Stripping Diapers?

Stripping becomes necessary when there is detergent or mineral build up in your diapers and you notice that they are harboring smell, losing absorbency or your baby ends up with a rash. Here are some simple instructions you can follow to strip your diapers:

Please note: in rare instances, baking soda will react with certain minerals in water and also cause build up. If you notice a decrease in the functionality of your diapers after using baking soda, please stop using it and try another stripping method. BEFORE stripping, try to figure out what the issue is. Are you using too much detergent (are there still suds left in the final rinse), did you or someone else use fabric softener with the diapers, or is there some type of mineral deposit from very hard water?

To strip pocket diapers, simply hand wash your pocket diapers with regular dawn dish soap (yes, it has to be Dawn) – it gets the oils out. Add a bit of dish soap to the fleece, either rub the fleece vigorously together or use a medium bristle dish brush or hard bristle tooth brush to scrub the fleece. Turn inside out and repeat on this side. Rinse well, making sure that the water runs clear. You can use this any time you feel that the diaper may be repelling. Alternately, you can soak your diapers in a tub of hot water with dawn dish soap. Rub them together and let them soak in the water with the dish soap until the water is luke warm. Then do as many rinses as is necessary in your washer to get the diapers to rinse clean.

You can also use in RLR your wash cycle to strip both pocket and AIO diapers.

There are a few ways to strip AIO’s, fitted and prefold diapers.

• If you need to strip the diapers due to detergent buildup, then do a hot wash, warm rinse and keep rinsing until you don’t see any more bubbles. You can also use Calgon in the initial wash (using 1/2 the recommended amount). You can use RLR as well.
• You can put a little bit of baking soda in with the wash and fill a downy ball to the correct mark with white vinegar (never use apple cider vinegar) and put it in your wash. It will automatically release during the first rinse cycle. Remember to have a second rinse cycle added to this wash. It is also fine to strip pocket diapers with the white vinegar and baking soda routine. The trick is to use baking soda in the wash and vinegar in the rinse. *However, bumGenius advises not to use any baking soda or vinegar with their products. This will void their warranty.*

• Use 2 scoopfuls of Oxyclean (not baby oxyclean) in a very hot wash.