Mailbox Mondays

Mailbox Mondays 9/20/10

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Every Monday I will answer user submitted questions. They don’t have to be about cloth diapering! I’ll always answer questions via email, but if you would like your question to be answered in a Mailbox Mondays post, send an email with the subject “Mailbox Mondays” to Maria at change-diapers dot com.

Please note: My intent is to get a queue of questions for the next several months, so it may be some time before your submission is posted. If you would like me to email my response so you don’t have to wait until your question is posted, let me know!

Kristina says:

Hi, I am interested in trying out Wool Covers. What can you tell me about them in terms of care and usage. Thanks!



Kristina
 
Wool is fantastic!  I was initially a little afraid of wool, but it was so much easier to take care of than I imagined.  I have Kissaluvs, a Mobums and a Little Beetle cover.  The Mobums review has step by step photos demonstrating how I wash the covers.
 
I rarely have to wash them, you know you need to when they start hanging on to a urine smell (or if they are soiled.)  Otherwise, just air them out between uses. 
 
I use liquid lanolin that I found at my local organic store to lanolize when they don’t seem to be as absorbent, but there are any number of lanolizing products out there.  Using a lanolin containing wash (like Eucalan) will greatly reduce the frequency with which you need to lanolize.
 
Wool was my lifesaver (over a super-absorbent fitted) for night time, when my son was a super soaker!
 
Does this answer your questions?  What else do you want to know?  How about my readers?  Do you use wool?

Crystal says:

Maria,



I have been having stink issues with my hemp gDiaper inserts. I have tried just about everything, including stripping multiple times, a little bit of bleach in the wash, I switched to Rockin Green detergent, and I wash at least every 2 days. And I have tried sunning (all day in Florida heat) when I have the time, which I try to find the time at least once a week. The smell isn’t ammonia, it’s just a funkiness, and it comes out of the washer and dryer smelling this way. We have no rash problems cropping up, just the smell. Any ideas on something else to try?

Thanks,

Crystal
 
What have you been using to strip?  It seems that sometimes adding things make stinkies worse.  I would try running the inserts through several cycles on hot, with water only; no detergent or additives.  See if you are getting any suds or residue in the water.
 
I know you said you already tried bleach, but after you’ve made certain they are rinsed clean, try 1/4 cup of bleach in the bleach dispenser with only the inserts in the wash.
 
Do you have hard water?  It may be mineral deposits causing the funk.  Try the Rockin’ Green hard rock if you haven’t already, or try adding calgon water softener.
 
Sorry I wasn’t more help, you have tried most of what I would have done already!


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Maria
Maria is an aspiring "fit mom" of 3 children, writing about cloth diapers, going green, and her life as a single mom. Maria works with many companies within the cloth diaper industry and beyond, providing social media management, product development, and other services.
3 Comments
  • September 21, 2010 at 4:34 am
    Reply

    >Hello – I'm friending and following from ning, and I'm sorry I didn't comment on your blog and buttons sooner. I really like this blog layout and the diapers are pretty cute! I really like it! Thanks for taking part in the ning conversations. I'm http://thingssentmyway.blogspot.comThanks!

  • September 21, 2010 at 1:18 am
    Reply

    >We have really hard water also. I don't have a stink problem now that I started adding borax to every load (including the cold pre-rinse/soak). Borax will attach itself to the minerals in the water and pull them out in the rinse so that you have fewer mineral deposits. A very inexpensive option for us!I also have to do a "bleach session" with my inserts about once a month to get them really clean and to kill the smell. Just a note, don't bleach organic cotton… bad things happen 🙁

  • September 20, 2010 at 7:21 pm
    Reply

    >I just got my first wool diaper actually!Our water in Florida was really, really hard. It definitely caused problems. The best way I've found to strip diapers is to spend about a week skipping the diaper pail and putting diapers directly into the washing machine when I change. I run a rinse or soak cycle every time a poopy one goes in, or at least a couple of times a day. This gets all my diapers really clean and well rinsed. I don't do it that often, but when I do, it takes care of all my smell problems.

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