How To Disinfect Your Diapers
Simply washing your diapers on hot with a good detergent and putting them in the sun to dry will routinely help to disinfect diapers. Please make sure that you are using an adequate water level to wash your diapers, that you are not overloading your machine, and using our special washing instructions for HE machines.
If your baby has an infection in the diaper area, your diapers will need to be disinfected. Â Below are some remedies that may help:
Oxygen Bleach – Use recommended amount of oxygen bleach in a HOT wash, along with your detergent. This will disinfect as well as help remove stains. Some brands to try are OxyClean Baby, and Bac-Out Oxygen Bleach Plus. This is for a one time treatment, and not to be used at every wash load.
Grape Seed Extract - Tests have shown that GSE is dramatically more effective than Colloidal Silver, Iodine, Tea Tree Oil and Clorox bleach against five common microorganisms. For more, please visit: http://drjaygordon.com/breastfeeding/thrush.html
20 drops (2 tsp.) added to the final rinse cycle should suffice.
Tea Tree oil is another option. Add 20 drops (2 tsp.)  to the final rinse cycle. Make sure you are using 100% tea tree oil and not a cheaper mixture. Allow the washer to fill and start agitating before placing  the Tea Tree Oil into the water.
You will want to look for a high Terpinen-4-ol and low Cineole concentration.
Hydrogen Peroxide – 3%, typically found in the grocery store. Use 1 cup of  hydrogen peroxide in the final rinse cycle. Allow the washer to fill to the load level before placing  the hydrogen peroxide into the water to avoid bleached spots on your diapers.
Vinegar - Another alternative to bleach is white vinegar. Use 1 cup of distilled white vinegar in the final rinse cycle.
*Vinegar may leave a lingering smell on microfiber or laminated diapers.
*Vinegar may worsen some water conditions such as very hard water.
Sources include http://drjaygordon.com/breastfeeding/thrush.html
**Please be sure to check with manufacturer's washing instructions (and warranty information) before starting any disinfecting routine.
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Thank you so much for the information. I am new to cloth diapers as I will be a first time mom this year & no one else I know around here cloth diapers. I am hoping that my cloth diapering will inspire some others to start cloth diapering as well! I read all the advice & articles I can right now. Any tips you have for washing cloth diapers ( hemp and organic cotton inserts, with PUL covers) would be great!
I’ve been using baking soda and vinegar together in my cold pre-wash cycle regularly (baking soda in wash portion and vinegar in the rinse portion via the fabric softener dispenser). Is this bad? I haven’t noticed any residual vinegar odor or problems with my PUL. If acidity is the problem, obviously my baking soda is neutralizing it. If I’m using the two together, is there any problem? Also, would the Thirsties pre-wash solution eliminate my need for the baking soda and vinegar combo?
I think you mean grapeFRUIT seed extract. :-)
Melaleuca has a great tea tree oil. They also have a product called solumel that has the oil in it that works great when added to your load of dipes. Want to know more let me know! Shannon ‘olson’ Warlop (on FB)