What is RLR?
RLR Laundry Treatment is a non-toxic laundry additive, not a detergent. It is phosphate and perfume-free and helps to bind to the buildup in your diapers (minerals, detergent, or ammonia gunk) and strip them out. After using RLR you should notice your cloth diapers and other laundry are remarkably fresh smelling and generally cleaner.
What is RLR Made Of?
It's mostly washing soda, but not completely. We'll never know the other ingredients because the secret rests securely with the makers of RLR Laundry Treatment.
So let's talk more about washing soda or sodium carbonate.
Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda or soda ash), Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the ashes of many plants. It is synthetically produced in large quantities from salt (sodium chloride) and limestone in a process known as the Solvay process.
Wikipedia
How does this information help you?
RLR runs about $9.99 to $14.99 for a pack of 5. If you have hard water and need a detergent booster often (one pack per wash load, this can add up fast.
Washing soda is cheap. But, before you get too excited I need to tell you more.
RLR contains a highly concentrated form of sodium carbonate, more so than regular washing soda. Where you might use 1/8 cup (packet size) of RLR Laundry Treatment to strip your cloth diapers you would need up to 1 cup of washing soda.
You're still saving money.
Using washing soda to strip your cloth diapers will not produce the same results as RLR. But due to the low cost, it might be worth a try.
What if you don't have any washing soda? It's not always easy to find. You can make your own!
DIY RLR Recipe
The difference between baking soda and washing soda is water and carbon dioxide. Seriously. Baking soda's chemical makeup is NaHCO3 (1 sodium, 1 hydrogen, one carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules). Washing soda's chemical makeup is Na2CO3 (2 sodium, 1 carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules). When baking soda is heated up to high temperatures, it breaks down to become washing soda, water steam, and carbon dioxide.
By cooking your baking soda, you can easily and safely get washing soda without needing to travel to far flung places to buy it, and you can make as much as you need at a time and don't need to lay out a lot of money on buying washing soda. (If you buy baking soda in bulk as I do, you can make washing soda especially cheaply.)
To turn your baking soda into washing soda fill a shallow baking dish with baking soda and place it in a 400-degree oven. Stir periodically. You will know it is washing soda by the consistency.
Baking soda is powdery, and washing soda is grainy. I just used baking soda last night when making deodorant and was annoyed with the clumps. Washing soda loses the clumps.
Penniless Parenting
When would you need to use RLR or washing soda on your cloth diapers?
- You have hard water. Washing soda is a water softener.
- You've tried everything and they still aren't getting clean.
- You purchased used cloth diapers and want a “fresh” start.
Here are instructions on how to use RLR to strip your cloth diapers.
Final Thoughts
Washing soda is a precipitating water softener. That means it settles out the minerals that make water hard. The sodium binds with calcium and magnesium in the water, but it creates an insoluble substance. If you don’t rinse your diapers thoroughly enough to remove all the RLR or washing soda, it will re-deposit onto the fabric and continue to cause issues.
Have you ever used RLR Laundry Treatment on your laundry? I'd love to hear your experience!
Jenn is a long-time cloth diaper educator and a passionate small business advocate. She has worked in the reusable diaper industry for over a decade, helping millions of families via her websites All About Cloth Diapers, Thinking About Cloth Diapers and Cloth Diaper Geek as well as hundreds of small businesses during that time. Her goal always to provide simple, reliable information.
Debra Cox says
I bought a compression garment from Bioflect. It’s an excellent garment, but I cannot use due to the fragrance. that has so much perfume on it. I cannot remove it. So far I’ve been unable to find RLR in the local grocery stores. I’ll try Amazon next. Do you have any other ideas on how to remove the fragrance?
Jennifer Reinhardt says
You could try making a spritz in a spray bottle of vinegar or rubbing alcohol.