When I started making Rockin’ Green cloth diaper detergent, I knew that there would be a hard rock version. It was the trilogy that I had in my head from day 1. There was Soft Rock, Classic Rock, and there had to be a Hard Rock.
Unfortunately, seeing my vision come to life was more challenging than I ever dreamed.
You see in many ways, the “green” cleaning industry is still in it’s infancy. Many in the detergent world, are still mourning the loss of phosphate based ingredients, and as such there is little out there in the way of effective cleaners that don’t have a negative impact on our planet. I have spent months testing different ingredients, researching any and all options, to come up with something that would clean the way that I wanted it to clean for the most challenging of situations. I researched what was currently being done, and found that nothing really addressed the needs of the cloth diaper market.
As most of you know, when it comes to making a cloth diaper safe detergent it is a whole new ball game. Mainstream detergents like Seventh Generation, work fine for clothing but cleaning a t-shirt or a pair of jeans is much simpler than today’s modern cloth diapers. To effectively wash cloth diapers, you need something that:
disinfects
neutralizes ammonia and odors
rinses clean
brightens clothes, without optical brighteners
dissolves minerals (that can cause buildup and repelling)
gentle enough on the most sensitive of skin types (which means no enzymes)
and keeps working wash after wash
And we also threw in economical and yummy smelling, because that was important to us as well.
I have spent months talking to chemical suppliers all over the country, looking for ways to address these problems. And it was not an easy road! (Especially, when you have a 4 year old asking you to play bubbles and a one year old who wants to nurse 24/7 I chased down patents, looking for companies that were creating new and safe ingredients to include in cleaning products. We have worked with companies who have research grants, helping them test their products in detergent formulas. I have even gone so far as to get ingredients milled specifically for Rockin’ Green formulations.
It’s a good thing I am hard headed, because anyone else would have thrown a few not-so-earth-friendly chemicals into the mix just to get the job done.
But as a mom of 2 little boys, and an avid cloth diaperer, I know that it is something worth fighting for. All of our amazing customers deserve the very best and I am really excited to bring it to you.
Hard rock is coming very soon to a store near you, and I am excited about the prospects. We will be the first eco-friendly detergent ever to incorporate some of these new ingredients (and you will find them in all our formulas soon), and I am proud of what it means for the industry as a whole. I hope that we will set the bar a little higher and prove that just because something is “green” doesn’t make it inferior. It just makes it better for everyone!
It’s been an AMAZING year here at Rockin’ Green, and we couldn’t have done any of it without you! I wanted to drop a quick note to tell you about holiday shipping schedules, and to offer you the best of holiday wishes from everyone here.
All orders made on or before the 17th will go out before we go on vacation. All orders made between the 18th and 26th of December will go out the following week. So if you are running low on Rockin’ Green cloth diaper detergent order this week!
I am in the mood for a giveway today…or two…or maybe a handful…LOL
So here’s all the details. Today we have up for grabs:
- Three (3) of our new scoops
-Three (3) samples of Rockin’ Green Cloth Diaper Detergent in your choice of scent/formula
-Three (3) bottles of Shake It Up!
That’s 9 winners total!!!!!
So how do you win? Simple, do what you do every day and share your love for Rockin’ Green with others (and keeps tabs on it for contest purposes). Here’s a couple ways to enter:
-change your facebook status, or write a note telling everyone what your favorite scent is, or why you love cloth diapers and washing them in Rockin’ Green, etc…
-Blog about Rockin’ Green and/or put the graphic at the end of the page in your sidebar
-Write a post on your favorite message board about Rockin’ Green
-Buy something from the store (or one of our retailers!)
-Send an email to your favorite cloth diaper store, and ask them to carry Rockin’ Green Cloth Diaper Detergent
-Take a picture of you, your kids, your washer, etc with your Rockin’ Green and post it on the fan page on Facebook
The sky is the limit, so be creative. For each thing that you do, leave a message either here on the facebook page telling me what you did. Each thing counts as one entry.
I will choose a winner on Monday, so you have 3 days to play!
