>This may be long, but it’s very relevant and I want to get my entire story out there.

I’ve mentioned before that detergent is a hot button issue for me because it was the only thing that prevented me from cloth diapering earlier.  So, I’ll start from the beginning.

When I chose the diapers I wanted to try, I knew I wanted to start with just a few to see how it went.  I also knew that I needed a “safe” detergent.  Googling led me to a chart with stars, that rated detergents based on their ingredients.  The one I was looking at rated detergents from 1 to 4 red stars.  None of the “4 star” detergents were available at any of our grocery stores, Target, Wal Mart, or anywhere else I could think to check.

So, I started looking into ordering some.  At the time of my research, there were 4 or 5 detergents that I could order online, that had 4 red stars/thumbs up ratings.  I eliminated the detergents that were reported to give babies burns, as well as those with so-so reviews.

Now, keep in mind that I’m cheap frugal, so my maximum price for detergent was $2.99 for a 32 load bottle, and I’d only pay that much if we desperately needed it.  My “stock up” price was closer to free, or pennies.

A single bottle of the “thumbs up” detergent was about $12, then add shipping.  I could potentially buy a case to bring the price per bottle down a bit, but yikes.  All this for 3 diapers I didn’t even know if I’d like?  So, that’s where it ended.  I gave up on cloth diapering.  I couldn’t make 3 diapers a $75 experiment.

When my son’s rashes (clearly caused by disposable diapers since they disappeared when we switched to cloth) were so bad that it hurt to look at, I decided I was going to do this darn it!  One way or another.