Diaper supply shredded from 6-9 months-Please Help

I would definitely figure out the source of the issue before restocking the stash and giving it another go. If you don't do that, you're likely to recreate the situation that was the cause and end up frustrated again.

I'm no laundry expert; it's been my diaper nemesis with previous kids. I do, however, know a lot about fabric and fiber and am learning a lot about diaper laundry in an effort to avoid past mistakes and issues.

Start with the obvious- how's the laundry routine? Do you use anything potentially caustic or damaging like bleach? Regularly? Ocassionally? How is your rinse routine? Do you have city water that is highly treated/bleached?

You also might want to look at your water content. I would imagine things like high iron could cause damage. Also, how does your machine treat other laundry? Do other items seem to wear faster than expected? Do you live in an area where it is very warm? Things like mold and other damaging stuff grows faster where there is high heat and moisture in the environment already.

we have high iron/ hard well water and my diapers are only showing wear from actual wear and bleach use. and only the flats. well, thats mostly my stash, but a few other things are fine.

how hot is your water? whats the temp on the water heater? i wonder if that could be an issue?

i'm going to go out on a limb and say it could be the detergent. i say this because your clothes are fine. do you wash the clothing any different than diapers? also, how do you dry them? any different than clothes there?

there is no one perfect detergent for everyone. Usually takes some experimentation to find what's the best fit for your situation. give something else a try. Personally, Country Save works OK for me.

I always do more than one cycle, too.  Sometimes the output doesn't get rinsed out all the way.  It may seem clean, but there's enough left over to eat away at the fiber.

Any chance they aren't completely dry?  If CB mentioned mold, they think it means the bacteria, etc. is continuing to grow because the dipe stays just a bit damp.

Cloth-eez stuff is very high quality.  Since the PUL is separate from the absorbent fabric, things should rinse & dry better.

Wow this forum is great!

My washer is a “Kenmore Elite HE 3t Steam….Front-Loading Washer”

Here’s the water quality report http://www.scwa.com/assets/1/7/SCWA_AWQR_2.pdf I am located in Distribution area 12… what level of Iron would be considered high?

Where do I get PH strips? CVS I suppose…

Musicmama thanks for that comment! Come to think of it that would make sense as to why the AIO bumGenius Elementals went first (if anyone has used them you know that they take an extremely long time to dry) so that would explain that I may not have dried them all the way.When Cottonbabies tol me mold I was thinking they got moldy before washing not that they could get moldy after washing from dampness!  If I put my Dryer on the hottest setting will that ruin the diapers? That has been another worry of mine.

Thanks Rustygriffin so for my washer or washers in general to you think the cycle with the most water would be heavy duty? If so I’ll use that from now on…I think that’s a 45 min. cycle… would you do two of those first cold and second hot? On my Washer there is a cycle type and then options Soil Level: Heavy,  Water Temp:?, Spin Speed:? Haha I have a lot of issues. After all that you would do a rinse?...

If you guys could post your wash routine settings and times that would help me so much!

Yes there were one type of PFs (flat) that didn’t get shredded through all of this and that is the Stay Dry insert…that is one of the few inserts that I have that’s not organic…I’m not sure if that’s the reason they held up better…I’m sure organic cotton is a more delicate material…? It may also be that I didn’t use them as often.

I’ve never put bleach or anything else on my diapers except for a spoonful of Nellie’s per load.

Thanks so much everybody! I think I’m coming to the conclusion that they weren’t getting washed well enough or dried well enough! I am leaning towards buying some cloth-eez… I’m no longer fond of cottonbabies after dealing with their customer servie altho my favorite cover will remain flip and econobum (and thirsties but they are not cottonbabies.)

Thanks! I know it stink but I won't let it happen again! I will never buy another AIO they take forever to dry.. All around I prefer an insert and cover it's easier and there is less to wash less to dry and easy to just rinse the cover. 

Oh my. I should not try to do this from my phone!

If I use thirsties pre wash (not per wash..) I use it in the cold cycle. Then I use super wash in the hot cycle. I'm just out right now ;)

Good luck with your wash routine!! It can be so frustrating. I use Nellies with my dipes too (Flips with organic cotton inserts, BG 4.0's, PF's, covers and Kushies) and have hard water. We are not having any issues so far, but we do use Rockin' Green mostly.

I hope you can figure it out! It sounds like you got a lot of great advice :)

I use a top loader now, but we used to have a front loader.  Then I did a (short) rinse cycle at the beginning.  It was about 20 mins.  Then a heavy hot wash with detergent adding the extra rinse (option on my machine).  This cycle is about 55 mins.  Then another warm rinse cycle to make sure all the bubbbles were gone. 

I have a front loader.

My wash routine:

Add a wet towel (or two) to the drum of machine (this tricks the machine into adding more water)
Cold wash on delicate cycle - no soap (delicate cycle uses the more water than the rinse cycles)
hot/heavy wash, detergent, with "extra soil" button pushed (the end of this cycle uses an additional cold rinse)