Well, one thing we cannot escape doing when using cloth diapers is laundry.  (Well, if you have a service someone else does it for you – you know what I mean!)  While some people do perfectly fine using big brand detergents, those aren’t considered safe for your diapers.  Thankfully there are detergents deemed cloth safe.  One of those is Eco Sprout.

Eco Sprout, as the name and motto (Green from the ground up) suggests, is made of natural ingredients.  I’ve noticed that natural detergent tends to be safer for washing cloth diapers.

I’ve said before that I like to support mom products – well I support dad made products too!  Eco Sprout was developed by a stay-at-home dad (He’s even a baby wearin’ daddy!) who wanted to find an all natural, 100% biodegradable detergent that would get clothes AND diapers clean.  If you are using cloth to be greener, it’s even greenER to use a concentrated natural soap option.  After much research and trial and error, they found a balanced formula that works.  Eco Sprout is a small family business and each batch is handmade and mixed.

I tried the Lavender Chamomile scent.  I usually stay away from scents if I can to avoid any issues with irritating Rissa’s skin, but the natural ingredients didn’t bother her.  The scent is very light and is really only detected in the bag not on my laundry.  I do enjoy lavender though.

Mmmm.  Relaxing.

After my bag arrived, I left it on the table for a few days.  Then, I moved it downstairs and set it next to my other detergent.  I was nervous to switch.  When you get into a groove with your wash routine and things seem to be working, it’s kind of scary to mess with that!

But for you, my dear readers, I braved up.

The first thing the directions told me to do was to soak our diapers in HOT water with a few scoops (depending on your water type – mine’s hard) of Eco Sprout, then to do a couple COLD wash/rinse cycles to rinse everything out.  This was to get all the old detergent out.  You don’t want to just switch to a new one because the residue interaction can cause rashes.  (My first “stripping”.)

Yes, that water is very dirty.  This is the first fill up – all the dirty diapers + hot water + Eco Sprout.  I wasn’t sure if I should wash them in the old detergent first THEN soak to switch or what.  So, I just put them in dirty.  I soaked them overnight and did a couple wash/rinse cycles without soap.  I had to do this over a couple days to do our whole stash.

After the soak to switch, I didn’t really notice a change in smell of the fluff.  I have continued to use it for diapers and clothes.  I haven’t really noticed a difference.  Our inserts have a hint of stink and are looking a bit dingy, but I don’t blame Eco Sprout for that.  Rissa does seem to be getting wet (like… soaked) faster in a few diapers.  Their absorbency doesn’t seem as good, but I’m not sure what the deal is yet.

I’ll continue using what I received until it is gone.  The good thing about me noticing little to no difference compared to the other detergent I was using is that it means it works just as well.  It gets our clothes and diapers clean!  The bad part… it works just as well for us.  I need to take a closer look at cost to see which one gives me a better value.  So, I may buy more – we’ll see!

Giveaway!

To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form below. I will remove duplicate entries if they occur.

 



______

FTC Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative in order to conduct an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way for this post. The thoughts, experiences, and opinions included are entirely my own and may differ from that of others. I am not liable for any issues you may incur from use of said product(s). Images used are owned by me or provided with the company’s permission unless otherwise sourced. See fulldisclosure information. If you have any questions you can contact me or leave a comment.

About Darcy

Darcy Zalewski is a married, stay-at-home mom who is discovering her greener side, starting with advocating for cloth diapering. When she's not changing diapers or singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider, she can be found at Tales From the Nursery, where she shares tales of motherhood as well as product reviews, or at ShePromotes, a resource for blogger support.

View all post by Darcy