Awe! The joys of stripping cloth diapers! I used to strip using Dawn dish detergent, but those were the days of a top loading washer. I now have a nifty HE Front Loader which I LOVE! However it does change some of my old cloth diapering washing routine. For one, I can not use dawn dish detergent any more due to the fact that it suds like crazy and Im not interested in ruining my Nice HE washer. Ive heard rumors of RLR working wonders so I decided to give it a try.
Last week I purchased some RLR from Moms Milk Boutique because they had free shipping and I love that!
It arrived yesterday. I decided to document my experience step by step for you all to see. Hopefully this will help someone out there :)
My first concern was the fact that I wasn't sure if it is safe for my HE washer. After all this is the reason Im trying it out instead of Dawn dish soap for stripping.
So I decided to check the "Suds Level" of this stuff.
I placed a pinch of RLR into a plastic container then added water. Here are the results:
There were definitely suds there. Not as much as say Dawn dish soap, but yes, there were indeed suds and they really did not dissipate like I had hoped.
My curiosity then peaked and I wondered what my HE detergent would do under the same test. There were suds upon impact of the running water but they immediately dissipated.
What was left within seconds was a filmy residue.
Then I had to try one more thing. I had a all natural soap which boasted little to now sudsing so I HAD to try this one to.
I had similar results as the HE made detergent. It suds upon impact of the running water but quickly dissipated but not quite as fast. But still fast.
I was once again left with a filmy residue in the water.
After doing all this, I did decide to still use RLR with my front loader, however I still had some concerns after seeing the clear difference in "Suds Level"
Step 1:
Load washer with your diapers. I decided to go ahead and put all my dirty diapers in as well as my clean ones. The directions said to "wash as usual with detergent..." so I did :)
Step 2:
Pour RLR into your powder section of your HE Washers Cleaner dispenser.
Step 3:
Start your wash as usual. I spent a good amount of time watching for sudsing after this. There never was a significant amount that I could see.
Step 4:
Do as many extra rinses as you need till your rinse water runs clear. Here is what I was seeing after 2 extra rinses after the initial wash cycle.
I ended up doing 3 rinses on top of the original regular wash cycle.
The results:
Diapers looked and smelled nice. I had a few "shot" diapers that I was pretty certain were way past what stripping could do for them. I was right. They still had funk smell issues. However my regular stash of diapers that had regular funk smell going on, they were nice and clean and smelled like... nothing. Just clean.
So all in all, I'd say mission accomplished. I don't think its a miracle cleaner. It does help with up keep and when you start getting a smell even though you've been washing regularly. You should remember that the best way to prevent funk is regular upkeep of your diapers. DON'T LET DIRTY DIAPERS SIT! I will be posting more on this really soon.
