Mom.Podge

living the canvas of life from collage to masterpiece

[cloth101]

So...I have hard water. I usually use both Calgon and washing soda (just to play it safe). Anyway, I can't find washing soda anywhere anymore!!! Yikes!! What can I use instead??

You can use borax!! Although I would think calgon would be more than enough. Also you can make your own washing soda by baking baking soda. Hahah

[galaxywolfgrl-deactivated201905]

Hey I was using Calgon but found the borax to be cheaper. Is there really a difference?

[raisinglittlewarriors-blog]

I’ve heard borax was terrible for cloth diapers

[cloth101]

Borax is completely fine to use. It’s actually used in most detergents.

Calgon is a little stronger. Usually you have to use a little bit more borax than calgon. But it’s way cheaper and works just as well if used in the proper amount. :)

[mompodge]

Thank you! I had heard borax was bad for dipes, too! Glad to know I can use it, because I have tons of it just sitting in my laundry room cabinet!

[iraffiruse]

[mompodge]

Say what?! I really hope this actually works!

[mompodge]

Day 8 - Memories! First cloth diaper OTB!

[mompodge]

Day 6 - Dirty! Gotta love our diaper pail!

[mompodge]

Day 3 - Retro! My most "retro" looking dipe 😊

[mompodge]

Day 2 - Storage.

Changing table bins work great, but I’m running out of room for all my fluff!

[mompodge]

Day 1 - No Leaks! I've never had an overnight leak (10+ hours) with our Best Bottoms overnight microfiber and hemp inserts!

[cineraria]

How to Fold a Shirt in Under 2 Seconds - YouTube 伊東家の食卓

[elliotexplicit-blog-deactivated]

I just did this. Legit.

[deirashadeweaver]

the fuck

[shade-rartblog]

Clearly this is black magic at work here

[clorinspats]

been folding my shirts like this for so long that it feels weird to do it any other way

[lexxerduglas]

WHAT THE SHIT

[controversial-tabloid-story]

I just did this for my mom and she screamed.

[wanderinghomesomeday]

This is not worth selling your soul to satan

[3sbliss]

I fold my shirts like this unless they are ones to hang up. Have since I was in highschool.

[mompodge]

I must learn this.

[jakesheadwarning]

Stars spoiling the movie version of old books during interviews.

[mompodge]

This is great! lol

[mompodge]

[cloth101]

I have stink issues 😞 I thought I was doing everything fine, but I really noticed it tonight - wah!! I thought maybe it's because we have well water, so I bought some Calgon. I'm not sure if that's made it worse or not. I'm so bummed right now. I guess I'll be doing a bleach soak and then trying to figure out what I did wrong. Any suggestions? I've been filling up the detergent to the max line on my machine (when I use Calgon it's a little less since that goes in the same section)...

What detergent are you using, mama? And what’s the cycle? How many diapers are you washing.

Do they stink after use or after washing? And how do they look? Are the dingy looking or do they appear to be clean?

Anddd how long ago did you start calgon?

I have slight hard water where I live now, and hard well water when I stayed with my parents for a few months. It could just be you need to change detergents. I had a dingy moment when I moved to nc. No stinks. But they looked just sad. Once I switched it completely brought the life back to them.

Or it could simply be you just need to add some wash clothes or clothes to your load to get the right consistency. “Diaper stew”

having the right friction makes a huge difference in cleanliness.

[mompodge]

I use regular Tide. For the longest time, they only had stink after they were used. Last night I noticed a bit of stink after they came out of the dryer. I added Calgon probably about a week or two ago. I have an HE top loader with no agitator. I use the heavy duty setting with a prerinse and spin. I’ll double check the “diaper stew” next time I wash…but I feel like it’s not soupy looking. I wash like every other day, but lately, since my stash has gotten bigger, I’ve slacked off to every third day. Do synthetic fibers have a bigger chance of smelling by chance? I really noticed it on a new fitted that I’ve used twice…and it has a microfiber insert sewn in…

[cloth101]

Yes! especially MF. However, if they are getting the right amount of friction they shouldn’t. None of mine do. Ugh.. HE’s are sooo freaking complicated when it comes to diapers. It really makes me never want one ever. hahaha Try doing a medium or whatever it is before the heavy wash. see if that helps? Or add a towel to the heavy one. that might help. 

