# hard water and baby rashes



## indeospero (May 23, 2005)

Posting for a friend of mine who needs some help. She's used disposables before, but was committed to using cloth for her third baby. Unfortunately, she's having a lot of trouble: every time she uses cloth for a day or two, her baby boy gets big, terrible, open sores on his bum.









Details: she has very hard water (lives outside Salt Lake City, FWIW). Biokleen detergent for the dipes, Ecover powder for everything else. Has been trying vinegar and BS in the rinse (one of these is bad news for hard water, I know... but can't recall which?). Has also tried washing 2-3 times on hot with no detergent or additives, but same awful sores after this, too. Drying on a line in the sun. Diapers are a mix of prefolds and BG 3.0s. Problem is not likely due to buildup/residue, since it's been happening from day one.

Is something like a Calgon water softener likely to help? She's planning to switch to Charlie's Soap this week. Eliminate the BS/vinegar altogether, right? Anything else?

Can anyone help? This mama really wants to get her baby back into cloth!


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## LawrenceDoula (May 2, 2007)

Could it be yeast? Or it could be a reaction to the detergent?

My son's diaper rash looked like open sores and I had to get a prescription cream to get rid of it. Then I had to make sure and use vinegar and a hot dry cycle to kill the yeast in the diapers. She could try liners or switching detergents.


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## indeospero (May 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LawrenceDoula* 
Could it be yeast? Or it could be a reaction to the detergent?

My son's diaper rash looked like open sores and I had to get a prescription cream to get rid of it. Then I had to make sure and use vinegar and a hot dry cycle to kill the yeast in the diapers. She could try liners or switching detergents.

Good questions. I should have noted that she's switched detergents twice, with no difference. She feels like it's unlikely that it's yeast since it is specifically a reaction to the cloth diapers.

My sense is that it is related to the hard water. Another friend of mine had the same type of problem (open sores) with her dd, and she had very hard water. Problem always resolved for her when they visited someone and used another water supply.


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## Li27 (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm having the exact same problem with my daughter who is only three weeks old! I don't have an answer, but am interested in other responses. My daughter's diaper rash looks like open sores on her bum, poor thing!


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## Li27 (Jan 2, 2008)

This maybe a stupid question, but how does one know if their water is hard or soft?


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## Mrs.Oz (Mar 20, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Li27* 
This maybe a stupid question, but how does one know if their water is hard or soft?

There are signs and symptoms. Do you feel sticky when you get out of the shower? Does it take a lot of shampoo or soap for you to get suds in your water? Do you see a white buildup around your faucets where the water comes out? Do you get toilet rings really quickly?

There are tests for it too, but mainly you can tell if you answer yes to the questions above.


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## Jana315 (Apr 7, 2008)

We do have hard water & dd's had a nasty rash for most of her life - fortunately, I think we've just kicked it to the curb (she's 4 months old). Here's how -

I'm now washing exclusively with a squirt of dawn (in a HE machine) - rinse until there's no suds.

If dd's bum looks red, put on some cortaid - per Dr's instructions.

DD's rash is a contact dermatitis rash - looked a little yeasty but it wasn't in the folds of her skin. It is usually only where her skin comes in contact with urine and the diaper. We started out diapering her with KL's O and now we're using FB size S. The diapers didn't make any difference with the rash - she got it with both & I tried a lot of different diapers and wash routines. So far, dawn is the only thing that is working, so I hope it is okay to wash the dipers with it!

Jana, cloth diapering dd#3


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## indeospero (May 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mrs.Oz* 
There are signs and symptoms. Do you feel sticky when you get out of the shower? Does it take a lot of shampoo or soap for you to get suds in your water? Do you see a white buildup around your faucets where the water comes out? Do you get toilet rings really quickly?

There are tests for it too, but mainly you can tell if you answer yes to the questions above.

Ditto this. You can often tell just by walking into the bathroom of someone with very hard water. There are usually prominent toilet rings/tub rings and mineral deposits around the faucets.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jana315* 
We do have hard water & dd's had a nasty rash for most of her life - fortunately, I think we've just kicked it to the curb (she's 4 months old). Here's how -

I'm now washing exclusively with a squirt of dawn (in a HE machine) - rinse until there's no suds.

If dd's bum looks red, put on some cortaid - per Dr's instructions.

DD's rash is a contact dermatitis rash - looked a little yeasty but it wasn't in the folds of her skin. It is usually only where her skin comes in contact with urine and the diaper. We started out diapering her with KL's O and now we're using FB size S. The diapers didn't make any difference with the rash - she got it with both & I tried a lot of different diapers and wash routines. So far, dawn is the only thing that is working, so I hope it is okay to wash the dipers with it!

Jana, cloth diapering dd#3

Thanks for this! Why do you think the Dawn is working (instead of a detergent)?


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## Jana315 (Apr 7, 2008)

I have no idea why the dawn seems to be working, but maybe it has to do with rinsing cleaner & having less residue. I wonder if I can use dawn for all my laundry...??? So far, we're rash free now since Saturday.

Jana


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## indeospero (May 23, 2005)

So, after following this thread (thank you for the help!







) and doing some other research, here's what I'm going to recommend to my friend as a first attempt to solve the problem:

1. Strip washing machine by doing an empty hot cycle with 2 cups vinegar.
2. Switch to Charlie's for all household laundry, and do the machine-prep routine with the new Charlie's (hot load with just old towels).
3. Do a hot wash with Charlie's on all the dipes. Rinse twice. Check for suds.
4. If any suds or doubt that all residue is gone, keep stripping in hot water washes.
**try on baby and evaluate**

In general:
1. Try washing soda (not baking soda) to soften water.
2. Possibly try Calgon if WS doesn't seem to be doing the trick.
3. No BS, vinegar, or other additives.
4. Full scoop of Charlie's due to hard water.

I'll try to post an update about how it goes for her. Thanks to everyone for the input! Hope this thread can help someone else, too.


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