I need to tell you something about using cloth diapers: sometimes it is hard. I don’t think it is hard to prep the diapers for use, and I don’t think it is that hard to wash them (though it is time consuming, and therefore, can be annoying). What I’m talking about, in particular, are the times when your diapers start to smell really bad and you can’t seem to get rid of the smell. This is also known as having a case of “the stinkies.”

There are almost as many remedies for the stinkies as there are different brands of cloth diapers. Many of them contradict each other. For example: one method will say to break out a little bit of bleach, and another method will say, “Whatever you do, DON’T use bleach!” It seems that what works for one cloth diaper family doesn’t for the next. I think a lot of it has to do with what kind of water you have, actually. The solution for folks with soft water is just going to be different than for those with hard water or even in-between water (I have that “in between” water here).

Rockin’ Green Review

Rockin’ Green is a cloth diaper detergent company that has become quite popular, largely due to the fact that it makes different detergents for those different water types. The vast majority of people who have used it rave about how well it works. I’ve been curious to try it out, and recently had the opportunity.

Most of my diapers come out pretty clean after going through a cold and then hot wash. But I have one brand of diapers that just STINK, despite everything I have tried (and I tried a lot of different things, folks). Those are my BumGenius AIO diapers. They used to be my favorites, but lately, they have become the diapers I turn to last, because they stink after Darah has been wearing them for maybe 45 minutes. I know they have buildup on them, but nothing I have done will shake it. I thought this would be the ultimate test for Rockin’ Green.

So what was the result? Well, it worked! But it didn’t work right away. It took about 6 washes with Rockin’ Green before the diapers truly became stink free. I continued to use the diapers all along (how else would I know if it worked?) and I didn’t notice any difference after the very first wash, but after every other wash, the smell seemed to lessen. By round 6, Rockin’ Green had TKO’d the stinkies! Yes, it took a while, but it was worth it! To be fair, I think those diapers had a whole lot of stinky going on, and Rockin’ Green could only fight so hard during each wash!

Rockin’ Green also suggests during a third rinse of the diapers, which is not something I had tried before. I have some guilt about the amount of water I use with cloth diapers, but I have integrated the third rinse into my wash routine once a week for now.

I was pleased with the result, and I did end up purchasing a bag of Rockin’ Green to have on hand. It worked for me when nothing else did, and that made it something totally worth the price, which it a bit on the steep side for me. I suspect I may never have a case of the stinkies again, but if I do, Rockin’ Green will take care of it, I’m certain.

Buy it!: Rockin’ Green is available from their site, and from a variety of sites online! Detergents for soft and “regular” water are $12.95 for a 45/90 load size, and $15.85 for the hard water formula.

Win it!: Awwww yeah! Rockin’ Green is bringing one lucky Stuff Parents Need reader one 45/90 bag of detergent in your choice of formula and scent! The contest will run until December 17th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me what kind of water you have where you live? If you don’t know, check out the map on Rockin’ Green’s site to learn! Have you had to do anything special with your laundry cleaning routine due to your water? My answer: I’ve never noticed anything special needing to be done with my clothes until I started using cloth diapers. The buildup they got did require something specially formulated for our water, it seems.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: Follow Rockin’ Green on Twitter
2. Blogger love: Subscribe to Stuff Parents Need via email or RSS
3. Bonus opportunity: tweet about this giveaway and post the tweet url here (just one extra entry total)

Be sure to enter the other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my home page.

Disclosure: I received sample packets for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post contains affiliate links.