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Laura
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| Posted: Nov 08 2005 at 7:29am | IP Logged
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Do any of you who use cloth diapers know how to get breastfeeding poop stains out? 
Naomi is turning all of my cloth diapers yellow. Any washing tips would be welome.
And as you all know we can't use bleach so....
Thanks.
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Laura
wife to Ken and mom to 8 blessings with #9 due July 26,2009
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amyable
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| Posted: Nov 08 2005 at 9:13am | IP Logged
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My first thought would be oxyclean, but I don't know if that is any better/milder than bleach on diapers. If it's OK, I would make a paste of oxyclean and water and let it sit on the stains for a day, then wash as usual.
Sunlight (lol, I spelled it "Sonlight" -- I've been looking at their catalog too much!) works wonders too. I don't have a clothesline but I put them on our picnic table stain side up and left them out all day on a sunny day.
HTH
(just editing to add I'm so excited to finally have FOUR apples under my name. I'm really moving up in the world   )
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Amy
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The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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TxTrish
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| Posted: Nov 08 2005 at 11:28am | IP Logged
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Hang em dry in the sunshine.
I bleach and line dry. They stay snowy white.
You could try vinegar?
Trish
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Laura
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amyable wrote:
(just editing to add I'm so excited to finally have FOUR apples under my name. I'm really moving up in the world )
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Congratulations Amy! The really sad thing is that I joined after you and already have far too many posts for that small time frame!
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JMJ,
Laura
wife to Ken and mom to 8 blessings with #9 due July 26,2009
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Laura
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| Posted: Nov 08 2005 at 11:32am | IP Logged
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Thanks for the hints. I don't dare use the bleach, I always use vinegar, and I will look into the oxyclean. Every person that I know recommends this stuff and I have yet to try it! Sunshine is a great idea. It sure makes for stiff diapers though! I hadn't thought of that one as she was born in August and I have been to busy to hang out my laundry! I need to get back to that routine.
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Laura
wife to Ken and mom to 8 blessings with #9 due July 26,2009
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Laura
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TxTrish wrote:
Hang em dry in the sunshine.
I bleach and line dry. They stay snowy white.
You could try vinegar?
Trish |
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They say that bleach eats at the fibers of the diapers. Have you not found this to be true? What kind of diapers do you use? I use the Mother Ease.
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Laura
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lilac hill
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I have been soaking our white cloth napkins in automatic dishwasher detergent/hot water solution and had pretty good results. DO you think it might help with diapers?
Viv
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Viv
Wife to Rick (7/83), Mom to dd#1(6/87), dd#2(1/90), and dd#3(6/94) in central PA.
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amyable
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Someone once gave me a great tip for the "stiff" problem of line drying - this may work best on breezy days though. Hang two diapers together so that they bump into each other when the breeze blows them. Kind of like being in the dryer! Of course you could always just throw them in the dryer for 15 minutes when you bring them in... 
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Amy
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amyable
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Laura wrote:
Congratulations Amy! The really sad thing is that I joined after you and already have far too many posts for that small time frame! |
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Well, I joined and then went into hiding for a few months. Otherwise I'd probably have the same post per month ratio that you do. Not to sound sappy but I love this place so much! I've never felt so "at home" anywhere on the web, and I've been through more than my share of messageboards. 
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Amy
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TxTrish
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They say that bleach eats at the fibers of the diapers. Have you not found this to be true? [/QUOTE]
No, I have not. I have read and seen that all over too. I purchase DSQ prefolds 3 children ago and they are all still great condition and up for many more years and children (St.Gerard pray for us!) worth of service.
My husband says it was the best money I ever spent that we will be washing our cars with them still after we retire.
Glad I was to stupid to know the "right" way.
My mother and grandmother told me with my first child to soak them in bleach and hang them on the line, so I did. But, what I always wondered is why would bleach eat cloth diapers more than it "eats" anything else? That is what I want to know.
Rit makes some whitening stuff that we use on Tae Kwon Do uniforms because they can't be bleached.
Trish
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Sarah
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I would wash as hot as you can. Then hold back the stained ones from being dried. Drying will set it. Take a brush, a softer one, like a fingernail brush, and gently brush detergent into the stained area. Rinse and repeat. Brush easily since you can wear a hole in it. Use a good detergent to start with like Dreft or if there are no skin issues- use Cheer. I used Dreft, but realized my kids were fine with Cheer. Cheapo laundry detergent has lots of fillers and is hard on your clothes, hard on your machine and doesn't work. I'm known in my family as having laundry neurosis. I've also rinsed my diapers right after the poopy blow-out. The staining is because the poop is thoroughly wrapped around the fibers and is sticky, not because it has dyed it-like a tea stain. It may take several washings. And if your machine has it, double rinse. In the end, if it goes back on the same kid, who cares about some staining?
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Sarah
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I forgot to mention Borax works well with the detergent.
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kristina
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lilac hill wrote:
I have been soaking our white cloth napkins in automatic dishwasher detergent/hot water solution and had pretty good results. DO you think it might help with diapers?
Viv |
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My first preference was to use Shaklee's Basic L and Nature Bright. It worked so well and did not harm our septic.. I cannot imagine that bleach is very good for the septic, killing all bacteria, good and bad. Unfortunately, I think Shaklee's ship costs are absurd and there aren't and distributors who keep a stock who live nearby any longer.
When I have stains that I just cannot bear any more, I pinch my nose and once in a great while use this recipe which I was given by my husband's grandmother years ago. It is similar to yours, Viv.
The White Soak Solution
1/2 cup bleach
1/4 cup cascade crystals (green box - NOT yellow -- yellow will turn your clothes yellow).
1 gallon HOT water
Gently mix and add clothes. Soak for 1/ 2 hour
Remove clothing from soak and wash in machine as usual.
When I had a regular machine (not the watersaving frontloader that we have in this house), I would fill the drum with the hottest water, add the solution, agitate for a second, add the stained clothing, agitate again, then stop the machine for half an hour. Then after the 1/2 hour, let the washing cycle proceed. Then I rewashed the clothing as usual ( I do this when I use bleach.. I am so offended by the smell of bleach).
This is a great soak for socks, tighty-whities, soiled towels -- anything that can be bleached.
I never used cloth diapers on a regular basis  , but when I did this did not harm them. Something in the dish crystals seems to soften the solution.
Blessings,
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Katie
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Before you try the bleach and chemicals route, do try putting them in the sunshine (if you can find any ). It works wonders for the yellow poop. If the dipes are stiff afterwards, give them a few minutes in the drier with a damp washcloth. Soft and white! For a set-in stain, squirt on some lemon juice then line dry. You may want to wash again before using. If this fails, you can haul out the big guns!
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Laura
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Thanks for all your help.
Also, it researching this I came across some very interesting stuff.
If your cloth diapers are forever stinky it may be that you are using too much detergent!! Go figure.
They say that you only have to use a little and it goes a very long way.
To remedy this strip your diapers. Wash them without soap unitl no bubbles appear when aggitating.
Thanks again ladies!
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JMJ,
Laura
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momtomany
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I always used borax for the soaking water and then more in the wash water. Then a vinegar rinse. And good old sunlight. As for the stiffness problem with hanging out on the line, weather and supply permitting, you can keep them out overnight. The dew does a nice job of softening them and they are perfect by about 10am.
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Mary Ann in PA
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: cloth diaper stains????
