how do you wash your cloth diapers?

Hi, I'm in Australia so am not familiar with the products you mentioned... so I have no idea why your nappies would go a blueish colour :?

Could you hang them out in the sun for the day? I find that this is the best way to get rid of smells and stains, but if they're really stained it might take a few washes and days in the sun until they're back to normal again.

As for washing, I dry-pail. I just use a squirt of tea tree oil which is a natural antiseptic in the bottom of the pail and wash every one and a half to two days... I also use half the amount of the recommended front loader washing powder and sometimes a splash of vinegar in the rinse cycle. Have you tried vinegar? It's usually good at getting built up detergent out of nappies - if that's what's causing the blueishness!

HTH

First off stop using the fabric softner. It can cause a water resistant coating to form on the diaper, which is obviously the very last thing you want. Try replacing pure white vinegar for the Downy in the ball. That should help with the smell and staining. If that does not totaly do it try addind some baking soada to the wsh when your detergent goes in as well.

I am not sure about the Sports Wash, but i do remember that some types of detergent, such as Tide, can amplify the urine smells. I think the sports wash is ok, but you might want to try another brand for now.

Don't forget to do two rinses. Trapped soap is never a good thing in diapers. In fact, you might want to run them through on hot with no detergent or anything a few times until you see no suds.

And I second the sun treatment. Even in the dead of winter putting them outside for a few hours will naturaly bleach them and supress the odours.

If none of this helps check out http://www.diaperpin.com/home.asp . Last I checked they had a pretty good trouble shooting section.

HTH!

downey advance does not usually cause buildup on diapers. most cloth diapering families have excellent luck with downey advance. that said, don't use any other types of fabric softener. and you might want to cut down on the amount used.

i've been cloth diapering for over 3 years now, with 2 currently in cloth diapers, and have had to change my washing routine every time we've moved. my most recent wash is:

cold rinse/wash with no detergent
hot wash with about 1/8 cup of purex detergent and a capful of calgon
warm wash with capful of calgon
cold rinse

if i'm still getting bubbles, or am washing a lot of hemp, i will either run an extra warm/hot wash with calgon and no detergent or an extra rinse or two. i have hard water and have to use the water softener to get my dipes to smell clean.

the discoloration sounds to me like either you have hard water, you are using too much downey, or something bled on the diapers. try washing them a few times with no downey, maybe with a bit of regular detergent instead of the sportwash, and drying them in the sun.

I used the same cloth diapers for both of my kids, so that came to about 5 years. Somewhere along the way they did get funky. An old time cloth diapering mom told my friend a trick and she passed it on to me. Wash your diapers the way you would regularly. Then fill a huge lobster pot with water and boil them (about 10 at a time) the water turns all sudsy and yellow. Who knew there was so much soap and pee in there. Then I hung them out to dry. This worked wonders on my diapers. For my normal washiong routine;
*store in a dry pail- I used to soak but it is just messy and didn't seem to make a difference- dump out poop if it is solid
*put in a wash with arm and hammer free and clear and sometimes a squirt of Bac-out
* Put vinegar in the rinse cycle
*Run an extra rinse
*dry outside or in the dryer with a little baking soda

My routine:

Dry pail for diapers (after solids start I dump poop in the toilet, before solids I just throw breastfeeding poop diapers in the pail)

First cycle is cold with diapers and wipes (we use cloth wipes), no detergent.

Second cycle is hot with a little bit of detergent

Third cycle I add in our underwear and socks and do another cycle with a full measure of detergent (we use All allergen formula).

If I'm going to line dry I put white vinegar into my washers fabric softener cup on the last cycle. Also, if rashes have been a problem I add the vinegar as well.

I also bleach my diapers about every 6 months and then put them through several cycles, but that's just a personal preference of mine.

Just a tip: don't boil diapers with plastic snaps. They can melt!!!