New! Thirsties Pre-Wash & Super-Wash!

PRE-WASH Features:

• Completely non-toxic solution

• 100% biodegradable

• Custom formulated by a chemist specifically for use in pre-washing diapers

• Designed to help loosen and rinse away waste and eliminate bacteria

• Antimicrobial ingredient naturally disinfects

• Washes completely clean; will not leave residue

• Highly concentrated to reduce costs and carbon output

• HE Safe

• Made in the USA

PRE-WASH Description:

Thirsties® Pre-Wash is the only solution custom formulated by a chemist to pre-clean your cloth diapers. The active antimicrobial ingredients in Thirsties® Pre-Wash actually eliminate bacteria from your diapers, which are often the culprit of residual odors and diaper rash.

Be sure not to skip this important step in cleaning your cloth diapers! Thirsties® Pre-Wash is specially formulated to loosen and rinse away waste and works to prevent stains from setting. Our pre-wash solution is completely safe against your baby's skin and washes clean from your diaper leaving no residue behind.

Most detergents contain harmful enzymes, artificial fragrances, man-made whiteners, and leave behind harmful residues. Thirsties® Pre-Wash is entirely non-toxic, is safe for your HE washer and is 100% biodegradable.

SUPER WASH Features:

• Completely non-toxic solution

• 100% biodegradable

• Odorless & colorless

• Custom formulated by a chemist specifically for use in washing cloth diapers

• Probiotic solution introduces good bacteria to eliminate odor-causing bacteria

• Helps prevent diaper rash by naturally destroying bad bacteria

• Effectively brightens and whitens without harmful additives

• Washes completely clean; will not leave residue

• Highly concentrated to reduce costs and carbon output

• HE Safe

• Made in the USA

SUPER WASH Description:

Finally a cloth diaper detergent that does it all! A wash that truly lives up to its name: SUPER! The amazing probiotic component of Thirsties® Super Wash actually introduces constructive bacteria to your wash which helps to eliminate the bacteria that are often the culprits of residual odors and diaper rash. It's the only wash of its kind that offers this important ingredient.

Most detergents on the market will 'clean' your diapers, but none of them work to eliminate bacteria. Adding an oxygen bleach booster to your regular detergent will certainly disinfect, but it is very harsh on your baby's delicate skin and will deteriorate your diapers at a much more rapid rate. As well, using a boosteralso adds up the expense to launder each load. Thirsties® Super Wash is completely safe against your baby's skin, yet has everything you need to thoroughly clean your diapers, and is custom formulated specifically to suit the needs of your reusable diaper laundry.

In addition, most detergents contain harmful enzymes, artificial fragrances, man-made whiteners, and leave behind harmful residues. Thirsties® Super Wash is entirely non-toxic and is just as safe as rainwater against your baby's skin.

Use our washes from Day One on your cloth diapers to maintain that 'like-new' appearance. Thirsties® Super Wash effectively brightens and whitens your diapers--you will be amazed! Test it yourself by reserving some of your dingiest used diapers. Wash some of them in Thirsties® Super Wash and watch them brighten more and more with every cycle. After several wash cycles, compare your dingy diapers still on reserve to the diapers washed with Thirsties® Super Wash and you will notice a difference.

Use:

Pre-clean with 1/2 ounce Thirsties® Pre-Wash on COLD (if your machine has a pre-wash cycle, use it; if not, use a short cycle). Follow with 1/2 ounce of Thirsties® Super Wash in heavy cycle on HOT with an extra rinse. DO NOT USE ON HAND-DYED TEXTILES. We recommend testing for color fastness prior to using on dyed textiles.

Also, available in a Value Pack! Save money and grab both the Pre-Wash & Super Wash!

The Cloth Diaper Geek Explains it all! Laundry Edition

This week's edition will focus on frequently asked questions regarding laundering your diapers! Have you got a question? Don't forget you can either post your question as a comment or submit your question using our Reader Contribution Form.

Question: What exactly is a surfactant? And is it on the detergent no-no list?

The Geek's Answer: Surfactant is short for "surface-active-agent." They help reduce the surface tension of a liquid (like water) allowing items in the laundry to more easily become "wet" and they also makes organic matter more soluble in water which makes them essential to detergents.

From what I've found in my research, surfactants are vital to most detergents, making them more effective and actually classifying them as a detergent. It's the other additives you have to watch out for, the one's specifically intended to coat your laundry with fragrance, fabric softener, starch, stain guards, etc.

For this question I even consulted with Taylor, the owner of Charlies Soap, and he assured me that surfactants ARE detergents.

So, FINAL ANSWER, surfactants are ok for your diapers, they're what get your diapers clean, and naturally produced surfactants are better than synthetic man made ones.

Question: I am in need of some help. I have cloth diapered for 5 years and am totally addicted to it, plus I believe cloth is the BEST. However, my 3rd little boy is getting some serious diaper rash. It has become so bad that to get rid of a rash, twice now I have had to use disposables for a week each time. I mainly do a prefold with a cover, and I have a few old fuzzibunz. But I don't know what to do. I need some help knowing how to wick the moisture away from his bottom to prevent the rash/thrush. Are my diapers not clean enough? What am I doing wrong? I've done this for 5 years--what is my problem. Thanks!

The Geek's Answer: There are many ways to troubleshoot this problem. First I would suggest changing detergents, preferably to Charlies Soap, a gentle yet effective detergent that you can use on both your diapers and the rest of your laundry. If you don't want to change detergents yet, I would suggest changing him more frequently until the rash goes away and also use powder or cornstarch at diaper changes and then on a regular basis to keep him dry. You may also want to try some fleece liners. They serve as a stay dry barrier between your babes skin and the cotton prefold. They can help, and would definitely be worth a try.