Have you used tide from the beginning? or did you switch from something else? have you ever stripped or bleached? 

[mompodge]

I’ve used Tide from the beginning (I used All Free and Clear once).  I’ve never stripped or bleached.  I bought all new and have only been cloth diapering for probably two months, I’d say.  

So, maybe I should do a quick wash with detergent before the heavy duty?  

And if I was to bleach, how does it not mess up all the pretty colors?  Should I use the clorox for colors?

[cloth101]

Maybe? I add a tiny bit of detergent in my pre wash.

And no!! Regular bleach. No scents or splash less. I’ve bleached all of my diapers I’ve yet to fade one single diaper. As long as you dilute it properly your diapers will only vibrant and beautiful. :)

But I do think you should play around with it. I wish I had more experience with HE washers. :/

[mompodge]

Good to know about the bleach!  Thank you so much for all of your help!  I knew that I could count on Cloth 101!  I just felt like such a failure! haha!  You’ve encouraged me to not be so easily discouraged…I’m excited to mix it up - think positive, right? lol

[cloth101]

Hahaha youre so welcome! Definitely don’t give up! HE’s really can be super tricky. I hear of a TON of people having problems with them. Which is why I pretty much refuse to buy one. haha or a FL. and HE FL is like my worst nightmare. Just play around, add a towel, maybe some more detergent? Im going to make a post to see what other HE users do for their diapers. 

"Most wash routines look something like this:  Rinse/spin on cold, heavy duty hot wash on heavy soil with detergent, extra rinse/spin (if needed)  That’s it! Nothing special, nothing fancy, no tricks, no fuss. When used correctly with a good strong detergent and the right cycles, HE machines are fully capable of cleaning cloth diapers." I got that from the TCDA, which i don’t know if thats any help. 

AND You can always do like what I do. Wash every day/ever other day. Rinse your diapers, then add clothes. towels, i’ll wash like 5-7 diapers at a time and the rest will all be clothes and towels or blankets. Whatever I have. I honestly notices a dramatic increase in cleanliness when I wash with cloths as opposed to JUST doing a diaper wash. 

[mompodge]

That's exactly my routine. I think I'll take your advice and add a towel or so into the load!

[cloth101]

I have stink issues 😞 I thought I was doing everything fine, but I really noticed it tonight - wah!! I thought maybe it's because we have well water, so I bought some Calgon. I'm not sure if that's made it worse or not. I'm so bummed right now. I guess I'll be doing a bleach soak and then trying to figure out what I did wrong. Any suggestions? I've been filling up the detergent to the max line on my machine (when I use Calgon it's a little less since that goes in the same section)...

What detergent are you using, mama? And what’s the cycle? How many diapers are you washing.

Do they stink after use or after washing? And how do they look? Are the dingy looking or do they appear to be clean?

Anddd how long ago did you start calgon?

I have slight hard water where I live now, and hard well water when I stayed with my parents for a few months. It could just be you need to change detergents. I had a dingy moment when I moved to nc. No stinks. But they looked just sad. Once I switched it completely brought the life back to them.

Or it could simply be you just need to add some wash clothes or clothes to your load to get the right consistency. “Diaper stew”

having the right friction makes a huge difference in cleanliness.

