yet, but it's good to have a first hand account of being able to bleach diapers.

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  16. I don't personally use cloth diapers on my baby (hoping to with the second), but I have lots of friends who do cloth diapering, and I believe most of them use bleach every now and again.
    Thanks for your tips! I'll keep them in mind when we start :)

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  17. Thank you for writing this article! I am just getting started cloth diapering with my 10-month-old, and hope to with other children I am blessed with. They haven't arrived yet, so I am trying to learn everything I can!

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