Can I bleach?

[em_jon98]

I'm not sure what happened, but when I went to wash dipes last night, I found something very depressing. My heart printed Liz's Cloth and doubler, and my Bumpy Night cover, were in the bottom of the pail, and they had turned a not very nice shade of BROWN!!!! I used a lot of Zout, let them sit for a few minutes, and then threw them in with the rest of the dipes for the presoak, and let everything soak all night. I did the cold, and then hot wash as soon as I got up, and then pulled out the cover, doubler, and dipe from everything else. The weather was nice by lunch, so I put them out on the patio chairs to sun dry when I came home to eat lunch. I got home a little bit ago, and the Bumpy cover looks okay, but still has some brownish spots, but the Liz's cloth and doubler are just a tad lighter brown than they started out. None of the other diapers in the pail seemed affected, and we use fleece liners in all diapers and then dump poop in the toilet. I'm not sure what happened.

So, can I bleach them to get the stains out, or is that a big no-no with CD's? Or, should I try to wash again and sun bleach again (will it get better with successive sun treatments)?

[MartiesMom2B]

Don't use bleach with your CDs. It will break down the diapers. It might get better with more sun treatments though.

Good luck!

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[blnony]

I wouldn't bleach. I would try oxyclean first. If that doesn't help, probably just more sun, lemon juice and zout. Sorry, i wish I had better advice.

[Kate888]

Yes, try Oxiclean! Let the dipes soak in it for a while. I just got some bad stains out this way. More sun will help, too.

Good luck! :)

Kate
Mama to Maya 2-17-02

[nohomama]

I'm going to go against the grain a bit here and say if treating the stain, laundering, and hanging to dry in the sun a few more times doesn't do the trick, then try using bleach. You might want to try using Oxiclean or another peroxcide based bleach first. Peroxide bleaches are more gentle than chlorine bleach and can often (not always) be safely used on colored fabrics, but they are a kind of bleach. The danger with using any kind of bleach is that it will, with repeated use, break down fabric over time. Using it once is probably not going to affect the absorbancy or integrity of your diaper or, if it does, only a negligable amount.

As for suggestions about what to use for pretreating, try regular old bar soap. I cannot tell you the number of stains I've successfully gotten out with Ivory soap. Wet the fabric and lather it well with the soap. Try to get as much of the stain out before putting the piece of clothing in the washer. The key is to not rinse the soap out when you're pretreating. Using soap on your dipe may necessitate striping but since it's so badly stained, I think that's a price worth paying.

Good luck.

[egoldber]

I have to agree. If nothing else works, give bleach a try. As long as you don't use it all the time, I'm sure it will be fine.

[em_jon98]

Well, Oxyclean wins again!!!

I did a soak overnight on Friday in warm, and last night in hot (I did the presoak cycle and then let it run through a long cycle), with a scoop of Oxyclean, and the stain came out. The diaper is saved!!! :):):)

I'm still not sure what happened down there at the bottom of the pail, but, at least it came out!