I found an OLD microfiber insert in a pile of old towels in the garage this weekend. It was from our pre-Rockin’ Green days and repelled badly. I was about to throw it away when I decided to do a little experiment. Check it out:
Things at the Rockin’ Green headquarters are hopping! We are super busy with orders (and the fan mail just keeps pouring in!) . I have talked to many of you that found the RnG love with the very first wash, but are unsure of which scent you want to buy a larger bag of. With all the different Rockin’ Green scents, its hard to pick just one. We can totally sympathize- this week my favorite is peppermint cocoa, last week it was mango sorbet….
So we have decided to make things a little bit easier on you with the introduction of scent cards. Now you can sample all of the yummy scents, at just a quarter a piece.
When they arrive at your home, you simply open up the bag and give them a whiff. (Then place them in an undie drawer or the linen closet for a little burst of yummy).
I hope this new addition to the lineup makes choosing a favorite a little bit easier!
We also want to take a moment and introduce to you the newest member of our team. Lynn, (a mom of 2 little girls and fellow cloth diaperer known as @spitmonkey78 on twitter) has joined the Rockin’ Green team. She is here to help get your orders scented and out the door a little quicker. We are super happy to have her on board, and have a lot of big things coming down the pipeline over the next few months.
Thank you so much for your support- and if you haven’t sampled the pumpkin crunch you are missing out!
Making cloth diaper and laundry detergent for the masses may seem like glamourous work, but there is a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that you may not know about.
For instance, this past week we went on vacation. A quick trip to the beach, to let the kids play in the water and dig up seashells on the beach. It was a working vacation for me, but at least I got to answer emails on a patio overlooking the beach for a few days. The condo that we were staying in didn’t have laundry facilities, so we pulled out the stash of g-diapers for the trip.
We got to the island really late the first night (like 4 am kinda late) and opted to leave everything in the car but the kids and their blankies. We would worry about unloading the housefull of stuff that comes along with traveling with kids, in the morning….
5 some odd hours later, we awoke to the sound of ocean waves and seagulls. My husband took the minivan to go get food, while the rest of us puttered around the beach house. Unfortunatly, he drove off with all my g-diaper inserts still in the back of the van. So I had a very soaked little boy that morning, and nothing to put on him. I opened up my diaper bag and found one lone pocket diaper. It was “the show off” diaper. A brand NEW bamboo velour GAD pocket to be exact. It had never been worn, I kept it around to pull out and show others that were curious about cloth diapers. I love a good show and tell! LOL
I figured it wouldn’t be that bad, I would just put it on him until my husband got back with the car. Then I could change him into the g-diaper and just have to deal with a pee diaper once we found a washing machine. But, as murphy’s law would have it, there is nothing a baby likes more than to poop in a brand new squishy diaper. Baby Z squished his face up, and we heard what sounded like a clap of thunder….OMG he just pooped in the diaper.
Not 2 minutes later, guess who came through the front door carrying a box of inserts. Oi!
The soiled diaper was placed in a plastic baggie (to fester?) and I swore that I would find a washing machine somewhere soon to at least give it a good rinse.
But vacation time isn’t like normal time, and 5 days later I started packing up all of our stuff to head home. And what did I find under a pile of dirty towels, yeap…you guess it. THE DIAPER. I sort of froze, afraid to even open the baggie. I contemplated throwing it away. Cause 5 days (or rather 6 by the time we got home) is a long time. But, then curiosity got the better of me and I threw it in with the dirty clothes ready to experiment.
We made it home, and started to unpack. It took another 8 hours before I finally came across the diaper again.
I slowly opened the plastic bag, and the smell was sickenly sweet. I gagged a little, and then threw the entire mess into the washing machine. Ok, I did stop to take a picture, then I threw it into the machine….
Here was the plan:
Step 1: entire wash cycle on cold, with 1 tbs Rockin’ Green.
I opened up the lid, and took a peek inside. And then vowed to never feed Z corn or raisins ever again.
