Pure soap is not recommended for use on laundry due to the fact that soaps can leave a residue on your 
diapers and covers, in the form of soap scum. This makes the diapers repel moisture rather than absorb it, and it is also harsh on the laminates used in your diaper covers, making them absorb rather than repel liquid.
Soap and detergent are both cleaning agents, yet detergents are formulated specifically for laundry and other purposes. A detergent is a synthetic product, meaning the ingredients are processed and mixed together to form the detergent. Soap is made by simply mixing lye with vegetable or animal fats, although other ingredients may be added.
The best choice for washing your diapers is to use detergent on them; however, all detergents are not alike! For cloth diapers, you will want to choose a detergent with no additives such as Brighteners, Chlorine Bleach, Enzymes, Dyes, Fabric Softeners, and Fragrance. Check out the Diaper Jungle website to see which detergents contain these additives. These ingredients can be harmful to your diapering products, your baby’s skin, and/or the environment.
The only detergent we recommend with 100% confidence that it is safe for your diapers, your baby, and the planet we share is our very own. True, Thirsties Pre-Wash and Super Wash can be more costly than store brands, but will keep your diapers clean and looking like new longer!
For other recommended detergents, please go to our FAQs page on our website:
http://www.thirstiesbaby.com/customer-center/faqs/ -> Laundering Tips.
Love to use Thirsties detergent when visiting parents for a weekend! However I get the stinkies straight away when using any CD safe detergent at home (I’ve tried them all!) and I think it’s because of my very hard water. I’ve resorted to being a rebel and using Tide. Any advice to make Thirsties work for me and my hard water?
It is so hard to find a wash routine that works for each family. I really hope that we get it right with ours.
Love my Thirsties. Have been using BioKleen Free & Clear with good results. Am about to try Charlie’s Soap (which is evidently not a soap). :O)
Finding the right detergent is the hardest part about cloth diapering. I’d love to try the Thristies Prewash and Superwash but it’s pretty pricey. Any upcoming sales?
good to know!
I always wondered why but never got into the science of it! Thanks for the information!
We like rockin’ green and charlie’s…. we have a HE washer and I like that it conserves water, except when it comes to washing diapers!
Thanks for the links to the lists of detergents. Very helpful!!
Great advice!
We have LOTS of skin allergies so we finally had to switch to Tide Free & Clear-but finding the detergent that worked wasn’t the hard part. It was finding a wash routine that did because everybody has different washers. However, I did love my Thirsties Wash and maybe when my little dude’s skin gets tougher I’ll try it again
Very useful knowledge thanks
This is great information!
Great info! Thanks!
Might have to try this
I make my own all natural Laundrey Detergent! It works very well with cloth diapers so far…I do still want to try Thirsties wash though, and hopefully I will soon!
I’ve always just used Kirkland brand laundry detergent. Now that I think about it, I’ve never bothered to look at the ingredients. But I’ve never really had problems. Everyone says the all natural detergents are a lot better for you, but I’m so cheap that I still can’t stomach the thought of paying that much for laundry detergent. I might be willing to make my own, though.
Thanks for the clear but simple explanation
great advice!
It’s so depressing not to be able to use soap, because it works so well to get stains out! I used dr. bronners on some prefolds before I knew I shouldn’t, and the poop stains just came out like magic. Wish I could use it again!
Thanks for the info. I’ve found a great wash routine, but we may be moving sometime next year and I’m dreading figuring it all out with a new washer, and potentially different type of water.
This is very informative and easy to understand.
Good to know!!
So simple but so many don’t realize how finding the right detergent can make all the difference in your cloth routine. Nice article!
WOW! This post is very informative, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I did not know that laundry soap is BAD for diapers & covers. I learn something NEW! everyday. A good friend of mine uses reusable/cloth diapers so I’m gonna have to inform her of your blog, especially this post.
Thank you again!
God Bless – kimbuckjr
So, is soap that’s an ingredient in a homemade detergent OK? Also, the list of ingredients to avoid (on your website) includes washing soda. My homemade detergent includes about 1 tsp of washing soda and 1 Tbsp of soap per load. Hopefully this won’t shorten the lifespan of my diapers!
I used to make my own natural laundry detergent but it is not recommended to use baking soda and castile soap on diapers and those are two of the ingredients that i use so I switched to a diaper-specific soap! Thanks for the info!
We make our own laundry detergent, but with an investment as large (and important) as cloth diapers, I refuse to use it on the diapers. Instead we have had great success with Rockin’ Green Hard Rock detergent. Gets the stains out and leaves the diapers smelling fresh. What more could we want?
washing is always such a tricky area. I’ve done better with diapers with this kiddo, though.
Ooh, so glad to see that my favorite detergent is listed as a “pretty good” option. A girlfriend swears by Charlies, and I was thinking of trying that as well.
This is a great post for cloth diaper newbies! What detergent to use was a big question I had when we started using cloth. We have had great luck with the Thirsties pre and super washes!
I have to say, detergent is the scariest part of cloth diapering to me. You can mess things up so quickly!
Great information! I love that you guy’s strive to make CDing easy!
Thanks for this useful information!
Thanks!
I’ve been very happy with the Thirsties brand per-wash and super wash on my diapers…I’ve also had a lot of luck with rock n green.
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.