Pretty laundry

A few weeks ago we finally started actually having some sunshine and warmer days. I also got some Softbums inserts off Diaperswappers FSOT (For Sale or Trade) with some truly ugly stains, and decided to try out the "dry them in the sun" stain treatment claims... This is how my "clothesline" looked the first 2 weeks:

Pretty exciting, huh?

But it worked! It got all the scary little "someone-else's-stains" right out! I've been trying to hang them out more to save some energy, and take advantage of the nice bacteria-killing, stain-removing sunshine. It's getting a little harder now that our trees have nice big shady leaves growing on them, but my "clothesline" also got an update (mostly thanks to our dryer dying...)

Aren't they pretty? Thanks to a "seconds" sale and the recent BumGenius coupon deal that's been going on, I now have all 9 colors that they make. (The light pink and white ones are inside, not dirty yet, with about 1/3 again as many other diapers... I actually have two pink pockets, but one is mysteriously missing, and I am SO curious... at least I'm fairly sure it's CLEAN and missing. At least, I really hope so!)

Did I ever mention...

that my diapers smell fantastic these days? The things I've changed (since the evil days of stinky "clean, just out of the dryer" dipes) are:
1. I wash at least every 3 days (even though I usually only have half a load at that point - I'm sure that will change with a newborn around!)
2. I try to rinse the diapers ever so slightly before I throw them in the "pail" (just to make sure they -stay- nice and wet, and to dilute the pee and poo a little) I also spray a little Bac-Out on the poopy diapers, but that's mostly just because, and in case it helps with any stinkiness in the pail. Another thing we haven't had a problem with, by the way. It's in the basement, open to the air, and I never smell it when I walk in that room. I don't stick my nose in it or anything, but...
3. I switched our detergent to Tide Free. Tide isn't recommended for cloth diapers, but there are just too many people that use it and find it to be the best for actually getting everything clean! Jaina hasn't shown any sensitivity to it, (that can happen - I hope it doesn't bother the new baby!) and we haven't had any other issues since I started using it. The powder is supposed to work better than the liquid for most people.

So here is my current wash routine:
Cold pre-rinse.  Hot wash/cold rinse (usually on medium) with Tide Free (up to the "1" line or less), extra cold rinse. I sometimes add a little eCover to that last rinse. It is a cloth-diaper-safe fabric softener, and helps keep things squishy. I try to hang my pockets and covers to dry, and put all the prefolds and inserts in the dryer, or on nice days, hang it all outside. The sun is a great stain-remover!