Molly’s Suds Cloth Diaper Laundry Powder Review
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When we lived in New England we had normal to soft water and I used a cloth diaper safe detergent but when we moved to Colorado and I found out that we would now have hard water. I admit that I panicked a little. I did a lot of reading about crazy laundry routines and stink issues and having a child who is already prone to rashes, I decided that I didn’t want to mess around with a wash routine and I switched to a commercial detergent.
I have been tempted a few times to switch to a more natural detergent again but always chicken out. When I had the chance to review Molly’s Suds, I was excited to see how it would work out for us. I’ve used this detergent for a little over a month now and feel like I can now give an accurate review of how it worked for us.
About Molly’s Suds
Molly’s Suds is about as pure as it gets. It contains sodium carbonate, sodium percarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, and unrefined sea salt. That’s it! No fillers, no enzymes, no optical brighteners, no GMOs. It is biodegradable, certified vegan and cruelty-free, and is septic safe.
But does it work?
My experience:
Our test conditions: I have very hard water (it tested almost at the hardest level on a test strip), an HE top loader, and a 3-year-old heavy wetter with non-solid poo. My average load size is about 15-17 diapers.
The recommendation on the bag is to use 1 to 3 tablespoons of detergent. This would depend on your water, machine, and load size. Per these recommendations, I decided to use 3 tablespoons of detergent considering the amount of mineral deposits left behind on our dishes. I am one who believes that many people don’t use enough detergent for cloth diapers. I fell into this category for a while and we battled nasty, open rashes for a very long time so I tend to err on the side of caution and use the maximum recommended amount of detergent.
I followed my usual cloth diaper laundry routine for the first few times using this detergent. After pulling my diapers out of my dryer I did the sniff test they didn’t smell like anything. They smelled fresh and clean without any lingering detergent odor. I was pleased with this. However, I did notice that some of my diapers had light staining. I attributed this to the fact that this detergent doesn’t have any enzymes in it where the detergent I have been using does. As long as my diapers were clean then it’s no biggie. That’s what the sun is for.
I did have one load where a couple of really poopy diapers didn’t look squeaky clean to me. My husband isn’t as thorough with the diaper sprayer as I am so our weekend loads are usually dirtier than the weekday loads where I am the sole sprayer. Because of this, I made a few slight changes to my routine to see if that would help.
- Warm soak for an hour with 1 tbsp of Molly’s Suds
- Cold rinse
- Wash with 3 tbsp of Molly’s Suds on the Whites setting – extra heavy wash, hot water, drum fills 2/3 of the way, deep clean, extra rinse
- Dry inserts, prefolds, and wipes on medium hang dry covers
The soak prior to washing has helped a lot with the staining and getting those not-so-meticulously-sprayed diapers clean. Since soaking I haven’t had any issues at all with the diapers looking and smelling perfectly clean.
While I did need to change up my routine a bit to get the best results, overall I would say that Molly’s Suds has been a success! As with any detergent you may need to tweak your amounts and wash routine to find what works best. So if you have hard water and prefer to use a natural detergent I suggest giving Molly’s Suds a try.
I like that it’s so pure!
I really like the fact it’s so pure! Wish I had this when my 3yr old was a baby, he has horrible skin issues!
I’ve been wanting to try her detergent for a while. We have a front loading he washer so I’ve wondered if it’ll work with it? I want to try the dryer balls too.
We’ve always used tide, but I’ve been wanting to try a new detergent; this sounds great!
Looking to start cloth diapering, and this would help a lot, as we haven’t decided on a laundry routine yet.
I’d love to try some!
Trying to find the right CD detergent for us!
I am still trying out different detergents for my diapers and would love to try Molly’s Suds.
I haven’t used mollys suds yet, but this sounds a lot better then my wash rountine-and a lot less washed. i used mountain green but i always thought you have to rinse 3 or so times, so thats what ive been doing! always nice to learn something new!
In general you should only have to do one extra rinse. If you’re rinsing more than that because you still have bubbles then you may want to use less or a different detergent 🙂
I have very hard water. I like that this was actually tested with hard water with good results. If I dont win this I think ill be buying some to try out. Im not super happy with what im using right now. Thank you
I’ve never tried a detergent specifically for cloth diapers. THis would be great to win!
