This is a somewhat embarrassing post to write–I am tempted to preface it by saying, “Now don’t YOU do this!” But I think it merits full disclosure.
Our 3.5 year old daughter is not the most reliable of children when it comes to announcing an imminent call of nature. So, not surprisingly this particular call went unanswered in time and my husband came in with her from outside with the “message” already left in her underwear. And he put the underwear, which had been spoken to in a very disagreeable way, in the sink for me to deal with. It was some time before I discovered them and the message had really sunken in by that time, I can tell you.
Now what I should have done was to rinse the message thoroughly and then launder the poor underwear by hand or maybe taken them to a laundromat in a different town or even buried them in the yard. But I did not. I confess now that I picked them up by one tiny corner and carried them to the washing machine and put them on top of the already full load of clothes in there and then I dumped 2 tsp of Lulu’s Glamour Wash (Zippity Doo Dah occupies its own little shrine by the washer) directly on the offending underwear. Note well: I did not rub it in or spread it around or mix or soak or trouble myself in any way to properly prepare the underwear for washing. I just closed the lid, turned the water setting to hot, pushed the ON button, mumbled a little prayer and then I walked away.
And so it was that I returned 2 hours later with some trepidation to open the washer and fish out the underwear anticipating that AT LEAST the underwear (but most likely the entire washload) was going to smell like a barnyard animal. But, no, that’s odd, the other clothes didn’t smell like anything. So I held the underwear about 2 feet away and waved them in the air and sniffed. Nothing. I held the underwear a little closer. Sniff. Nothing. I held the underwear right next to my nose and inhaled deeply. Absolutely nothing. There was no smell at all. A single wash got them completely clean. Try this at home at your own peril, but it sure worked for me.
I stand revealed before you, a bona fide Lulu’s Disciple.
I won a sample from you, but I’m not sure how to approach using it. 1 tablespoon or 2? In both the first wash and second or just in the second? I have an older top loader. Hard water is my biggest issue (toddler diapers- appx 15/load) and you sent me the HW version of lulus’s thanks!
jill dot shoemaker at gmail dot com
Hi Jill! I am not the expert and I will let Lulu give you a better answer but this is my advice:
1. If you have residue build up in the diapers you may want to soak the diapers for a couple hours by filling the machine with hot water and adding 2 tbsp of the HW Wash, then leaving the lid up after the machine agitates (so the water doesn’t drain). Then do 2 warm water rinses (no detergent) if your machine has this setting.
2. Do another hot water wash with 1 tbsp HW Wash, no soaking this time, and 2 rinses.
3. For diapers without residue buildup I would try just 1 tbsp to start and see how it works. If you think the diapers aren’t getting clean (they smell funny or look stained) you can try upping the detergent to 2 tbsp.
Here’s a link to the cloth diaper washing instructions on the Otter Babies website with some information about also using Calgon water softener in the wash load to deal with hard water.
http://www.otterblotters.com/pages/ClothDiaperWashing.htm
Wow, people keep giving me used baby clothes that “reek” of detergent and fabric softener. Do you think one load of Lulu’s will rid me of these smells? Its hard being pregnant with bags of stinky baby clothes in the house.
Hi Leah!
I’ve always used detergent without scents (except for Lulu’s because the scent doesn’t linger in the clothes). So I’m not sure how the GW will do getting out detergent fragrance. But my guess is that if it works on poop it’ll work on perfume. Here’s a link to a review that a mom did using a “Glamour Sleep” treatment to get rid of residue in her diapers: http://happilysouthernreviews.blogspot.com/2010/07/lulus-in-fluff-review.html