No!!! My Water Softener has passed away

It took me awhile to find the right detergent and wash routine. My original stash of diapers was 16 BumGenius 3.0s (of which I now own 4) and 12 BG Elementals (still have these) so I started off with the BumGenius detergent. I was new to cloth and didn't know much better. I never had stink issues, but they were just never pretty. Especially the MicroFiber inserts. I tried another brand and my daughter, with the hyper-sensitive skin, had a bad reaction. My diapers were CLEAN and smelled wonderful. That was my "ah-ha" moment, when I realized that my diapers didn't have to be dingy and I started my search.

This was also about the time that we decided to open I Will Wash Them, but as a diaper service rather than a retail store. A fellow retailer suggested I try out Eco Sprout and I have been happy ever since. We did have one issue with one of the scents, but again, super sensitive skin in this house.

Recently, our house has been a little bit of a "black hole" when it comes to appliances and other expensive stuff. In the last month I broke my sewing machine (it miraculously started working again though), the dishwasher stopped (luckily a friend had a spare), our brand new computer is crashing and now our water softener. For those of you familiar with the mid to upper midwest, you know that we have "extremely hard" water, which makes washing pretty much anything a complete and utter pain in the...well, you know. My diaper smell like something straight off a pig farm as soon as they are even wet. They smell pretty good after the wash cycle and drying, but man, look out! We have the barnyard smell AND ammonia. I feel like I'm starting all over again.

Lucky for me, the Eco Sprout owner and WAHD (Work At Home Dad), not only offers detailed washing instructions, but he puts all his tips and tricks right on the website for you (or in this case, me)!!! Earlier today I did my cold pre-wash, HOT/cold 2 hour cycle, 2nd cold rinse and then threw all my prefolds in the bath tub with Hot Water, 4T of Eco Sprout In The Buff and a few extra pots of boiling water just for good measure. They've been sitting there since about 5pm and I'll let them soak over night. Tomorrow, I'll start the rinsing process and when they are dry, my fitteds, pockets and AIOs will get the same treatment.

I have no doubt the process will work so long as I remember that I now need to use more detergent and I've also bought some Calgon to add to my wash routine.

Now, who wants to buy me a new water softener? Just kidding, unless you want to. :)