No more rash! How I solved a cloth diaper rash problem

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the recurring diaper rash my son suffered. I wounded if the cloth diapers were part of the problem, and even was told I should stop using cloth diapers.

The answer, for me, turned out to be so simple. I don’t know how I didn’t figure out this solution earlier. Many thanks to the wonderful response I received from readers – you gave me a host of ideas to work with!

In the end, I didn’t have to boil, bleach, vinegar-wash or sun my diapers. Although I am glad to have that list of strategies if I need to make future adjustments to my wash routine! Here’s what I did:

First, I put my baby in disposable diapers for over a week, making sure the rash healed and the redness totally faded away. This time, I kept using the disposables for several days to be sure the rash didn’t come back.

During this phase, I washed every single diaper I owned. It took three loads to get through my entire stash. In the wash, I used a scoopful of OxyClean in the bottom of the washer. I had never done this before. I set the washer on sanitize wash with an extra rinse. I stopped using the sanitize setting several months ago for some reason.

After my first load, I knew I had the key. I was shocked at how different my diapers smelled. In fact, they had no smell! Which is what is supposed to happen if your diapers are clean. The thing is, I never thought my diapers really smelled before. It wasn’t until I used OxyClean that I realized my diapers HAD previously had some kind of smell. I needed to smell (or, NOT smell) the difference to see (er, smell) it for myself! Unbelievable. What I had thought was clean, must haven had a bit of ammonia stuck in the material.

Honestly, in my defense, I would NOT have called my diapers smelly before. And I do stick my nose in them when they come out of the wash. But the difference was truly amazing. Because of this, I think I must have had some ammonia stuck in my diapers previously, causing rashing.

After all the diapers were washed in this way, my last step was to “quarantine” most of my diapers and use a select few just to be sure it wasn’t a certain fabric causing the rash. I started by using ONLY my cotton flats. No rash. Then I added my natural fiber diapers – fitteds and prefolds. No rash.

I also stopped using Rockin’ Green Soap and switched to Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin detergent. Available at any grocer. No rash.

This is amazing. An answer to prayer! I did NOT want to have to give up cloth diapers! My baby has been rash free for 2 weeks now! The longest continuous stretch yet! I still have not started using my microfiber diapers/inserts yet. I am waiting to be sure the rash doesn’t come back with the natural fiber diapers AND continued washing.

Again, I thank my readers for your support and help! I could not have kept going without all your ideas to give me hope that I could find an answer! I am thrilled to continue my cloth diapering. I even used cloth on our recent camping trip, which I’ll have to tell you more about later!

Any thoughts on whether I need to use OxyClean every time? Sanitize setting every time?