Diaper Swappers

njuhan · 09-02-2012, 08:59 AM

Ok so we have extremely hard water. When we lived in the states I used tide without any problems. As soon as we moved here to germany we started having issues. I tried adding calgon to my tide, didn't help. Switched to specific cd detergents, made things worse. Tried a few other detergents, tried homemade...just about everything. We have terrible ammonia problems, nothing seems to be getting the diapers really clean. I have seen a lot of positive reviews about EcoSprouts working great with hard water so I ordered some last week. Do I need to use calgon with this detergent? Does anyone have any reviews on this detergent? Any advice??

Isabellesmama · 09-02-2012, 06:51 PM

I have really hard water & tried eco sprouts & didn't work, it was like washing the diapers with nothing but water. I would have to use 1/2c-1c for it to even seem like I put soap in the wash. Have you tried tide with borax? Sometimes tide alone doesn't work for us I need the borax, a lil bit of bleach, & vinegar in the rinse(although ive read stuff saying hard water + vinegar are a no no I always use it with all of my laundry with no problem) & I don't mess with my wash routine bcuz if I do one thing diff I will have stinkies.

FriedaT · 09-02-2012, 07:29 PM

I tried Eco Sprout for my hard well water and had immediate issues with it. I followed their instructions to do a soak in it and wash before using regularly. I did two soaks and several washes just to make sure. The first diaper I took off of DD left her skin looking like she had a red diaper painted on and the diaper immediately smelled stinky (it was a pee diaper). So because of stink and horrible rashes, I stripped and kept trying other detergents until I found one that worked for us.

njuhan · 09-03-2012, 02:34 AM

My son has terribly sensitive skin and I've already tried so many different things I just hate testing something out not knowing if he's going to react to it or not. I have tried tide with borax and our homemade detergent had borax as well and he had almost immediate reactions to both of those so we no longer do borax.
Here's a list of what we have used
Tide
All F&C (the military one)
Arm & Hammer F&C
Homemade (borax, washing soda, oxyclean)
Ruby Moon
Thirsties

Dang I just hate the water here! We never ever had issues when we lived in georgia! I'm almost at the point of giving up cloth

and I really really really don't want to do that.

mom2jande · 09-03-2012, 06:09 AM

I have a private well, so my water is very hard. I use Eco Sprout and love it! Most of the moms in my cloth diaper group do too! I had tried so many detergents that didn't work including Tide and Rockin Green which gave my kids a terrible rash. With Eco Sprout, it did take some trial and error. I had to contact them for washing advise and the customer service was amazing. After some adjustments to my routine and adding Calgon to my wash cycle my diapers have never been cleaner! No more rashes or ammonia issues and it has been about 8 months since I switched. I will never use anything else on my diapers.

njuhan · 09-03-2012, 08:46 AM

I reallllly hope it works out for us..How much calgon do you use? I have just recently started to use calgon again and it seems to be helping. Right now with all f&c i am using about 3-4 tbsp of calgon.

mypeanut09 · 09-03-2012, 01:04 PM

I am in the States, but we have hard water and I really like Eco Sprouts. RNG Hard Rock worked too, but I prefer the Eco Sprouts. I have found that it helps if you put some detergent in your prewash cycle as well. I use half as much detergent in my prewash as in my wash cycle and it helps a lot. Good luck!

McDMom · 09-03-2012, 06:25 PM

EcoSprout worked well for us (regular water) but I had to use an extra tablespoonful to make it work. I wonder if you'll need more for hard water as well.

njuhan · 09-06-2012, 01:01 PM

I just got my order in today and have my diapers soaking overnight. I hope this works for us!

09-02-2012, 08:59 AM	#1
njuhan Registered Users Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 309 Ratings: 29 Feedback: 100%	Hard water/detergent help! Eco Sprouts? Ok so we have extremely hard water. When we lived in the states I used tide without any problems. As soon as we moved here to germany we started having issues. I tried adding calgon to my tide, didn't help. Switched to specific cd detergents, made things worse. Tried a few other detergents, tried homemade...just about everything. We have terrible ammonia problems, nothing seems to be getting the diapers really clean. I have seen a lot of positive reviews about EcoSprouts working great with hard water so I ordered some last week. Do I need to use calgon with this detergent? Does anyone have any reviews on this detergent? Any advice??

09-02-2012, 06:51 PM	#2
Isabellesmama Registered Users Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: SE Wisconsin Posts: 274 Ratings: 8 Feedback: 100% My Mood:	I have really hard water & tried eco sprouts & didn't work, it was like washing the diapers with nothing but water. I would have to use 1/2c-1c for it to even seem like I put soap in the wash. Have you tried tide with borax? Sometimes tide alone doesn't work for us I need the borax, a lil bit of bleach, & vinegar in the rinse(although ive read stuff saying hard water + vinegar are a no no I always use it with all of my laundry with no problem) & I don't mess with my wash routine bcuz if I do one thing diff I will have stinkies. __________________ Angie• Attached crunchy parent,with my soulmate Ian, to our 32 week miracle Isabelle.(02/22/11) Co-sleeping. Non-vaxing. BWing. Ext rear-facing. CDing. WOHM to keep up with my CD & crafty addictions!

09-02-2012, 07:29 PM	#3
FriedaT Registered Users Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 2,072 Ratings: 19 Feedback: 100%	I tried Eco Sprout for my hard well water and had immediate issues with it. I followed their instructions to do a soak in it and wash before using regularly. I did two soaks and several washes just to make sure. The first diaper I took off of DD left her skin looking like she had a red diaper painted on and the diaper immediately smelled stinky (it was a pee diaper). So because of stink and horrible rashes, I stripped and kept trying other detergents until I found one that worked for us. __________________ ISO: MM Dragon's Lair (2) + trim (1) on Uruguay 3-ply My FSOT includes Green Line, RagaBabe, BBB, Joey Bunz and more.

09-03-2012, 02:34 AM	#4
njuhan Registered Users Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 309 Ratings: 29 Feedback: 100%	Re: Hard water/detergent help! Eco Sprouts? My son has terribly sensitive skin and I've already tried so many different things I just hate testing something out not knowing if he's going to react to it or not. I have tried tide with borax and our homemade detergent had borax as well and he had almost immediate reactions to both of those so we no longer do borax. Here's a list of what we have used Tide All F&C (the military one) Arm & Hammer F&C Homemade (borax, washing soda, oxyclean) Ruby Moon Thirsties Dang I just hate the water here! We never ever had issues when we lived in georgia! I'm almost at the point of giving up cloth and I really really really don't want to do that.

09-03-2012, 06:09 AM	#5
mom2jande Registered Users Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 13	Re: Hard water/detergent help! Eco Sprouts? I have a private well, so my water is very hard. I use Eco Sprout and love it! Most of the moms in my cloth diaper group do too! I had tried so many detergents that didn't work including Tide and Rockin Green which gave my kids a terrible rash. With Eco Sprout, it did take some trial and error. I had to contact them for washing advise and the customer service was amazing. After some adjustments to my routine and adding Calgon to my wash cycle my diapers have never been cleaner! No more rashes or ammonia issues and it has been about 8 months since I switched. I will never use anything else on my diapers.