Step 2:
30 minute hot soak, with 3 tbs of Rockin’ Green. My washer then automatically does the wash and rinse cycle after the soak.
Then came the moment of truth. The sniff test. I pulled the diaper out of the washer and slowly put my nose up to it. It was ok…then I buried my nose in it. WOW! It seriously smelled like clean. Then I brought it to my husband. He raised one eyebrow at the request, and first refused. I had to bargain with him a bit, but he reluctantly took a couple wiffs and declared it clean and fit for human sniffing.
And here’s the end result- there may be a little sunning needed for the leg creases but not bad at all!
If so, I want to hear from you! I am creating a database of all the different HE Frontloaders- along with people’s successful cloth diaper wash routines. I think when it’s complete, it will be an AMAZING resource for all of those just starting out or struggling with figuring out a new washing machine and cloth.
Put I am Rockin’ a Frontloader! in the subject line, and include your step by step wash routine along with the make and model of your washing machine. I want to know what buttons you push, how long each wash is etc. You can include the detergent you use etc, but I am more concerned with the cycles you use.
Note: If you can’t get your diapers clean, then please don’t send in your routine to be included in the database. I am always happy to help with routines, so feel free to send a seperate email and I can help you get your routine straightened out and working.
Thanks!!!!
*And please help me spread the word and get a good size database going, by sending this link to your friends or posting on your favorite message board or social network.
Got a burning laundry question that you just can’t find the answer to? Are you tired of rinsing and rinsing, trying to get the bubbles to go away? Confused about what detergent to use? Not quite sure how to prep diapers? Are you battling with yeast, stinkies, or can’t seem to figure out the best routine for that new shiny front loader? Do you think that sunning stains is just an old wives tail and doesn’t really work? Do you miss dryer sheets and fabric softeners?
Whatever your washing woes, Rockin’ Green is here to help!
This week’s question comes from Andrea:
If I use this detergent in an HE front loader do I need to do anything special? For example: right now I use Country Save and in order for it to work properly I find that I need to dissolve it in warm water before I use it. I would rather just be able to throw it in the slot and be done with it. This is becoming rather annoying and there has to be a better way to use powdered detergents in a front loader!!
Great question and one that I get a lot!
Most HE or Front Loaders come from the factory equipped to handle liquid detergents, and many people think that powdered detergents are just off limits to them. This simply isn’t the case. If you check out the detergent drawer, you will notice that more than likely the detergent cup pops out, and provides a place to put powdered detergent! Takes just a second, and opens up a whole new world of cloth diaper detergent possibilities! Including Rockin’ Green!
And for being the Washing Woe of the week Andrea, you get a 20 load bag of Rockin’ Green to try out at home. So pop that cup out of your washer, and give RG a whirl.
Have a Burning Question of your Own?
Washing Wednesday is for YOU! Yes, you there sitting at the keyboard. I want you to send me your emails and your questions about washing cloth diapers. Make sure to put Washing Wednesday in the subject line, and include all the details
your washer type/model
current wash routine
detergent used
and a description of the problem
I will cover just about anything- whether it be stripping, prepping, basic washing questions, or troubleshooting, etc. I can even help with wool (and will bring in special guests should the need arise).
Each week, we will pick one readers question to feature on Washing Wednesday. Not only will you get solutions to your burning problems, but the reader chosen will also receive a FREE 20 load bag of Rockin’ Green to make things all better. Sweeeet!
When I started making Rockin’ Green cloth diaper detergent, I knew that there would be a hard rock version. It was the trilogy that I had in my head from day 1. There was Soft Rock, Classic Rock, and there had to be a Hard Rock.
Things at the Rockin’ Green headquarters are hopping! We are super busy with orders (and the fan mail just keeps pouring in!) . I have talked to many of you that found the RnG love with the very first wash, but are unsure of which scent you want to buy a larger bag of. With all the different Rockin’ Green scents, its hard to pick just one. We can totally sympathize- this week my favorite is peppermint cocoa, last week it was mango sorbet….
Welcome to the very first Washing Wednesday!
