Water Test Strips

Varify Water Hardness Test Strips

Some of you may have received some test strips with your order, on this page, I'll provide you some basic knowledge about water hardness and attach the graph used to measure your hard water using those strips.

Water hardness is a very important factor to consider when washing cloth diapers because hard water requires more detergent than soft water.

What is soft/hard water? To put it simply, soft water contains lower levels of calcium and/or magnesium than hard water. These are minerals that naturally exist in water. 

If you add too much detergent to the load of diapers being washed, you can get detergent build up which can lead to leaks, rashes, and even ammonia build up.

But if we add too little detergent to the load of diapers being washed, then they won't get clean enough or can get mineral build up (if you have hard water). This can also lead to leaks, rashes and ammonia build up.

Knowing our water hardness helps us determine how much detergent we should use. 

Certain detergents also wash better in different water hardness levels. Typically powdered detergent works better in soft water and liquid detergent works better in hard water. 

Now, unfortunately because everyone has different water types, different washing machines, and uses different detergents, I can't tell each of you specifically how much detergent to use. However, I do have a very helpful resource that each of you can use to determine your own wash routine!

I recommend you join the Facebook group called "Cloth Diaper Wash and Care". This group is run by a group of moms who have done all the hard work for you, they have trialed several detergents and determined which are effective for cloth diapers and which are not. Keep in mind the admins are mothers with children of their own so it may take some time before they accept your request to join, but once they do, you'll have all the resources and information you'll need to determine your own wash routine! 

Now, on to the hard water guide!

Simply dip your strip into your lukewarm water for 2 seconds, remove from the water and let it sit for 30 seconds, then compare it to the chart below.