Additives can refer to ingredients in a detergent, or products added along with your detergent. Now, I know that I have posted many articles on this subject. This post is about what you can or cannot add with your detergent in your cloth diaper laundry. We use these recommendations every day in speaking with our customers, so I think this will be well received information!
As many of you know, advice on what to add with your detergent varies from one manufacturer to another. Thirsties recommendations are from research, experience, and feedback from our awesome customers. 
We do not recommend adding anything along with your detergent, unless you have a problem. Using the proper wash routine and a good cloth diaper detergent will help you to avoid many potential issues. Using enough water is the most important factor in cleaning diapers. Please make sure that there is enough water in your diaper load to clean the diapers properly. You will want to make sure that the diapering products are saturated and covered with water.
If any of you read my posts often, you may know that I like charts. I have made up another one for additives – which ones you can use, and which ones you cannot. I have thrown sanitize cycles in here, because they can serve a purpose in cleaning.
| Baking Soda | Bleach, Chlorine | Bleach, Oxygen | Borax | Calgon Water Softener | Fabric softeners | Pure soap | Washing soda as an additive | Sanitize cycles | Vinegar | |
| AIOs | ✓ | Once a month only | ✓ | |||||||
| Covers | ✓ | Once a month only | ✓ | |||||||
| Fitted Diapers | ✓ | Once a month only | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Inserts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Pocket Diapers | ✓ | Once a month only | ✓ | |||||||
| Prefolds | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Wipes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Pail liners and duffles | ✓ | Once a month only | ✓ | |||||||
| Key: | Yes | No | ||||||||
I would also like you to know what we recommend certain additives for:
| Ammonia odor | Disinfection | Funky Odor | Hard Water | Residue – Greasy | Residue – Hard Water | Residue – Urine | Softening | Stains | |
| Baking Soda | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Bleach, Oxygen | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Calgon Water Softener | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| Grapefruit Seed Extract | ✓ | ||||||||
| Lemon juice/water solution | ✓ | ||||||||
| Sanitize cycles | ✓ | ||||||||
| Strip * | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Sunshine | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| Vinegar | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
*How to strip: http://www.thirstiesbaby.com/customer-center/cloth-diaper-care/
As always, if you have a question, please send it to support@thirstiesbaby.com!
If you have a comment, please leave it! We love to hear what you think. 
~Sonya
I’m curious as to why vinegar could be unsafe for PUL items?
Oh charts are awesome and so is this! Thank you so much!! Valuable info for sure!
Thanks for the super helpful charts!
Thanks, this will be good to keep in mind for future reference.
Can you give any further information on the amount that should be added? For instance, how much vinegar should be added to get rid of the ammonia smell? And should it go in a separate wash cycle?
I love charts, but it’s so frustrating that different manufacturers have different rules. I don’t sort my stash by manufacturer
Make sure not to use vinegar with very hard water!
This is a great list! I’m printing this out and sticking it on the washer. Thanks!
borax is no good? It’s hard to find a homemade diaper detergent without borax. Do you have a recipe for this?
Great info! Love the chart!
I work as a newborn care specialist and have worked with many families, because of this, I have tried several different diapers. Thirsties are always the ones I go for in their diaper stash. Can’t wait to have my own so I can get some Thirsties of my own
Very helpful…thank you!
What about bar soaps like Fels Naptha? Are they safe for diapers?
This is the best chart I have seen in regards to additives. I have never tried adding anything but Calgon b/c it was unclear if baking soda, vinegar, etc would actually work.
Very helpful charts! I was thinking of trying vinegar for staining (inserts only), but I guess I’ll try the oxiclean instead.
Thank you!!! This is awesome info and the chart makes it so much easier!
Thank you for posting this! Very helpful information.
Thank you! This chart is so easy to figure out. Your cloth diaper care page is great too. I wish I’d read all of this 2 years ago when I was fighting with swampy-smelling diapers. I could’ve saved myself a lot of frustration!
Very helpful, thanks! I know we have really hard water. I’m anxious to see how that might impact our washing.
This chart is super easy to follow. I’m going to print it out and put it in my wash room! Thanks!
I have only been cloth diapering for a little while and so far have only used vinegar on my inserts. This is very helpful! Thank you
What an amazing chart!! I’m bookmarking this for later reference!
I have been referring my Thirsties users to this post! So helpful!
A very useful post for new cloth diapering moms and for me too
Thank you for the chart!! My poor husband is overwhelmed by everything to keep track of with cloth diapers, so this will help a lot.
This is good to know. I’m bookmarking this page for future reference.
Now that I know it’s safe I may try soaking my dingy inserts in some oxyclean. I got them used and although they aren’t stained they aren’t really white anymore either.
Very helpful. Thank you!
super useful graph!
Very helpful post!!
i know there are different types of materials used for inserts and fitteds…can you use vinegar with bamboo?
I know chlorine bleach is supposed to be a big no-no, but I had tried everything else and was still dealing with ammonia (bad enough to cause burns). I used it on my inserts only (no PUL stuff in the wash) and it fixed my problem. I am not recommending it for every day, but I think in extreme cases using chlorine bleach is better than not being able to use your diapers.
Thank you for this info!! I am just starting to figure out what to o for loth diapering!
Well there goes my homemade detergent… it has washing soda, borax and soap. 3 strikes! Must find alternative now
Thank you for doing charts for all us, especially the different kinds of water types. I live in a very hard water area and this blog was very useful.
I’ll have to get me some oxygen bleach!
This is good info. Your list says no to washing soda as an additive. Does this mean it’s okay as part of a laundry soap?
By submitting a comment you grant Thirsties Baby a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.