Okay so this post might not be as exciting as the title sounds. Actually there isn't anything exciting about it. But it is informative if you are a cloth diaperer.
Why strip your diapers?
Stripping your diapers can help with removing mineral or soap build up. It can help if you are having stink issues. It can help if you are having repelling issues and leaky diapers. Basically, it can help if your diapers aren't working the way they are supposed to.
Three methods I have used to Strip my Diapers
First of all let me preface that by saying we have extremely hard water where I live so treatments like vinegar and even bleach don't do much for my stink issues I have had. We had a lot of problem with ammonia buildup until I got a better washing routine worked out. If ammonia build up gets bad enough, it can cause very bad rashes as well. Those without hard water should feel so very grateful.
The first method I have tried is to do a bunch of hot water washes checking each time until you don't see any soap bubbles or residue in the water on clean diapers. It is better to do hot washes and warm rinses, but of course my washer doesn't have this option so it takes longer. I only had limited success with this method though. It just didn't seem to get enough of the minerals, soap, etc out.
The second option that worked well was putting a squirt or two of blue dawn in the hot wash with your clean diapers. Then you continue rinsing until you see no more bubbles. It takes a number of rinses to do this and warm or hot rinses work better. Blue Dawn is a degreaser and helps break up all the things clinging to your diapers and inserts. (Interesting animal science major tidbit, it also kills fleas on animals although you can't use it much or else it can really dry out their skin. But it does work well.)
The third option is to buy RLR. You sprinkle this in hot water with your clean diapers and then do rinses until their are no more bubbles and soap residue left in the rinse water. I prefer this method more than the other two because while the Blue Dawn works, it takes more rinses than the RLR. More rinses equals more water which equals a higher water bill (although the cost difference probably equals out when you figure how cheap blue dawn is if you prefer that method.) See here for a detailed post about stripping with RLR since that is my preferred method.
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| Picture via Kelly's Closet |
How to prevent having to strip your diapers regularly:
- Make sure to rinse every diaper even just pee diapers before putting them in the wet bag.
- Wash every couple of days even if you only have a few diapers.
- Figure out a good wash routine that uses enough soap, but not too much soap to cause buildup.
- Use only cloth diaper safe ointments or make sure to always use liners.
- Avoid using fabric softeners or static cling sheets on your diapers (but it can also help to avoid using them in your machine all together.
- Avoid over using additives in your wash routine.
Feel free to ask me any stripping questions you might have! haha
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Titus 2sday
Tuesday Baby
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Linked up at:
Titus 2sday
Tuesday Baby
This post contains affiliate links which compensate Adventures with Captain Destructo with a % of the sale. Using these links doesn't cost you anything extra, but it helps support this blog and my family. Thanks!
Legos. If you ever step on one of these without bare feet, you understand why this one tops the list. 
Hot Wheels or the like. Yeah not only do they hurt to step on, but they also cause you to fall on your butt if you step on enough of them.
This particular set of blocks is quite painful when they are tossed at your head. They also can be quite slippery when you round a corner and step on one.
This set in itself isn't horrible. But the orange in it is deadly. Destructo thinks it is a ball. Balls are made to be thrown at everything including windows, TVs, my head. The orange has sadly "disappeared" into the dark depths of the closet.
This shape stacker is dangerous. As with the orange, the round ball like piece for the circle shape stacker part is thrown like a very painful ball. It also needs to disappear to the depths of hell or the closet either way.
Yeah baseball bats and toddlers are not meant to come together. Even plastic bats. Even outside. The box LIES when it says ages 1 1/2 -3. 
This toaster hurts a lot when it is dropped on your barefoot. Not that Destructo has ever done that or anything.
Again toddlers and sticks don't mesh. Again I didn't buy him this just as I didn't buy the tee ball set. Mr. Destructo was fully responsible for that.
Bubble machine. This is fine for an outside toy. But we bought it for Destructo in the winter and let him use it in the house. Yeah talk about break your neck slippery floors. Poor Destructo wiped out before I could get it wiped up.
Puzzles that have the little red peg on top of them. It might make putting them in the appropriate place easier for kiddos, but it sure does hurt when you step on it.