[mompodge]

I use regular Tide. For the longest time, they only had stink after they were used. Last night I noticed a bit of stink after they came out of the dryer. I added Calgon probably about a week or two ago. I have an HE top loader with no agitator. I use the heavy duty setting with a prerinse and spin. I’ll double check the “diaper stew” next time I wash…but I feel like it’s not soupy looking. I wash like every other day, but lately, since my stash has gotten bigger, I’ve slacked off to every third day. Do synthetic fibers have a bigger chance of smelling by chance? I really noticed it on a new fitted that I’ve used twice…and it has a microfiber insert sewn in…

[cloth101]

Yes! especially MF. However, if they are getting the right amount of friction they shouldn’t. None of mine do. Ugh.. HE’s are sooo freaking complicated when it comes to diapers. It really makes me never want one ever. hahaha Try doing a medium or whatever it is before the heavy wash. see if that helps? Or add a towel to the heavy one. that might help. 

Have you used tide from the beginning? or did you switch from something else? have you ever stripped or bleached? 

[mompodge]

I’ve used Tide from the beginning (I used All Free and Clear once).  I’ve never stripped or bleached.  I bought all new and have only been cloth diapering for probably two months, I’d say.  

So, maybe I should do a quick wash with detergent before the heavy duty?  

And if I was to bleach, how does it not mess up all the pretty colors?  Should I use the clorox for colors?

[cloth101]

Maybe? I add a tiny bit of detergent in my pre wash.

And no!! Regular bleach. No scents or splash less. I’ve bleached all of my diapers I’ve yet to fade one single diaper. As long as you dilute it properly your diapers will only vibrant and beautiful. :)

But I do think you should play around with it. I wish I had more experience with HE washers. :/

[mompodge]

Good to know about the bleach!  Thank you so much for all of your help!  I knew that I could count on Cloth 101!  I just felt like such a failure! haha!  You've encouraged me to not be so easily discouraged…I'm excited to mix it up - think positive, right? lol

[mompodge]

Spring Cleaning!

So for the past few days, I've been up to my eyeballs in deep spring cleaning!  With each small taste of beautiful weather, the walls in my house suddenly start to get closer together.  I've decided that tackling one room each day would be the least stressful.  With two littles, cleaning is often a "one step forward, two steps back" process.  Case in point, the smooshed Goldfish on my freshly swept floors...

I've been gradually weaning myself off of store-bought cleaners and household necessities in favor of those I can make myself.  I started with baby wipes and all-purpose cleaner.  Throughout this "Deep Clean 2014 Adventure," I've added some new ones to my list and I'd love to share them with you!

The first rooms I decided to tackle were the bathrooms, because seriously, who really enjoys cleaning the bathroom?  When it came time to scrub the tub down, I knew I didn't want to use Soft Scrub.  I mean, Little Miss has sensitive skin and I didn't want her tush anywhere near that stuff!  I went to Pinterest for a solution and found a recipe for homemade Soft Scrub here.  Oh my golly goodness!  I'm in love!  My bathtub look brand-spankin' new!  I was so excited!  I highly recommend this recipe!

I had pinned some lemon dusting cloths as well and decided to try them next.  I didn't have lemons on hand and I only had one microfiber towel, so I used clementine rinds and regular cleaning rags and cut-up flour sack towels (flour sack towels have sooooo many uses!  I love them!).  I was extremely happy with these cloths!  They worked wonderfully and I even used them on my dark laminate floor!  Beautiful!  

The final cleaning product I made (but admittedly did not use, yet…I couldn't escape the wiles of my lysol disinfect cleaner), was homemade "clorox" wipes.  They are currently soaking and I can't wait to use them!

I'm still looking for a good window/mirror cleaner.  I keep going back to Windex because my homemade window cleaners always leave a cloudy looking residue on my windows instead of a nice sparkly shine.  I'm open to suggestions!

What are your favorite homemade cleaning products?

[cloth101]

I have stink issues 😞 I thought I was doing everything fine, but I really noticed it tonight - wah!! I thought maybe it's because we have well water, so I bought some Calgon. I'm not sure if that's made it worse or not. I'm so bummed right now. I guess I'll be doing a bleach soak and then trying to figure out what I did wrong. Any suggestions? I've been filling up the detergent to the max line on my machine (when I use Calgon it's a little less since that goes in the same section)...

What detergent are you using, mama? And what’s the cycle? How many diapers are you washing.

