Homemade is Not Always Best

Now, if I saw that headline, I would be like, “What? Of course it is!”. But in the case of using homemade laundry detergents, it is not always best for your diapering products. Below is a list of typical ingredients found in homemade laundry detergents: Bar soap Fels Naptha Soap Liquid castile soap Borax Oxygen Bleach Vinegar Washing Soda Now, you say, those are all natural ingredients. Yes, we love natural ingredients, but these may not be recommended for good reasons. What diapering products you are washing will determine which ingredient cannot be used. Pure Soap: Bar soap, grated soap, Fels Naptha soap, Castile soap: Pure soaps can deteriorate lamination, creating tiny pinholes and rendering the waterproofing useless. Pure soaps can also coat diapers, making them repel rather than absorb.

Do not use on any diapering product.

Borax: Borax, or Sodium Borate, is a wonderful cleanser, but can be caustic to components.

Do not use on covers, or diapers with components such as elastic - especially hook and loop fasteners. May be used on prefolds and inserts without elastic.

Oxygen Bleach: Oxygen bleach is a combination of hydrogen peroxide, and Sodium Carbonate - each very useful ingredients. When combined, it creates an oxygenating liquid or powder used to clean, brighten, and bleach away stains. Although it is biodegradeable and natural, it can be harsh on fibers and components.

May be used sparingly on diapering products, but not recommended for every wash as it is harsh. Thirsties recommends a treatment not more than once a month to preserve your diapering items.

Vinegar: Oh, wonderful vinegar! You can always find a bottle in my home. Vinegar has so many uses, and is great for neutralizing high alkaline levels in wash water. But, vinegar is not good for diapering components. Vinegar is an acid, and can eat away at lamination and elastic.

Do not use on diaper covers, pail liners, diaper duffles, or any diaper with lamination or elastic.
May be used on prefolds and inserts without elastic.

Washing Soda: Washing soda, or Sodium Carbonate, is the main ingredient in most powder detergents. It is highly alkaline, but is said to be safe when used in detergents. The wash water neutralizes the alkalinity, so please make sure to use the highest water level possible with powder detergents.

We do not recommend adding Washing Soda along with a detergent as an additive.

So although I believe that homemade detergent is great for regular laundry, it will most likely not be an option for cloth diapering products. Here are some great laundry detergents that can be purchased, and are safe for cloth diapers:

Allens Naturally Liquid*
Arm and Hammer Essentials
Country Save Liquid
Mountain Green Ultra Baby *
Planet Delicate Laundry Wash Liquid
Thirsties Pre-Wash and Super Wash *
Vaska

*HE compatible Liquid detergents are generally less harsh on diapering products. For Hard Water, we recommend either a powder detergent or adding a water softener. Calgon Water Softener may be added to the wash load if using a liquid detergent. Here are some recommended powder detergents:

Allen’s Naturally Powder*
Country Save Powder*
Planet Powder*
Rockin Green: Soft Rock, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, or Funk Rock *

*HE compatible Please send any questions you may have to me at support@thirstiesbaby.com! ~Sonya

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50 comments

Rockin’ Green (www.rockingreensoap.com) makes a fantastic cloth diaper safe detergent. It was developed with cloth diapers in mind. What’s great is that there are three different formulas for Soft Water, Regular Water, & Hard Water.

Mark Truscinski on August 10, 2021
Thank you for this information! I was contemplating making the homemade soap for my regular clothes Not my cloth diapers. However after reading this I think that using the homemade soap even for our family laundry may only be safe for all cotton clothing, since so many materials are synthetic and may have elastic. Thanks! All good to know info !

Alicia on August 10, 2021
I can’t help but be slightly annoyed by this post. I think there is a lot of misinformation that circulates around the cloth diapering community concerning cloth diaper care and best practice, and a lot of it is self-propagating, and not always very scientific. Many, many mothers use homemade detergents with wonderful results, and many mothers use the detergents listed above with horrid results, and vice versa. I think it all depends on the detergent recipe, water, washing habits, diapers, etc. While I do not think this post was written with any mal-intent, I will point out that most powdered diaper safe detergents will include sodium percarbonate and sodium carbonate (oxygen bleach and washing soda), including the detergents of two other well respected diapering companies, bumgenius and grovia. Obviously they would not offer products that they believe would damage people’s diapers. All that said, I think it is unfair to demonize the above ingredients and try to scare people away from homemade detergents, which can work wonderfully for some.

noel miller on August 10, 2021
Thank you so much for the post! This is a topic I’ve been digging into lately, as I just posted on making homemade detergents (http://paddedtushstats.com/2012/03/19/homemade-laundry-detergent-recipes-based-on-different-watermachine-types/). Do you happen to know any research sources that give info behind the harm of these ingredients?

Tara on August 10, 2021
I’ve been using homemade laundry soap on my diapers for six months now with no ill effects. I’ve never even needed to strip them! Not yet anyway. I always just use a tiny amount in the load. Now this article has me worried!! Ive loved saving money by doing homemade but if course cost savings are out the window if I have to replace ruined diapers. Hmm…

Oh and I have pockets (sunbaby and BG), prefolds and Thirsties covers (snaps, duo wrap).

Rachael on August 10, 2021