You can use this in the wash of reusable diapers

In this post I will tell you about what you can use to wash your diapers when you have situations like bad smells, fungus, stains, etc.

Let's basically talk about what shock treatments are, pay attention that this is not to be used regularly, it is for sporadic use and only when needed.

What is a shock treatment?

A shock treatment is basically a deep wash to remove debris and bacteria that have become trapped in the fibers of cloth diaper fabrics.

With the use of diapers and the excessive use of detergents and fabric softeners, the fibers in the diapers accumulate waste. With our clothes and towels this also happens, but as the use is different we do not notice. Maybe it's easier to remember the musty smell that our towels sometimes have, has that ever happened to you? It's the same, except that diapers retain pee and poop and what tissues accumulate are ammonia particles + detergents. It is these residues that cause clogging and bad smells in our cloth diapers. That's why cold rinses at the beginning and end of the wash are so important.

If the washing routine is working, you will never have the “pleasure” of feeling that intense aroma that transports us to the municipal landfill. If you want to avoid that trip, you can optionally have a shock treatment every 6-8 weeks just in case. In case the routine is not the best, the residues will accumulate and, the day after the baby pees, we will smell the fantastic smell of garbage/ammonia. In these cases, the clean diaper normally has no smell, only after a small pee, does the smell appear.

In this post you can see how to wash diapers correctly.

Another situation where disinfection may be necessary is if the baby is sick with a contagious disease such as gastroenteritis. To solve this problem, we do a deep wash and/or disinfection of the diapers.

When do we need to shock reusable diapers?

• When diapers after being washed smell bad. When we take the diapers out of the washing machine they should smell like nothing or have a slight aroma of the detergent used to wash them;
• When after peeing the diaper smells like ammonia;
• When the baby has been sick, for example gastroenteritis;
• When the baby developed a fungus. It usually happens if the baby has had to take an antibiotic or if it is breastfed and the mother has had to take antibiotics. Antibiotics not only destroy the bacteria that make us sick, they also destroy the intestinal flora. When there is an imbalance in the intestinal flora, the baby develops candida and it is this fungus that we have to remove from diapers.

What additives can I use in cloth diapers?

When using additives, it is necessary to pay attention to the recommendations of each brand, some do not authorize the use of certain additives. The most important thing is to wash with plenty of water, again the cold rinses before and after washing the diapers.

These tables were not made by me, they are from Thirsties, but the additives they recommend and the frequency of use are the ones I used while we had cloth diapers at home. It is a very useful summary so it serves as a guide for those who have problems and want to avoid them.

Safe additives for different types of diapers

Recommended additives for certain problems

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