Hellobee Boards

Do you have hard water or soft water? A product like Rockin Green's Funk Rock might get it out. Or stripping with lots of hot washes with a capful of Calgon softener if you have hard water...It will allow the fibers to open up and release the funky buildup. I would stay away from Dawn if you have an HE washer, since it can break it.

There's also a cloth diaper washing guru on Facebook I rely on - Mimi's Cloth Diaper Help Q&A is her page. She answers all my wash routine questions!

@looch: Yes!

I forgot to mention - I trick my HE machine by setting it to bulky wash, heavy soil. I also throw a sopping wet towel in there with them. If you have your washing machine manual, you might be able to determine the setting with the most water, and then trick it with the towel. Some people also pour in extra water through the detergent drawer.

@Beebug: What kind of washer do you have? There's lots of posts out there about how to get the most water out of your washer. I made this for DH, and plan to stick it on the washer, maybe it'll give you some ideas for settings for your own washer...

@Beebug: So take this with a grain of salt, but looking at your washer, here's what I would set it at:

Heavy Duty
Hot wash
Extra Heavy soil level
Extra rinse

And if you need more water, use the sopping wet towel trick :).

We were able to preprogam a "Heavy" wash setting that we can use.

Heavy Soil
Hot Water
Pre-Rinse
Extra Rinse

If you really want to get your inserts clean, look for a santize setting on your washer or get a large pot of boiling water. I found that was the best way to get any stink out and remove any excess detergent.

@Beebug: Great questions!

I actually found boiling to work better than santize setting on the washer.

I would start with clean inserts but it probably doesn't matter if they are wet or dry.

I just used my big stock pot and filled it full and brought to a boil. From there I used tongs to push about 5-8 inserts into the boiling water. You kinda have to push them down so they absorb the water.

From there, bring back to a boil for a good 10-20 minutes. Mine you could smell it wasn't a 'fresh' boil if you know what I mean. I did them as long as I could and then refreshed the water and boiled again until they smelled clean. From there I just dumped into the dryer.