I’d love to try Molly Suds. We have really hard water and are switching detergents because after 3 weeks of cloth diapering we were battling ammonia. We really like using cloth diapers but just need to perfect our wash routine!
I will keep your advice about people not using enough detergent. We haven’t started cloth diapering yet. Baby is due on Feb 3 but I am hoping for a little sooner. I know everything is going to be a learning process including the washing diapers.
The most important thing to remember in my opinion is that diaper laundry shouldn’t be hard and require a bunch of wash cycles. If it is then there is something that needs to be changed. Good luck!
I just recently began using Molly’s Suds for my diapers and I think it works great. I had not had any issues before, but I wasn’t using “cloth specific” detergent. Now that I have a detergent specifically for my diapers that doesn’t require a magical wash routine I plan to be a customer for life.
This looks like a great detergent. I have tried several and I’m still not satisfied. I would love to try Molly’s Suds
good info, thanks for the cleaning advice. I hope to keep my diapers through multiple children.
I’m new to cloth diapering, so I would love to try put this detergent.
I love the ingredient list and would very much like to try Molly’s Suds. I would also like to try the all sport – my husband is a martial artist and I could use the extra help. and the reviews are very encouraging!
Would be tough to get me to switch my detergent, but I’d be willing to try this more crunchy alternative
thanks for the giveaway I really want to try this product.
Detergent makes me so nervous because the CD comes with so many warnings! I can’t wait to try this!
My biggest piece of advice is don’t sweat diaper laundry. If a routine or detergent doesn’t work for you, switch to one that does. It’s just laundry and I think diaper laundry has been made to be intimidating when it doesn’t have to be if you have a good routine with the right detergent for your washer, water type, and baby 🙂
I would love to try Molly’s Suds because it’s so hard to buy any detergent that is different than what you typically use. I’m always worried it won’t work, and since we are on a very tight budget, I’d hate to purchase something I can’t use. I’ve heard such great things about Molly’s that I think it’s worth a shot!
I’m with you. The great thing is that a lot of stores sell samples of a lot of different detergents so you can try a few out without committing to a big bag
This would be great for using on the kids clothes too – natural and not harsh. I’m sure it would do wonders on the stains my kids manage to get throughout the day!
All your products look amazing, would love to try some!
just bought some of this detergent and am waiting for my one-month-old daughter to get a little bigger before we start CDing. your review (plus my positive experience with regular molly suds laundry detergent) makes me very excited to try it!
I love Molly Sud’s. If you are still on the fence, try it! It is worth ti!
We use Molly’s Suds for our diapers. Molly’s finally got us ammonia and rash free!
I started using Molly’s Suds about a month ago and could not be happier! I have recommended it to quite a few people now
i always thought laundry soap preferences were silly but i have heard so many good things about molly suds. will definitely try itt
I use Molly’s Suds and I would love to win this for my Sister-in-Law. It would be a great reason to try a new detergent: I know they are having some troubles with their current detergent and an HE machine.
We have very hard water here so I’d love to give this detergent a try. I’ve heard good things about it!
Id like to try this for my next baby, right now I make my own soap, Im not sure if its going to work or not though.
I’m expecting my first baby in a few short months and and trying to stock up my cloth diaper supply with different styles and brands to see what we end up liking the best. I forgot about detergent until a few days ago! I would LOVE to try some Molly’s Suds since I have heard since great things about them and see how well it does with our CD stash!
I would love to try this product, I never knew they made laundry detergent strictly for cloth diapering, this is great!
Sounds like a very pure (ingredient-wise) detergent! I’d love to give it a try on my toddler’s diapers.
Sorry for the duplicate. 🙂
I would love to try Molly’s Suds because I have yet to find a detergent that works for my little man perfectly.
That really is one of the hardest parts of cloth diapering. Detergents can perform so differently depending on so many variables. Good luck!
We use Molly’s Suds for our cloth diapers and love it.
I’d like to try the dryer balls and dog shampoo.
I like the fact that Molly’s Suds is about as pure as it gets.