Holy Suds!

In my neighborhood, the HOA does not allow clotheslines. I live in the Phoenix area though, and I have to take advantage of the sun to dry my diapers and keep them nice, white, and stain free. Plus, I save money on gas (we have a gas dryer.) So for as long as I've cloth diapered, my patio furniture has doubled as drying areas.

Baby J loves to be outside. However, now that she's older, she is destroying everything in her wake and the nicely laid out cloth diapers, inserts, wash cloths and wet bags are victims in her path. 

One of Baby J's favorite things to play with is the Chloe's, our yellow lab, water bowl. She used to just sit by it and splash in it, but now she wants to put things in it and soak up the water. She grabs handfuls of the inserts I have put out to sun and dunks them in the water. Then she goes for more until all the water is sucked up. After that, she just throws them around to pick up all the dirt sitting on the patio. Yes, I watch as this all happens. She's happy, entertained, and soaking wet which in the triple digit temperatures is a relief to me knowing she must feel good in her wet clothes and won't overheat. I also think it's super cute when she tries to put everything back out to dry.

Yesterday she decided to repeat this routine. I wasn't as lenient at first and started taking out the inserts and ringing them out to put them back in the sun. Oh my goodness! Holy suds! My inserts are full of detergent. :( Crap! Now I have to strip. 

I have never really found the perfect washing routine. We have a high-efficiency front loader and although I love it for washing almost everything, I would rather have an old top loader for my cloth diapers. That way I could see the suds and determine an appropriate amount of detergent and rinses to know I was getting my diapers clean and soap free. I use minimal detergent, or so I thought, and rinse at least twice, but I guess I need to use less. Which is always good because then the detergent lasts longer!

We haven't had any real ammonia issues since my last stripping fiasco, except on those nasty nighttime diapers. I always think to myself that having a diaper on for that long is bound to be a bit stinky from the pee, but I must be wrong.

My goal today is to boil all my inserts. I did a boil a few weeks ago on half of them and that made a huge difference in the way they feel. It was way easier than using Dawn to strip and saves a ton of water and energy. Wish me luck! I will be reporting back on this experience soon.