Over the past few weeks, I've been learning how to do laundry, all over again - using a completely different kind of laundry detergent. "Natural" laundry detergents have always intrigued me. The conflict between "natural" detergents and cloth diapers is that many plant-based soaps contain natural oils that will actually coat the diapers an cause them to repel moisture, which just isn't what you're looking for in a cloth diaper.
As I started to research things when re•diaper was just a thought in my head, I started learning more about which detergents are good for diapers and which ones are certainly not. I began with the list of recommended detergents published by Bummis, and the Diaper Jungle's Detergent Guide. It turns out that I've been using all the wrong stuff on my laundry, and I knew that had to change immediately. I'd been using detergents with brighteners & enzymes - no-no's when it comes to cloth diapers! I contacted a few companies on the lists and asked about obtaining samples - I wanted to be fully informed about what I would be selling.
I began to use Maggie's Soap Nuts and Charlie's Soap. Let me tell you - washing with these products is completely different than washing with other detergents! Let's start with the soap nuts:
They look like dried fruit. Maybe because they are. They come with a little fabric draw-string bag, which you put them in to wash your laundry - 2-4 "nuts" at a time. The nuts are usable for up to 4 washes. They soften up and release saponin in warm or hot water, so if you're washing in cold water, you'll want to use more soap nuts. You'd also use more if you're washing a heavily soiled load.
Soap nuts are low sudsing & fragrance free (they smell mildly of vinegar, but will not leave any fragrance on your clothes). One thing that I learned in my detergent research is that sudsing agents (sodium lauryl sulfate) and artificial fragrance are added by the detergent companies to make us feel like our clothes are getting cleaned. Also, soap nuts naturally soften your clothes, eliminating the need for fabric softener or dryer sheets.
Since the saponin is released best with warm or hot water (though the package says you can wash with any temperature water), I decided to allow my nuts to steep for a few moments before I tossed them in the wash. I put them in a mug of hot water as the washer filled with cold and I sorted out my laundry. The water in the mug started to turn brown and when I was ready to start the cycle, I tossed the soap nut tea in the washer and closed the lid.
How did I feel about them? Well, my 2 biggest concerns were if the clothes would get clean and if I'd remember to fish the soap nuts out before tossing the clothes in the dryer. I remembered to find the soap nuts every time. And as far as the clothes being clean? Well, they didn't smell like anything when they came out of the dryer. I washed 3 loads: diapers, the kids clothes, and my husband's stinkiest stuff. And everything smelled like...nothing when it was done. Even the socks and armpits. Even the diapers. Therefore, I declared them clean!
And now for Charlie's Soap:
With only 3 ingredients listed on the package, I was pretty confident that it was a simple laundry detergent. It claims to completely rinse away, which is something that other detergents certainly do not do (if you're using the wrong detergent, you could be getting a build-up on your cloth diapers which will require "stripping" - more on that later!). The first directions on the package instruct you to clean out your washer, to get rid of the residue left by previous detergent usage. Read First Run for more information. Also, if you're going to be using Charlie's Soap to wash your diapers, make sure that you read the Charlie's and Diapers document.
Because of how Charlie's works, it should be used exclusively in your washer - no other detergents or fabric softener.
How did I like it? Well, I love how the powder dissolves as soon as the water hits it. And just like my soap nuts test batches, I tried Charlie's on diapers, the kids' laundry, and my husband's stinkiest clothes. Just like the soap nuts, everything came out smelling like nothing at all. As fresh as fresh can be!
Charlie's is also a low-sudsing detergent. Also, it slowly melts away the detergent residue from your washer and your clothes. As I have continued to use Charlie's on my laundry, I have noticed a lot of suds in the rinse water, and I am doing extra rinses on each batch until the bubbles are no longer visible. After all of my clothes have been washed with Charlie's Soap, I won't have to do the extra rinses.
I'm not sure which washing method I will stick with. I like the idea of the soap nuts - something that grows on trees and is compostable when used up. But I like the simplicity of the Charlie's powder - one scoop and you're done. You don't need to remember to take anything out before tossing the clothes in the dryer.
I also love my Nellie's Dryer Balls for their natural fabric softening capabilities and how they reduce drying time. I had a hard time finding them when I bought mine 2 years ago, but you can find them at re•diaper, along with Maggie's Soap Nuts and Charlie's Soap.