Also, not sure on your washing routine but sometimes you need an extra rinse before your wash cycle to ensure that you're rinsing them enough. Ammonia can build up and essentially reactivate when the baby pees in the diaper causing a rash. It's also important to make sure you aren't washing too many diapers at once.

Do you have a laundry related or cloth diaper related question? Post your question as a comment and we'll try our best to find you the answers you need!

Fluff in the Spotlight: Charlie's Soap

Washing cloth diapers can be one of the most confusing and frustrating things you'll ever try to do. Just when you think you've got your routine down, here comes a stink issue, mysterious stains, rash on baby, etc. You rack your brain trying to figure out what to do. Sometimes the most obvious solution is right before you and you may not even notice.

Chances are you need to switch detergents. Many mamas think they need to have a special detergent just for their diapers that they use sparingly and alternate with another detergent for their regular laundry. What you don't know is that you don't need to do that. What you need is a detergent that's safe for both your laundry and your diapers. This is where Charlie's Soap comes in.

Charlie's Soap contains none of the commonly found additives that are found in most laundry detergents. Those additives are designed to bind to fabrics, Charlie's is residue free. What else might you need to know about Charlie's...

• Charlie's is completely water soluble and safe for HE machines
• Safe for cloth diapers, laundry and a multitude of other cleaning purposes
  
• Safe for all color-fast washables
• Eliminates the need for fabric softeners
• 1 teaspoon full is all you need per load, this means 1 bag = approx 80 loads
• Available in either Laundry Liquid or Laundry Powder
• Made in the USA
• Money Back Guarantee
  

The list of reasons to use Charlie's really is endless. Be sure to check out our current Pimp Your Stash GiveAway and you could win a bag of Charlie's Laundry Powder & All Purpose Cleaner. Also, check back in each day this week for more great info on handling cloth diaper laundry.

Doing diaper laundry can be simple!

When I first started using cloth diapers, I had this fear that I would ruin them. That somehow I would add too much soap, or the water would be the wrong temperature, or I would use the wrong soap, or something bad would happen. I would mess up all my new diapers that I just bought! I don't know why, but I seriously feared washing my diapers.

A silly thought, sure, but that's actually a common concern of many new cloth diaper users! You just spent $15 + on a diaper. The last thing you want to do is ruin them!

I've learned that washing your diapers is actually really simple and I'm pretty sure it's virtually impossible to ruin them. My wash routine is very basic. There are many ways to wash your diapers, many different detergents to use, many different ways to dry them, and really- they all work at cleaning your diapers- it's just about doing what works for you!

My routine is very simple.

We keep a regular trash can with a lid ($10 plastic bought at Fred Meyer) in the hall bathroom which is across from my son's room. Inside the trash can we have a normal trash bag which contains all the dirty diapers. Because this is more wasteful, I would prefer to use a wet bag/pail liner. I will hopefully be getting one eventually, but they are certainly not necessary. It works just fine to use a trash bag and throw it away after each wash.

After the trash can is full, I wash! I wash about every 3 days. Currently I'm using Purex Free & Clear detergent. I'm not in love with this detergent, yet I have no reason to complain about it either. I've found something that works to get my diapers clean, so I'll stick with it! I always do two loads and one dry. The first load is a cold wash, the second is hot. Through trial and error I learned that you should always do a cold wash first. This helps prevent any stains from occurring. With both washes I use a tiny bit of detergent. It takes very little detergent to get your diapers clean!

Drying my diapers can be done two ways; the lazy way or the smart way. The lazy way is to throw all my diapers (covers, inserts, rags, etc) into the dryer on medium setting. It usually takes less than 20 minutes to get everything dry. I call this the lazy way because I don't believe this is the best way as I've noticed it really wears and tears on my diapers. Just like our clothes, the more times things are dried, the more wear is caused to them.

The smart way, and the way I believe that really helps contribute to long lasting diapers, is to either hang them to dry or lay them on your kitchen table. Really, anything better than the dryer is better. A clothes line is optimal and nice, however your couch, bed, table, heck even a clean floor! would work as a place to lay your diapers to dry. Avoiding the dryer is going to make the elastic and velcro last longer and keep them looking newer for longer.

After my diapers are dry I stuff them and prepare them for wearing! This takes less than 10 minutes and is almost always done while watching TV. :)

And that my friends, is it! Sounds simple doesn't it? That's because it is! Using cloth diapers doesn't have to be complicated or include 12 different steps. It can be and it is easy! Does it take an extra 20 minutes of my time every few days? Yes. Does it cost more money up front? Yes. Are the benefits of using cloth and the cuteness factor totally worth it? YES!

Reader Contribution
by Samantha at Mama Notes

Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator

Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator 16oz.

with Live Enzyme Cultures:
It seems everyone has a Bac-Out story. Bac-Out’s live enzyme-producing cultures attack pet, food, and beverage stains, organic waste, and odor until they are gone, digesting them back to nature, safely and naturally. Bac-Out is safe to use around children and pets, even birds.

• Lime Peel Extract cleaning power
• Destroys the toughest odors so they are gone for good
• Excellent for mold and mildew
• Preferred by commercial carpet cleaners nationwide

BioKleen Laundry LIquid

Citrus Laundry Liquid 32oz.

Phosphate & Chlorine Free:
Our Laundry liquid removes the toughest dirt, grease, stains and odors, yet is gentle enough for cloth diapers, delicate fabrics and hand washables. Rinses clean without leaving residue on clothes that can irritate skin or ruin fabrics. Recommend 1 oz per load.

• 3x More Concentrated
• Grapefruit Seed & Orange Peel Extracts
• Naturally controls stains and odors
• Makes a great pre-treat for stains