Do they stink after use or after washing? And how do they look? Are the dingy looking or do they appear to be clean?

Anddd how long ago did you start calgon?

I have slight hard water where I live now, and hard well water when I stayed with my parents for a few months. It could just be you need to change detergents. I had a dingy moment when I moved to nc. No stinks. But they looked just sad. Once I switched it completely brought the life back to them.

Or it could simply be you just need to add some wash clothes or clothes to your load to get the right consistency. “Diaper stew”

having the right friction makes a huge difference in cleanliness.

[mompodge]

I use regular Tide. For the longest time, they only had stink after they were used. Last night I noticed a bit of stink after they came out of the dryer. I added Calgon probably about a week or two ago. I have an HE top loader with no agitator. I use the heavy duty setting with a prerinse and spin. I’ll double check the “diaper stew” next time I wash…but I feel like it’s not soupy looking. I wash like every other day, but lately, since my stash has gotten bigger, I’ve slacked off to every third day. Do synthetic fibers have a bigger chance of smelling by chance? I really noticed it on a new fitted that I’ve used twice…and it has a microfiber insert sewn in…

[cloth101]

Yes! especially MF. However, if they are getting the right amount of friction they shouldn’t. None of mine do. Ugh.. HE’s are sooo freaking complicated when it comes to diapers. It really makes me never want one ever. hahaha Try doing a medium or whatever it is before the heavy wash. see if that helps? Or add a towel to the heavy one. that might help. 

Have you used tide from the beginning? or did you switch from something else? have you ever stripped or bleached? 

[mompodge]

I've used Tide from the beginning (I used All Free and Clear once).  I've never stripped or bleached.  I bought all new and have only been cloth diapering for probably two months, I'd say.  

So, maybe I should do a quick wash with detergent before the heavy duty?  

And if I was to bleach, how does it not mess up all the pretty colors?  Should I use the clorox for colors?

[cloth101]

I have stink issues 😞 I thought I was doing everything fine, but I really noticed it tonight - wah!! I thought maybe it's because we have well water, so I bought some Calgon. I'm not sure if that's made it worse or not. I'm so bummed right now. I guess I'll be doing a bleach soak and then trying to figure out what I did wrong. Any suggestions? I've been filling up the detergent to the max line on my machine (when I use Calgon it's a little less since that goes in the same section)...

What detergent are you using, mama? And what’s the cycle? How many diapers are you washing.

Do they stink after use or after washing? And how do they look? Are the dingy looking or do they appear to be clean?

Anddd how long ago did you start calgon?

I have slight hard water where I live now, and hard well water when I stayed with my parents for a few months. It could just be you need to change detergents. I had a dingy moment when I moved to nc. No stinks. But they looked just sad. Once I switched it completely brought the life back to them.

Or it could simply be you just need to add some wash clothes or clothes to your load to get the right consistency. “Diaper stew”

having the right friction makes a huge difference in cleanliness.

[mompodge]

I use regular Tide. For the longest time, they only had stink after they were used. Last night I noticed a bit of stink after they came out of the dryer. I added Calgon probably about a week or two ago. I have an HE top loader with no agitator. I use the heavy duty setting with a prerinse and spin. I'll double check the "diaper stew" next time I wash...but I feel like it's not soupy looking. I wash like every other day, but lately, since my stash has gotten bigger, I've slacked off to every third day. Do synthetic fibers have a bigger chance of smelling by chance? I really noticed it on a new fitted that I've used twice...and it has a microfiber insert sewn in...

[mompodge]

Day 9 - Pastel

[mompodge]

Day 8 - New I went to a new natural parenting store last week and brought this home with me! I think I finally have a few good nighttime solutions! And I finally added an AIO to my stash! From L to R Top row - BumGenius Freetime, Best Bottom overnight microfiber inserts, Best Bottom hemp inserts Middle row - Best Bottom cover, hemp doublers, Thirsties Duo cover Bottom row - Thirsties Duo fitted